The second high yield savings account I opened was with OnBank. They offer a Money Market Savings account as well as “high” interest CD’s. Their rates were once competitive but have since fallen below 1%, the Money Market Account runs .75% and they are offering 1.95% for 60 month CD’s as of 04/05/2009.
About the Bank
OnBank is a division of the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, founded in 1856 and headquartered in Buffalo, New York. They have been FDIC Insured since July 1, 1934 (FDIC Cert 588). If you have deposits with M&T Bank those balances would be added to your OnBank balance as far as FDIC insurance is concerned.
Sign Up
Sign up was on par with other online savings accounts. It was easier than iGoBanking’s sign up process, however, not as easy as the process for ING. They require you to validate information from your credit report, as well as do the standard bank account verification and then you are in. One oddity was they require you to include a number in your username. I don’t know what that is intended to prevent.
The Interface
I really like their interface, it is clean and easy to follow, with left side navigation allowing you to view account activity, statements, download account activity, manage categories, and create reports. Additionally they provide quick access to external transfers. Some of the features are more related to checking accounts than a savings account so you probably wouldn’t need them.
Transfers
OnBank has a $50,000 per transaction limit on transfers, and you cannot perform more than 6 debits from the account per month, no more than 3 of those can be via ACH from another instituition. I have had no problems linking my other online savings accounts to this account and have actually used it as a mid point in a transfer or two so I didn’t have to wait to verify deposits.
Conclusions
OnBank flew under the radar for the most part when they opened and did not get a lot of publicity when their rates were competitive. Now that the bottom has fallen out of their rates I have pulled out as you can tell from the balance in the screen shot. If their rates come back up I may consider moving my funds back, they offer a solid interface and the easiest account linking I have found.
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