Does anyone have experience with them? It looks like they're offering a 4.13% rate for an online savings account which beats the hell out of what I'm getting from my local credit union, but I'm not familiar with this bank.
Online banking question: Upgrade premier savings
- Thread starter ClonerJams
- Start date
It’s sad that credit unions aren’t keeping up. Their tax advantage gives them major advantages over traditional banks, which is why they usually can do better in savings and lending rates (or at least in the past). Now online institutions are seeming to eat their lunch and credit unions are either very slow and confused on how to respond. Part of that may be that too many credit unions have wanted to be small single location sites and focus on brick and mortar buildings. They are going to need to evolve.
I started one a few years ago with my credit card company. Happens to be Citi bank. I really like it as it earns more interest than credit unions and typical banks. Mine does take a few days to move the cash around though. I had to move it to a checking account for a car purchase and it took 4-5 days to hit the checking account.
If you don’t need the funds for several years, you can find stocks paying that in dividends and even higher. It is riskier but is another alternative.
If it's FDIC insured, and I assume it is, there's little harm in trying it out. The big question is always whether that is a temporary teaser rate to attract business vs. their everyday (current) rate. Teaser rates are rarely worth the time and transactional hassle IMO, but YMMV.
I'd be more cautious if it were a checking account you were interested in, because if their service sucks and they're unreliable that could have negative real life consequences.
Or if you don't need the money for 8 months, you could do what I did and put it into a CD at Greater Iowa Credit Union for 4.3%, although I'm not sure if they're still offering that.
This is just extra cash on hand. Already maxed out roth ira for the year and have i-bonds. 4.3% is the best I've seen for savings.
Premier Credit Union has possibly the worst online banking experience the industry. I frickin hate everything about them but I have an ass ton of checks from them the one time a year that I have to write a check. So I have like $10 in my checking/savings with them.
Upgrade is legitimate, the deposits are stored with cross river bank.
www.nerdwallet.com
Upgrade Review: Checking and Savings - NerdWallet
Upgrade's checking account offers cash-back rewards but doesn't allow cash deposits. It also doesn't have a fee-free ATM network, but its savings accounts earn high yields.
