Review: E*Trade Complete Savings Account

Now that I have been using E*Trade's Complete Savings Account for a couple months the time has come to give a little review of the service.

For a little background, E*Trade introduced the Complete Savings Account in the not-so-distant past and it operates VERY similar to the other online savings account providers out there like HSBCDirect, INGDirect, or Emigrant. The account offers a 5.05% APY compounded monthly and can be linked to outside bank accounts or any account you may already have with E*Trade. I have had, or currently have, accounts with HSBC and ING so I will compare them to E*Trade as I go in this post.

Opening an Account

It took about two weeks for me to open an account. I filled out the online form and about a week or week and a half later had the registration forms. You sign the form and mail it back to the bank within 7 days and you are all set. Not as sleek and fast as ING, but a lot better than HSBC.

The Interface

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E*Trade's Complete Savings Account has a nice clean interface. Things are easy to find and it is painless to add linked accounts. Those of you who have or have had E*Trade accounts in the past (regardless of how unhappy you were with customer service) will likely enjoy it.

Transferring Funds

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This is where the E*Trade Savings Account really shines. The company has chosen not to nickel and dime people by putting a hold on transferring money. While companies that hold transfers don't really cost you anything in real terms, the are profiting off the float on your money that could be going to you. The transfers I have made are done within 1 business day! Zero days of lost interest. ING is usually pretty good around 2 business days, and HSBC is pretty terrible taking substantially longer.

It's also really easy to add linked accounts. I should be with any service, but you can instantly validate accounts with E*Trade if you are willing to divulge your online user name and password for the account.

The Rate

E*Trade is paying 5.05% APY which isn't terrible, but there are plenty of other players in the mix now. ELOAN is consistently above 5% (5.25% right now) and many of the traditional banks like WaMu are offering similar services with competitive rates. The company has been offering a $25 sign-up bonus which as far as I can tell is still effective. Check out my former post on the bonus and try some of those codes to see if you can still snag the $25. UPDATE *I found a link to the bonus and it is now at the end of this post*

Fees

None, just keep at least $1 in the account.

Overall

I have had some bad experiences with E*Trade as a brokerage which I will write about some other time. However, I'm happy to say my experience with E*Trade's Savings Account has been good so positive. Of course I haven't had to use the customer service for much which has been the brokerage's main downfall.

Pros:

• No minimum, $1 to open, no fees, sign-up bonus of $25, FDIC insured.
  
• No hard credit pull to open the account.
  
• 5.05% APY is good but not the best.
• Blows competition away when it comes to transferring funds in an out of the account.
• Links to other E*Trade accounts if you choose
• If you have $5,000 or more in deposits you can get a checking account with ATM card as well.
  

Cons:

• Variable rate (but it is with any of the online savings accounts so far as I can tell).
• You can get a better rate other places if you look around, especially if you have more money to park in one of these accounts.
• When dealing with E*Trade brokerage I have run into some of the worst customer service experiences I have had anywhere. I'm not sure if they share customer service departments, but keep this in mind. With HSBC I have had decent customer service and INGDirect has some of the best I have ever had when I have contacted them.
• You might be able to get a comparable rate at a local banking branch where you already do business, especially if you have a significant amount to invest.

Link: E*Trade Complete Savings w/ $25