Good news ! Virtual Bank is paying 2.60% for eMoney Market account under $10,000.

The rep said because they are trying to attract people to open a new account.



eMoney Market Rate APY* Minimum to Open
Under $10,000.00 2.57% 2.60% $100
$10,000.00 - $24,999.99 2.27% 2.30% $100
$25,000.00 - $49,999.99 2.27% 2.30% $100
$50,000.00 - $99,999.99 2.27% 2.30% $100
$100,000.00 and up 2.27% 2.30% $100

I'm opening the BankDirect account. If anyone would like to refer me, please PM me. Thanks very much.

Gary Steiger will be happy to refer you. Please go to his website

http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm

You got PM.

Still a big fan of BankDirect, been with them since ~ July 03. :)

Could you refer me as well? I am new at this, so what is PM?

Be happy to.

You'll get PM shortly. (PM = private message. Just click on the MyFlyertalk link to view/manage your messages, folders, and subscriptions.)

Is that Etrade/Delta offer still valid? I can't get past the first signup page....

fyi
 

I used the SPG Ameritrade offer - everything posted in a timely matter. I am about to transfer my accounts over to Waterhouse .... anyone use that offer for AA miles lately??

I also used the Citibank on-line checking account offer - it has expired and I cancelld after getting my miles posted.

Anything like that out there now?

I do not use direct deposit at all - I am looking for a goodly number of bonus miles or it won't pay me to bother with another account opening..........

Thanks for any suggestions. Renee

UFB Direct offers some nice AA miles annually for their bill-pay service.

Link

One of the worst mistake one can do is to give personal info to Lending Tree!! Heard that they make more money in "selling" your info than in commissions in arranging loans!!

In general, in this internet-age, choose a mortgage broker who is internet/electronics savy (to keep his own cost down) but who is LOCAL to you. (Never get a mortgage on-line unless from a reputable company that you know) Mortgage broker who does not advertise and who does not participate in miles or any other gimmick will without a dobt will get you the best deal. SInce volume does not get you much in this industry, person with minimal cost can afford to give you best deal.

Can someone tell me the benfit of using BankDirect? If I have 10k to invest in a MMA Bank Direct shows that their rate is .75%. INGDirect has a 3.0% rate.

Bank Direct
I would get (10k x .75% ) or $6.25/ month + 1,000 AA miles/mo

INGDirect
I would get (10k x 3%) or $25/ month + no miles

So the miles cost me .01875/mile? Is that a deal for AA miles?


Thx
Ken in Phx

I have to agree with Ken here, but I do have soem questions for those who know a bit about how ING's 3% interest works.

If I leave, say, $10,000 in ING for a long time then yes, I can see a savings add up with interest. But if I keep taking it out and putting moeny in and taking out and putting new in, will this still help me gain interest? Or is it based on longevity? I mean, surely both do something, but do you make as much?

As I understand it, those who might be flipping funds around and putting enough into a Bank Direct account to satisfy the minimum balance requirements can do the above in and out scheme and still obtain their AA miles before having to use the money, and then add new funds. All you have to do is be careful with the timing and it will work.

So which is better? I am curious. I still think ING but I wanna hear from people on that too.

On another note, I once signed up for Lending Tree and started the whole process to earn DL miles. Later, about 3/4 the way into it I went with an entirely different lender but somehow, some way, I still got my 10k DL miles!

Cool. I guess if you don't mind your name being sold a bit more out there than it already is anyway, what, with everything else we do online, etc, then go into the process for the cost of a couple credit report points and then bail out 3/4 way thru and see if you also still get your miles! You might!

(a CC big-3 report hit from a place like Lending Tree will affect the score but only ever so slightly and fgrom what I understand, the good news is that they only hit you once, whereas multiple loan attempts you may do on your own could result in many more hits, thereby lowering your score)

:)MM

You did not take taxes into account. Interest is taxed, miles are not. So the cost of miles will depend on how much federal, state and local taxes you have to pay. Assuming a 33% rate, miles would cost about 1.25 cents/mile.

There is more to it
 

Depending on what State you live in, the taxes could be a lot higher than 33%. Also depends on how you use the miles. Two first class tickets to Europe is a lot of interest, especially tax free. I have been with Bank Direct for a couple of years and combined with my Citibank M/C am about to make the million mile life time deal with American. How much is that worth? Don't know, but I am sure it is worth more than a couple of bucks I have to pay taxes on instead?