Intro: MySavingsDirect (Reviews & Overview)
The banking industry is highly competitive, and as customers we’re always looking for the banks that offer the highest interest rates with the smallest amount of hidden fees.
We’re also constantly on the lookout for banks with flexible hours that will allow us to fit our banking needs into our busy lives.
This MySavingsDirect review will look at some of the most important aspects of one of the best known online banks. Though there are dozens of MySavingsDirect reviews on the web, we’ll try to offer a concise yet detailed overview of what this bank offers to its customers.
About MySavingsDirect (Review & Historical Info)
My Savings Direct Bank is the online banking division of Emigrant Bank. This bank was founded by Irish immigrants over a century and a half ago, making it one of the older banks out there.
Emigrant Savings Bank Grand Concourse Building (Source: Lehman College Library)
In the 1920s, Emigrant Bank was the largest savings bank in the nation. Many MySavingsDirect reviews fail to notice the long history of banking that this online bank is a part of.
Though Emigrant Bank is mainly a savings bank, it also offers home loans, having provided close to 17,000 home loans over the course of its history.
New York Private Bank and Trust is the wealth management division of Emigrant Bank and has a wealth of deposit products starting at over two million dollars.
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What MySavingsDirect Offers
- High Interest Rates
Though there are a variety of features that we look for in a bank, the most important aspect is the interest rate. There is a huge difference between putting our money in a typical checking account with maybe a 0.20% annual rate (if we’re lucky) and putting our money into a high-interest savings account.
A variety of MySavingsDirect reviews on the web confirm that MySavingsDirect is consistently rated as one of the online banks that offers the highest annual interest rate. Currently, they offer a 1% interest rate. Furthermore, they advertise that their online savings accounts are 100% free of hidden fees or service charges. The interest you accumulate won’t go back to the bank in the form of annual fees or other charges.
- No Minimum Balance
Another attribute of this bank that many My Savings Direct reviews miss out on is that there is absolutely no minimum balance for your savings account.
There are times in life when money is scarce, and there is nothing worse than having a bank penalize your already meager savings because you’ve gone below the minimum deposit rate. With My Savings Direct, even if your account balance is only $10, you’ll still continue to benefit from the 1% interest rate without having to worry about penalties.
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- FDIC Insured
Though the internet has become a vital element that is present in most aspects of our lives, many people still have their doubts about online banking. This My Savings Direct review considers that, because it is insured by the FDIC, there is virtually no difference between putting your savings in this online bank or any other bank.
The FDIC will insure up to $250,000 per depositor, but if you have both an individual and a joint account with MySavingsDirect, you can be insured for up to half a million dollars. Furthermore, with the fiasco of recent financial crises, it’s nice to know that Emigrant Bank and MySavingsDirect are regulated by both state and federal entities.
- No Need to Change Banks
Another great aspect that we want to highlight in this MySavingsDirect review is that by opening up a savings account at MySavingsDirect, there is no need for you to change banks. You can continue to have a checking account at your local, hometown bank while also linking your checking account to your online savings account with MySavingsDirect.
This allows you to take advantage of the high interest rates offered by MySavingsDirect while at the same time giving you the flexibility to make deposit or withdraw money from your online savings whenever you need to.
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The Opportunity to Purchase Precious Metals
In our day and age, the global economy is appearing increasingly vulnerable. The risk of inflation from massive quantitative easing policies and other fiscal uncertainties have led many people to consider alternative savings possibilities.
One focus of this MySavingsDirect review is the opportunity to purchase precious metals that MySavingsDirect offers to its clients. This online bank understands that many people simply don’t trust putting their lifelong savings into printed money; that is why they allow you to purchase gold bullion bars and gold coins.
While the price of gold and other precious metals does fluctuate from time to time, many people consider precious metals to be a safer investment in these ambiguous economic times.
MySavingsDirect allows its customers to either store their purchased precious metals in their secured vault or have their precious metals delivered. If you store your precious metals with the bank, you can also sell off parts of your holdings if you need cash or if the price of gold increases or decreases.
