Comments on: 5.26% Wilmington Trust Direct (WTDirect) Online Savings

By: Free Money Finance

Free Money Finance — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:19:44 +0000

Star Money Articles for the Week of August 27

Here are some recent interesting posts from the MoneyBlogNetwork and beyond: Five Cent Nickel discusses longevity insurance. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity gives details on Wilmington Trust Direct. Consumerism Commentary kicks off a series on renta…

By: Theo

Theo — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:54:29 +0000

They are really based in Wilmington DE. They are trying to win some market share from ING Direct. You are better off using one of the other accounts (GMAC, ING, etc.) elsewhere.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:55:07 +0000

Ignar is correct. GMAC allows the usual 6 withdrawals per month for an MMA account with no charge for the withdrawals. The “three” that I referred to is, in fact, the number of withdrawals by check that are allowed per month. The total number of withdrawals allowed is 6 per month, but up to three of those can be made via check, and there is no charge for this service.

By: ignar

ignar — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:02:49 +0000

I also have a GMAC account, and there is no charge for incoming / outgoing fund transfer through ACH. Even though it is a money market account, GMAC also provides a check as well as routing number so I can pay my bills directly from GMAC’s savings account. I think the max outgoing transactions you can initiate without paying fee is 6, which is a norm for general money market accounts. One more thing I like about GMAC is ACH transactions are handled quickly. I have accounts at HSBC, FNBO, and WAMU, and it takes at at least three business days and often more than five days for my funds to show up there. GMAC is much faster.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:21:03 +0000

GMAC’s MMA 5.3% does still apply even for balances above $5,000. — I’m not sure about “wire” transfers, but there’s no fee for typical ACH transfers unless, of course, one makes more than three withdrawals within one month’s period of time.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:13:39 +0000

I just looked at GMAC. The 5.3% sounds great.

Here are the stats:
$50 min to open
$500 min balance to avoid monthly service fees

The following was unclear:
It said the rate was for balances up to $4999.99 with no indication what happens if you have $5000+ in the account.
And there was some confusion about outbound domestic wire transfers. They say it’s $20. Does this mean all bank to bank transfers are $20? So if I want to withdraw money from this account and deposit it electronically into my checking account, it will cost me $20 to do so?

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:36:17 +0000

GMAC bank’s money market is still running at 5.3% APY– that’s not a promotional rate, and the minimum balance to get that rate is far smaller ($500 or $1k, I believe). I’ve had it for a few months now.

By: Rick Morley

Rick Morley — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:15:12 +0000

There are a lot of banks that pay 6.01% on rewards checking. Unfortunately, I use no where near 10 debit card purchases per month, so this doesn’t work for me, but for those who do, these are probably a good deal.

By: pcooper

pcooper — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:37:34 +0000

My local bank gives 6.01% APY on their checking account for balances under $50k (as long as you get e-statements and use their debit card 10 times a month), so it can sometimes be worth checking out local options for the best rates.