Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Wachovia and Other Major Banks are Ripping You Off.

November 14, 2007 By Matthew Paulson

Have you ever considered why you chose the bank that you bank at? Was it because your parent’s bank there, it’s close to your house, or that it was the first place you stopped at? Most of us end up banking at large mega-banks with billions of dollars in assets, even though these types of banks offer some of the worst deals out there when it comes to savings and investments.

These major mega-banks are not terribly concerned that average Americans with average incomes become their customers, rather they put their emphasis on scoring big accounts because those are much more profitable to hold. Many of them don’t put much of an effort in the products they create or the marketing that they do for the average customer.

Many of these banks have very lousy products for the average consumer, especially when it comes to savings accounts. Wells Fargo is offering a meager 0.1% on their standard goal savings. Bank of America is offering a 0.2% interest rate on their regular savings and Wachovia is offering 0.15% on their “Premium” savings.

Most of these banks have very lousy checking accounts as well. You might get a free checking account with the first set of checks for free, but that’s about it. No ATM refunds to speak of, no free checks later on, and if you want to just about anything out of the normal, you’re going to end up paying a fee to make it happen.

There are so many better options when it comes to your checking and savings accounts, especially when you shop for them online. There are a number of banks, such as HSBC Direct, ING Direct, Emigrant Direct, IGO Banking and E-Loan that are offering high-yield savings accounts to their internet customers offering rates anywhere between 4.0% and 5.25% APY. AmTrust Direct is currently offering a savings rate of 5.26% APY, that’s 53 times more than Wells Fargo will give you with their basic savings!

When it comes to checking accounts, you probably won’t earn a dime in interest from any major bank, but when you go online you can easily get from 3% to 4% APY on the money that’s sitting in your checking account. Some of the accounts available will even refund any ATM fees that you incur!

Major mega-banks have been giving their regular customers a raw deal for far too long, if you still keep your money at one of these banks offering you an abysmal savings rate, it’s time to move your money.

Posted in banking

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