I only have one with ING Direct. What other banks have great rates which are reliable?

Right now? All the rates are about the same, I would focus on other things for the time being.

And then when your money gets lost in the ether between the accounts, you can complain to Consumerist about it.

And when thieves break into one of your accounts, they can drain all of your accounts at every bank you've linked in. The first bank might understand and restore your accounts, but see if the other linked banks are so generous.

Back in the days of 5% and 6% APY interest rate savings accounts, rating chasing was a great way to get a little extra out of your savings. Be ready when those days return by linking your online savings accounts.

With the Fed printing money like crazy, the coming inflation will drive interest rates up.

@visualbowler: I have heard good things about Ally. But it's still GMAC to me.

@visualbowler: After a super-frustrating experience with HSBC, where I wanted to open a CD (using money I already had with HSBC, just in a savings account) and they (1) wanted to know where the money was from (even though it shouldn't have been enough to raise any eyebrows) and (2) even after I told them, they didn't open it for me, I cancelled my HSBC accounts and switched to Ally. I have been with them for about a year now, and the CD I bought with them (then GMAC) instead of with HSBC is coming to maturity. I called their customer service number, and I quickly got a CSR with a delightfully twangy Southern accent. He was friendly and helpful, and it was an all-around pleasant experience. Much better than the 4 hours I spent on hold with HSBC trying to figure out how to change my name after I got married.

"If you have a check, you can find the ABA routing number, a nine digit number, at the bottom of the check."

Maybe my savings accounts are special, but I have never ever gotten checks with them. Do savings account checks exist?

@Niphil: On the face of it, a savings account by definition is not a checking account. Where are your accounts? Does the institution treat them as 'checking' accounts?

@visualbowler: I have accounts with HSBC and E-Trade and have them linked. It still takes like 3-4 business days to transfer funds between them.

@Niphil: USAA savings accts come with checks and also a big "DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER!" as using more than 4 in a cycle will automatically convert your savings account into a checking account or something like that. Additionally, all online transfers out of your savings account are treated as checks, so don't use more than 4 a cycle. If you need money from your savings account, you're suggested to use the ATM.

I set up and linked Citibank checking and savings accounts last year precisely so I can transfer money quicker between then. The time to transfer from my normal Charter One to my Citibank savings account was too long. It doesn't really make me any extra money, unless you count "saved" fees that I don't have to pay Citibank because I have more than a certain amount of money in them.

also some online savings accounts don't allow 3rd party widthdrawals (only 3rd party deposits). amboy bank and emigrantdirect/dolarsavingsdirect are both like this.

be advised that some banks/brokerages use various sets of routing numbers or account number combinations that make little if any logical sense.

and if one of those transfers gets bounced back, prepare to have your account locked down by the fraud department.

@visualbowler: Try even looking at local credit unions (and to a lesser extent banks). I opened a CD with my credit union (Tinker FCU here in Oklahoma) after seeing that their CD rates were comparable with (or even higher than) the highest CD rates from online banks.

There are also "rewards checking" accounts offered by many banks/CUs that offer a very high APY (usually 1-2% higher than the highest savings accounts). However they have a particular set of requirements that you have to fulfill to get the rate...usually a certain number of billpay/ACH transactions, 10 or so debit transactions, and you have to have paperless bills. It's an easy way for them to get out of paying the high rate...but if you play the game right (and if it's worth it to you) you get a very nice rate.

@sponica: It's due to a federal regulation that prohibits savings accounts to be used for more than 6 transactions. I think the 6 includes ACH transactions, funds transfers, etc. The weird thing is that different banks seem to count them differently...sometimes I'd have a dozen or so transactions on one of my savings accounts and the CU would not notify me, sometimes they would.

They are supposed to take action when it occurs...usually a bank will notify you if you've exceeded your limit. If you go over the limit a second or third time, some will close your account (that's what my CU threatened to do.) Some banks (I think USAA does this) will charge you fees if you are a repeat offender...which I think is a crappy thing to do as they just use the regulation as another way to milk money from their customers.

A couple of mine are already linked. 3 business days are always hit or miss....especially over a holiday weekend. I keep getting emails about how my interest rate is lowering...again. I went up last year for a couple of months...whoppie.

One thing to keep in mind (and I think it might be good to edit the article to reflect this): keep the number of savings account transfers you make below 3 or 6 per month, even if the rates fluctuate more often than that.

[genxfinance.com]