MoneyRates Blog
Wachovia Bank Referral Offer
Wachovia Bank is running a referral program until December 31, 2008 in which they will pay $25 to you and any friend your refer that opens a new Wachovia free checking account with at least $100. Wachovia allows up to 20 referrals ($500) per customer a year. Wachovia lists the following three easy steps on [...]
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Fixed Rate Mortgage Questions and Answers
Should I Convert to a Fixed Rate Mortgage?
It is mentioned everyday in the newspaper, on TV, or around the water cooler at work: variable interest rates are making it difficult for home owners to afford to pay their mortgage. If you are in an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), it may be time for you to [...]
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Online Auctions Still Lagging on Rates
Moneyaisle.com and Zionsdirect.com are two online CD auctions where visitors can compete in a bidding process to find rates on CDs. A comparision made today on the two sites shows that the auction process (while very cool to watch) returns much lower rates than the rate aggregator sites:
5-year CD rates
5-year CDs on Moneyaisle.com ended up [...]
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Who Won the Olympics?
The Olympics are over and there is debate over which country won? Was it China the host nation who won the most gold medals or the United States which won the most medals overall? How about a third choice?. The Bahamas was the country that won the most medals per capita, which may be the [...]
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Reward Checking Rates as High as 6.00%
Reward checking accounts are online checking accounts which pay a high-yield for customers who meet monthly banking requirements. The accounts are now available from banks in all 50 states. Each individual bank has their own tiered-rate schedule and unique monthly requirements. Some of the banks offering reward checking accounts today include:
Crossroads Bank Illinois6.10% APY on [...]
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Congress Bill Will Help Homeowners
A lot of media attention has been directed to the new legislation aimed at supporting the mortgage heavyweights Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. While the cost of the bill to the US taxpayer has been hotly debated, the other parts of the bill aimed at the individual homeowner have been largely ignored. The bill which [...]
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Intrade Members Trading Contracts on FDIC-Bank Failures
Intrade.com is the prediction market where members can buy contracts on the likelihood of certain future events occurring. Whether it be the next US President or the Academey Awards this site will let members bid on the outcome. A contract for Barack Obama winning the US presidency will cost a member a price of [...]
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Dire Prediction from ex-Chief Economist from IMF
Professor Kenneth Rogoff who was the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund for 5 years has issued some stark warnings about the banking and credit crisis in the United States which have reverberated around Europe and Asis. Among Rogoff’s predictions:
* A major bank in the United State will fail
* The financial crisis in the [...]
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Bank Money Market Accounts Better than Money Funds, Savings Accounts, and CDs?
One of the best places to park cash today might be bank money market accounts which offer yields that beat mutual fund money market accounts and offer more flexibility than savings accounts or CDs. Money funds offered by the largest mutual fund companies like Fidelity, Vanguard, and Dreyfus are currently yielding between 2.00% and 2.45% [...]
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An Online Savings Account with No Fees and a High Rate
Many banking consumers who shop for rates online are looking for a bank that offers a simple savings account with a good rate and an easy sign-up process. Finding that bank is not as easy as it sounds with all the promotional teaser-rate deals, complicated applications, extra fees, and confusing tiered-rate structures. Heartland Bank based [...]
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Money Management Sites Now Reporting Consumer Spending Trends
Finicity is a money management site which combines their money management tool called Mvelopes with advice and data from mentors, groups, and financial experts for their members. The envelope-style money management tool allows to track their monthly spending versus their monthly budget and make adjustments on the fly. The social finance part of the site [...]
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Kudos to ING Direct
Many Americans are quick to criticize banks for their never-ending fees and spotty customer service. The larger the bank, typically the more greedy and uncaring we assume that bank will be. This month one bank has shown us that greed is not good and that banks can be charitable. ING Direct has launched a program [...]
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$100 Cash Offer from Flagstar Bank to residents of Michigan, Indiana, and Georgia
Flagstar Bank is a midwest bank which offers good deposit rates on money market accounts, checking accounts, and CDs. This week Flagstar Bank is also offering a $100 incentive to new customers opening a checking account at Flagstar banking centers in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. The offer is not available online, but requires a branch [...]
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Spanish Language Online Banks
With over 40 million Spanish speaking people living in the United States it is surprising how few banks offer a Spanish-version of their site or promote their services in Spanish. Google and Yahoo both offer language-conversion software which will convert sites into foreign languages, but this method of translation is notoriously inaccurate in the financial [...]
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