I recently received a reader question asking me which high yield online savings account is better – HSBC Advance and ING Direct? I had previously written about the appropriate use of high yield savings accounts (HYSA) and in turbulent market times, like now, they are a good place to hold your cash for potential investment opportunities. When choosing any HYSA, you should use the following 5 key criteria to determine which is best for you:
1. Interest rate or Annual Percentage Yield (APY) they offer – You can see what the industry benchmarks are at Bankrate.com. The account you choose should be paying more than this and make sure you look at the standard or normal APY and not only at any promotional rates they are offering. You may need to read the fine print for this. HSBC and ING have historically offered a significantly higher APY than established banks because they want to build market share and have much lower overhead since they are primarily focused on electronic banking.
2. No fees. Always. If an online savings account is charging you account maintenance or other similar fees, move on. HSBC and ING direct are both good in this aspect than they don’t charge any fees for depositing or withdrawing funds.
3. Ease of use. You can demo most of the reputable online banking user interfaces via their websites. See what you like and feel comfortable using. ING has a very simple and easy to use interface. HSBC’s is a little bit more clunky and slower, but does have some good additional features. Also, ensure that linking to your checking or regular bank account is straightforward, and that you can deposit your pay directly into these accounts.
4. Other features. Most online banks that offer high interest rates can offer these attractive rates because they have low fixed costs – no branches or account frills. However some, like HSBC, do offer branch access in addition to high rates plus great customer service. Branch access is very convenient if you need to resolve issues or have more complex banking needs.
5. FDIC Insured. I recently added this criteria based on all the recent bank failures, in which some customers have lost part of their savings. HSBC and ING are all FDIC insured. If you find a financial institution trying to offer you significantly above average APY’s, check their insurance status at the FDIC website. If they are not insured, then it is best to avoid them. All deposit accounts worth $100,000 and less are automatically insured by the FDIC. But since it’s a person’s aggregate deposits, and not their individual accounts, that are insured, any amounts over $100,000 deposited at any one bank are not covered. In a joint account, each depositor is insured up to $100,000 in one bank account. If you have more $100,000 and for other exceptions read the following FDIC rules on your coverage limitations and in some cases having different bank accounts may be better.
I have opened HSBC and ING bank accounts at some point to learn more about their offerings. I started with ING as it was here first and I liked it for ease of use and their no frills business savings account. HSBC came to where I live later and I signed up with them following a nice promotional offer. Overall HSBC and ING are great choices due to their higher APYs. I would suggest you try both (no fees after all) and pick the one you feel that suits your saving, spending and investment needs the best.
Related Posts:
~ 10 ways to Quickly Improve Cash Flow
~ Choosing the Best High Yield Savings Accounts
~ High Yielding Saving Accounts
~ Six Investing Lessons to Live By
More Related posts:
- HSBC Drops APY on High Interest Savings Account – Why I Now Prefer ING Direct
- Best Business High Interest Savings Account – Choosing an Online Business Savings Account With a Top Rate
- Choosing a High Interest Savings Account Over My Low Yield Money Market Account For My Short Term Cash-Emergency Savings
- Top High Yield Interest Savings Accounts With The Best Yields and No Fees
- High Interest Savings Account with Good Yields – ING, Etrade and Ally
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Honestly, I’ve been doing just what the poster here has been doing and agree it is more about what you need. Unless you are investing in an extended CD, the rates are close enough to eachother for the decision to really be based on what you need. As ally has consistently had the highest rates and the best policies and rate around interest (next day recognition of funds transfered from outside your account to immediately begin earning interest and a 2.99% on a 6 year).
For the average, everyday person who will be dealing with checking (and needs checks), money markets, savings, and CDs… ally seems to offer the best all around rates, and they have the customer service to boot (no fees for withdrawls at ANY ATM, unlimited; 24/7 phone or online chat customer service; unlimited lifetime checks; never any fees.)
But if you are looking for features you might want to look more at ING. Their savings accounts earn slightly less but offer different features for their checking account holders that might save you time and money. If you are a heavy check writer, save your stamps and use ING’s direct check where you provide them with the information to send your checks and they take care of the printing, sending, etc all for free. There’s even an expedited service. Also, there’s a very helping Person2Person payment feature that allows you to simply take someone’s routing and account number, enter the information, and send them a payment which posts directly to their account – Immediate for other ING users and 2-3 days for outside banks. Sadly, you can’t order checks or have your own made, and they are apart of the AllPoint ATM network, so you’ll have to find one of those unless you want to pay a fee (which shouldn’t be to hard as they are located in many gas stations, all CVS, Walgreens, and Target locations.)
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