Emigrant Savings Bank (Emigrant Direct) has been around since 1850 and was founded by a group of Irish emigrants. The bank is located in New York City and is the largest privately owned bank in the country. Currently it has 36 branches and assets of nearly $12.5 billion dollars. Emigrant’s mortgage subsidiary offers loans in 20 different states and has provided over 4000 home loans in the year 2005 alone. This is certainly not your fly-by-night bank that could be gone at any moment.

When compared to other online savings banks, Emigrant Direct has historically had very competitive rates. A lot of banks start out with high rates and then drop them after they get a bunch of new customers, but Emigrant has stayed near the top when it comes to the interest rate. As of August of 2008, the interest rate that Emigrant offered was 3.00%. At that time, online savings banks ranged from 2.75% to 3.75%. It’s certainly not the highest and is on par with ING DIrect. Their American Dream Savings account has no fees or service charges to speak of. In addition there is no minimum balance to open the account. The money in your Emigrant Direct American Dream Savings Account is FDIC insured, so you know that your money is safe. Bankrate gives Emigrant Direct 4 out of 5 stars, meaning that their bank is financially stable.

The signup process is fairly straight forward compared to other online savings accounts. You can apply online through their website. They’ll ask for some personal information and perform a soft credit inquiry, meaning that your credit score will not be affected. Emigrant Direct will then put two small deposits into your checking account, and then you will need to verify that information so that they know you own the checking account. After you verify your checking account, they will mail you a letter with your account number. This can take upwards of a week if you live a distance from New York. You can use your account number to login, and then they will ask you for the answers for the five secret questions you entered when you signed up. Write them down, because they are very hard to remember! You will then be able to login to your new Emigrant Direct American Dream Savings Account.

The interface on the website is not particularly complex, but it is functional much in the same way that ING direct is. It is also much better than the banks which make use of the Cashedge transaction system which are horrendous to use. When all is said and done, Emigrant Direct’s American Dream Savings account is a reasonably attractive option for your savings account, but they’re no longer as competitive in the interest rate world as they used to be. If you’re looking for customer service, ING Direct is probably the way to go, if you’re looking for the absolute highest interest rate, there are definitely better options.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 8:28 am and is filed under reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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