With interest rates at fairly high levels, a good place to keep your money in the short term is a high yield savings account. These accounts, mostly offered by online banks, allow you to stash your money away at high interest or CD rates. Transferring in and out of a savings account usually only takes 2-3 business days, and so these accounts are a great way of making the most out of your money. Why keep it in a virtually 0% interest checking account when you can earn interest while maintaining almost the same liquidity? Of course it makes sense to keep some money at hand but a high yield savings is something that everyone with savings should consider. I personally have an Emigrant Direct account to hold most of my savings.
Emigrant Direct's online branch was started in January 2005, when they opened the website and offered some of the highest rates in the country. Within 2 years, the bank was flooded with about $7 billion dollars in deposits. The internet banking market has now reached almost $90 billion and has been growing 40 to 50 percent a year since 2002. With this phenomenal growth, larger banks are getting in on the action, including Citibank and HSBC. If you are looking to put some money away, a high yield online savings account is definitely something to look into, with much higher returns than your average savings account.
Emigrant Direct still has one of the highest rates for a regular savings account at 5.05%. They also offer 5.15% APY CD accounts and up to 1.40% cash back Platinum Mastercard. They recently revamped their interface and I find it to be both secure and convenient. I switched from INGDirect to Emigrant Direct a few months ago and have not looked back. However, they have recently limited 3rd party transfers, something that doesn't affect me but may affect you. Other banks offering high CD rates and savings account include IndyMac Bank, Umbrella Bank, and HSBC.
