Comments on: Sallie Mae Bank Review

By: John E

John E — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:55:33 +0000

Yes, those holds are true, but if you limit a transfer to $5000 or less the hold time is, indeed, 5 days. But if you initiate a transfer of $5000 and during the hold time of this $5000 you initiate another transfer of some amount less than $5000 it appears that the lesser amount will be available in 5 days and the greater amount ($5000 in this case) will be held for 10 days. So it looks like you should do a transfer of $5000 or less and wait for the 5 day hold to expire before you initiate another transfer.

If you initiate the transfers from within your other banking institution into your Sallie Mae account there is no hold time. Your money is available to use immediately upon the deposit hitting into your Sallie Mae account. I have tested this and it is true.

By: John E

John E — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:44:05 +0000

Yes, those holds are true, but only if you initiate the transfers from within your Sallie Mae account. If you initiate the transfers from within your other banking institution into your Sallie Mae account there is no hold time. Your money is available to use immediately upon the deposit hitting into your Sallie Mae account. I have tested this and it is true.

By: Graduate

Graduate — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:40:11 +0000

Stay away from borrowing from Sallie Mae!! “Smart Option Student Loan”… more like Worst Option Student Loan.

Was told that I was eligible for a payment plan of 14 months, interest only, effective immediately. I subsequently have been making interest only payments.

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail saying I was overdue. Turns out that I wasn’t eligible for the interest only payments. Supposedly Sallie Mae sent me a letter notifying me of the error, but I never received that letter.

When I called today to see what was going on, I was told that they have “retrained” the employees involved and that’s all they can do. Now I’m out significant $$ due to their error with no agreeable solution.

By: OnHold

OnHold — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:21:43 +0000

One big glaring example of misleading is their misstated fund hold policy. Their disclosure reads:
————
Hold on deposits: For your initial deposit — whether made by check or electronically — funds will be held for 10 business days, unless a longer hold is required per the verification process. Your funds will also be held until you verify the microdeposits on your linked account. For all subsequent deposits made by check or electronically in the amount of $5,000 or less, funds will be held for 5 business days from the effective date of the deposit. For all subsequent deposits made by check or electronically in excess of $5,000, funds will be held for 10 business days from the effective date of the deposit.

The effective date of the deposit is the day that your account is credited for that deposit. To the extent permitted by law, Sallie Mae Bank reserves the right to extend these timeframes for certain reasons, including suspicion of fraud. In addition, funds in an account that is being closed may be subject to a brief temporary hold in order to allow outstanding transactions to clear and for any necessary processing procedures to be performed.
—————

So I make an additional deposit of $5000 which I expect to be held 5 business days per above ($5000 or less). But no – Sallie Mae is holding the $5000 for 10 days. Not what their agreement and disclosure states.

Phone rep tells me $5000 is held for 10 days no matter what disclosure says. Also adds that law permits holding any amount of time they so choose for fraud protection.

I asked they correct their published fund hold policy but Sallie Mae appears to have no intention of doing so.

By: momofhsjr

momofhsjr — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:42:11 +0000

How the heck are people earning $100.00/yr and more at upromise????!!!! I’ve been a member since 2003 and my total earnings for 7yrs is a mear $20.19….that’s LESS THAN $3.00/YR :[

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:02:41 +0000

Wow, it’s a shame that they have such poor customer service. I wound up opening an account with both Sallie Mae and Capital One because I am going to “race” them and see which one seems to add up faster. Unfortunately, that was before I saw Tyler’s comment. Hopefully I won’t need their customer service anytime soon!

By: Tyler

Tyler — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:24:21 +0000

So the Excessive transaction is monthly and they will not even give you a warning or have any humanity when you call. I called to discuss the fee and the first answer I was given was that they do not charge fees. Second they called me a 6am to discuss why there was a fee. I called to ask some more questions like is there a warning period or refund because it was my first time, like at Capital One, and all I got was please read your terms and conditions and the FAQ.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:37:02 +0000

I actually found that for me, the Capital One savings account that earns 1.35% with a 10% interest bonus (under certain conditions) is a better deal for me. I earn just slightly more in interest per month than I do with Upromise, so a 10% bonus on interest vs. Upromise earnings is a better deal for me, even with the slight interest rate difference.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:33:45 +0000

Thanks for the clarification Elliott. Does that mean “all” transactions, even deposits into your Sallie account? I put a few dollars in just to see what happens.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:54:17 +0000

Correction for your review: the excessive transaction fee is for going over six transactions per quarter, not per month. The truth in savings disclosure on my account said the limit was six per statement period and their statement periods are quarterly.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:50:50 +0000

Not always. There is a 5-10 day hold on deposits (10 for initial deposit and those over 5k)

By: Online Banking All The Way

Online Banking All The Way — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:41:44 +0000

I use Dollarsavingdirect.com which is a child of Emigrantdirect.com, but with higher interest. Currently, Sallie Mae is .2% higher which is not enough to make a change worthwhile.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:07:53 +0000

I was reading reviews on this account, and I’m with Carrie on this one. Their interest rate is higher, and every little bit helps, but I will keep my ING account active.

For the record, I’ve had Upromise for 7 years, and have earned about $400, so roughly $57 per year. A 10% match is not a significant of money, but with a higher interest rate as well, it seems like a good deal. Plus, it’s really all “free money” to me.
I don’t go out of my way to spend money for the earnings, and I don’t use Upromise exclusively. I use other reward programs such as BondRewards and some of the shopping programs through my credit cards like Discover Mall. I just shop through whichever one gives me the best reward.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:36:44 +0000

I just signed up for both Upromise and the Sallie Mae savings account. The rates for the Sallie Mae savings account outdo my ING Direct savings account offers by .3% and I mean everything helps. I do have two accounts I plan on keeping with ING (savings and checking) because I like how they do business, but I figured I’d give this a whirl and see how it goes. I’ll update after a few months of having the account. So far setting up the account is the same as any other online banking setup. I’ve also had CD’s with ING and Metlife bank so I have some background to compare to.

By: jeff snyder

jeff snyder — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:49:42 +0000

Whats the liquidity on the sallie mae savings account? do i have complete access to the funds id needed?