While gold is the main precious metal offered, silver and platinum are also intermittently available. This MySavingsDirect review, however, must clarify that precious metals are not insured by the FDIC, and since they’re not considered a deposit account, you won’t be earning any interest on your precious metal holdings.
- Safe, Secure, and Insured Storage
For those clients who choose to invest in precious metals, the secured vault provided by MySavingsDirect will offer peace of mind. We have all seen the old western movies where cowboys rob banks and ride off with sacks of gold coins. Luckily, MySavingsDirect has a top of the line Brinks secure vault operated by some of the world’s best security professionals.
Armed physical security and electronic protection is offered 24 hours per day to make sure your precious metals are safe and secure.
The storage fees of your precious metals are calculated at 0.80% of the daily value of your holdings per year. Your storage fees will be billed monthly and will be deducted from your savings account.
MySavingsDirect Reviews
According to MagnifyMoney.com, “MySavingsDirect continues to drop its APY and now is no longer even a top contender for high interest rates.”
MySavingsDirect was previously touted as “America’s Highest Rate” savings account. However, it has lowered its interest rates progressively over the years and now offers only a 1.00% APY.
Nonetheless, the absence of hidden fees and charges, the ability to link up your online savings with another checking account and no minimum balance does still make MySavingsDirect a quality option for online savings.
Though many MySavingsDirect reviews lament that MySavingsDirect can no longer claim the title to “America’s Highest Savings Account Interest Rate,” other banks have been lowering their interest rates as well.
DepositAccounts.com gives MySavingsDirect a B+ health rating. It mentions that the 1.65% APY on the 5-year CD is good as compared to other banks.
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One recent reviewer at DepositAccounts.com says:
“I have a savings account at MySavingsDirect and I love it. No fees to have the account. I can deposit a dollar if I chose to do so. It is easy transferring money from my checking account to MySavingsDirect. Should I need cash in an emergency it’s just as easy [as] transferring my money back to my checking account. I don’t feel like my money is locked up in my savings account [or that I] will have to pay some sort of penalty taking my money out. This gives me more incentive to save more money … If I have a problem, the bank’s customer service will be there to help.”
Many MySavingsDirect reviews offer similar opinions. The lower annual interest rate is seen to be a trend that the banking world at large is following. The fact that MySavingsDirect continues to be at the upper end of the interest rate spectrum while still offering no hidden charges or other perks makes it one of the first choices for online savings.
While it is possible to find higher interest rates out there, you may end up giving those interest rates back through charges, service fees, and other penalties.
Image Source: MySavingsDirect Review
GoBankingRates.com puts MySavingsDirect in a tie with GE Capital Bank Online for the Best Savings accounts of 2015. That MySavingsDirect review states that “the fact that this rate can be obtained without meeting a minimum deposit threshold (a $1 balance will earn the same interest rate as a $1,000 balance) and doesn’t come with a monthly fee pushed it to the top of the list.”
Similarly, The Huffington Post puts MySavingsDirect at a tie for the best savings account, saying that “funds can be accessed 24/7 through the website. Withdrawals are made through a linked external checking account that the customer designates upon account opening.”
Even the prestigious Forbes magazine in their MySavingsDirect review considers it to be top of the line. According to them, “the best internet savings accounts require no minimum deposit, no minimum balance and charge no monthly fees…Some of the best rates offered today are 1.25% from MySavingsDirect as of March 2016.”
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Is MySavingsDirect For Me?
As these MySavingsDirect reviews show, the annual interest rate may fluctuate slightly, but the perks are here to stay. While MySavingsDirect may not always offer the highest interest rate on the market, it does appear that it will continue to be rated near the top. As long as it continues to offer no annual fees or minimum balance, it will continue to be one of the best options for your online savings.
Furthermore, this MySavingsDirect review has attempted to show that the alternative of investing in precious metals offered by MySavingsDirect presents an opportunity to diversify your savings, building more financial resiliency in face of the increasingly turbulent and vulnerable global economy.
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