Thanks zzz.
Thanks the run down on Northpointe Bank. Best I’ve seen!
It says that if they suspect you arent who you claim to be, pulling funds out of someone else’s account, they may hold the incoming funds for 60 days. I’m guessing it wont even show up unless you attempt to withdraw large amounts soon after opening/depositing them and they deem it “suspicious”.
In short, it means when they spiked their interest rate they were swamped with large 5-6 figure deposits into new accounts, and they’re worried about the risk of new customers pulling in large sums of money only to quickly withdraw it. 60 days may violate availability regulations as a standard policy (holds are limited to 30 days for new accounts, unless there’s suspected fraud) if they actually execute such a hold, but they’re clearly wanting to keep possession of the funds as long as possible in case a dispute is initiated with the source account.
It’s possible they have have actually experienced such a loss, prompting this warning, but otherwise it’s really nothing to be concerned over.
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Oh, just one more question on Northpointe bank…once they e-mail your account number, can you sign up for the online banking right away or do you have to wait until they notify you that you can do so? (and if so, how long might that take)…
craig, Regarding Northpointe Bank.
The day I got my account # & routing #, I started the process for the small deposits. That took 1 day. On second day I confirmed the small deposits & ach transferred funds from Alliant to Northpointe that same day. Very quick process!!
That’s Great! That is fast…in my case, as soon as they open, i will already have $100 in there and available (i used my debit card for the initial deposits to the savings and checking…Of course, i’ll be setting up my AMEX Savings and Schwab accounts trial deposits to them for ach transfers…
Can you register for the online banking as soon as they send you the account number(s)? (in my case…lol)
Perhaps, it could be part of their implementation of “know your customer” too. I could see someone depositing funds from a shady source possibly.
I view askance any pretext, put forth by any financial institution, to hang onto my funds when they are resident in an account supposedly liquid.
I don’t deny for a moment the bank might have its reasons, however meaningless from my standpoint. Any financial institution offering accounts putatively liquid to the public must bear the associated risk. I am unwilling to shoulder a portion of their risk burden when there are perfectly fine alternative homes for my money.
And once again, I have never seen the warning I posted above put forth by any other financial institution. It provides them FAR too convenient an excuse to hang onto my money when I need my money.
The foregoing, of course, is merely my personal opinion. It’s not an opinion likely to be altered by anyone who disagrees. My money. My rules.
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Is there a limit to # of Ultimate Savings account per person or household?
I see posted no monthly fees but would like to confirm that there is no minimum balance required
thx for all the replies & info posted here
In general no, although you would still hit against the FDIC insured rate limit unless you made appropriate changes (POD, Join Account etc).
Any bank whether they state it or not can put a hold on your money at any time. There are several money laundering statutes that could be used…the irs or federal govt could instruct them to do so or the money could just be tied up in whatever “investigation” they do. I suggest you read closely the agreements you have to checkbox when you open an account with whatever bank for verbiage regarding holds.
One of the reasons I NEVER use a debit card (and I used to work for the 2nd largest credit card processor in the world) is that if for some reason your bank account gets wiped out or drained even if they claim you are only liable for $50 or not at all the funds will be tied up anywhere up to 6 months while they do their investigation.
Sadly the majority of society seems incapable of looking beyond next week let alone ensuring they have a minimum of 1 year’s income socked away for emergencies.
It’s easy to expand your fdic coverage (they have a calculator on the fdic website) on one account just by adding beneficiaries…2 will get you $500,000 total coverage, 3 will get you $750,000 coverage and 4 brings you up to 1 million…And they can be people as well as non profit charities…and you can vary the percentages for each (and that doesn’t affect the total fdic coverage)…
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No disagreement. And I also find the rationale put forth earlier by glitch99 to be entirely logical. But that is not the point. I already have made the point but perhaps you glossed over it:
The very UP FRONT, in your face, warning by Popular Direct about the possibility of holding a customer’s funds provides them with FAR too convenient a basis, far too manifest an excuse, to do just that. I do not like their attitude, or their brass, one little bit. I would not bank there. And that goes double considering the alternatives available today who publish no such excuse . . . er . . . I mean warning.
On the other hand, Popular made a point to clearly warn of this possibility. It’s a courtesy. The same could happen at any bank, but you’d never be told until after it’s already done.
You blaming Popular is great example of the old saying “Ignorance is bliss”.
Has anyone confirmed that Northpointe’s 2.05% rate is guaranteed for 12 months?
The deposit accounts blog seems to say that when they first offered the 1.16% rate 2 years ago it was guaranteed but it is not guaranteed now.
Big banner on their main homepage says “Guaranteed for at LEAST 12 months”
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That is not my view. I also find objectionable their assertion it is being done “for our protection”, while clearly the bank is in CYA mode trying to protect itself against loss, even if that means inconveniencing customers. The warning to us is for their protection, not ours.
Finally, your having labeled my opinions as “ignorant”, while I showed respect for your earlier writing, says much more about you than it does about myself. I am disappointed with your inability to engage in such discussion as this without name calling. You are better than that . . . . . I hope.
You seriously have never heard that saying before? It isnt calling anyone ignorant. It merely says that you were happy not knowing what could happen, and now, despite nothing actually changing, you are unhappy after learning of this. The same can happen at any bank, yet because those banks haven’t called your attention to the possibility, you remain happy with them.
And yes, it could happen at any bank. They all play by the same rules regarding deposit availability.
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Again, perhaps for the third time, I agree with this. But it is not the point.
I could re-state my point yet again, but it is above for anyone to read and either agree or disagree. I really do not care. I would not do business with Banco Popular with such obviously better alternatives available. But I wish good fortune to anyone who has money with them. In particular, I hope when you need your money pronto that the bank makes it available straightaway, despite having warned you so aggressively that they might not.
Let me return for a moment to what glitch99 correctly asserted, that ANY bank can withhold your funds when you need to make a withdrawal. Were that to happen to me I would want to be in a position to feign shock and surprise while protesting loudly and demanding my money. That act would be a tough sell at Banco Popular given they had warned me up front, in no uncertain terms, that I might not have ready access to my funds.
I’ll take my chances with a bank less inclined openly to proclaim its tightfistedness.
Right, the point was that you accused me of disrespectful name-calling by labeling your opinions as ignorant, when I did nothing of the sort.
But most people arent as enlightened as you, and would not be feigning shock. In fact, had that splash screen not appeared, you wouldn’t have thought twice about your account with them or the potential issues with availability, despite knowing such possibilities exist anyways. Generally banks get credit for being upfront and straightforward, and criticized for hiding such pesky details in the shadows…