EmigrantDirect has a long history of serving clients. This is the online branch of Emigrant Bank ,which began back in 1850 when it first opened as a mutual savings bank by Irish emigrants. In 1920, it was the largest savings bank in the nation. Though they tout high interest rates, it is currently only 3.0% significantly below both ING Direct and HSBC Direct, as of September 2008.

Under the fun names category, EmigrantDirect has an American Dream Savings Account. It has the pretty standard requirements of eighteen years of age, valid tax identification number, legal U.S. address, and a personal checking account in a U.S. bank.

I have not actually applied for an account with Emigrant Direct but after researching it on line, I found only a few complaints and it was dealing with customer service. Several had a language barrier problem and others did not feel their needs were addressed. However, many people had their accounts there for a number of years and enjoyed it.

To open an account, you will need to submit an online application and you should receive a confirmation page with instructions on how to proceed. If they need more information, they will contact you within two or three business days. Your account can be funded by a check, for your first deposit only. After your first deposit, you will need to link to your U.S. checking account via an external transfer function with your secure account information. It will link to your checking account and EmigrantDirect via the Automated Clearing House and takes about two to four business days to process.

Accessing your account is relatively easy and you can transfer your funds directly back to your bank and it will take about the same amount of time, two to four business days.

They do have a relatively long hold on the time you deposit money to when you can withdraw it. It is a five day hold and initial deposits will take ten business days.

On the plus side, interest is calculated daily and credited monthly. Direct deposits can be linked as well to go from your linked funding company to your American Dream account.

Overall, I think there are better accounts out there currently. Unlike other online savings accounts, you cannot access by ATM – only by checking account – and you can only link up to two accounts to your American Dream account. Understandably, this is to be a savings account and not an extended checking account, however, if there is a significant emergency two to four business days seems like a long time to wait for your money.

Tags: EmigrantDirect, online, savings

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized, 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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