FNBO Direct 6% APY Savings Account Review: Opening Process, Features, and Transfer Schedule
I opened up a savings account at FNBO Direct originally for their 6% APY until 9/28/07. They are currently offering 3.50% APY, still competitive in this current rate environment. Here are my experiences so far as well as some first impressions of this online savings account:
Legitimacy and FDIC Insurance
FNBO Direct is a division of the First National Bank of Omaha, which is a member of the FDIC. If you call the First National Bank of Omaha, they will confirm this link and the website. For the techie folk, the nameservers and IP address range of FNBO.com and FNBODirect.com are the same. Combined with the fact that this account has been around for months, I see no need to worry about the legitimacy of this bank. Many banks choose to distance their online branches from their existing customers, as they are trying to gain new money and low-cost customers who are comfortable with things like electronic statements and online banking.
Opening Process Overview
The opening process went very smoothly. The CashEdge-based application is similar to that of HSBC Direct, but unlike with HSBC there is nothing to wait for in the mail. Nothing to send in either; No paper needed at all!
The application does include an identity verification test based on information from your credit reports. This is identical to what Washington Mutual does for its online savings account. If you have troubles with this, I recommend checking your credit reports for errors. However, a hard credit pull is not performed so it won’t affect your credit.
You can fund via wire transfer, online transfer, or by mailing a check. Here was my timeline:
- Day 1: Apply online, pass identity verification. Receive e-mail that application was approved. I chose to do an online transfer. Trial verification deposits were sent to funding bank.
- Day 2: Trial deposits received, and verified (free 57 cents!). FNBO Direct initiates funding transfer.
- Day 3: I receive my new account number via e-mail, and enroll for online account access. Initial deposit hasn’t showed up, but should go in on Monday (see below). I can add link additional accounts (max of 3) and initiate other transfers.
Account Features, Transfers and Usability
Features
Overall, your basic ING Direct clone - $1 to open, no monthly fee, no minimum balances. Otherwise, it’s pretty barebones. No checks. No ATM rebates. You can request an ATM card, which I did, but since it costs $2.50 for each cash withdrawal, I never plan on using it. Here is their complete fee schedule.
Of course, we all know the best feature is the 6% APY interest rate 
Transfers
Again this is the familiar CashEdge interface behind the online fund transfers of banks like Bank of America, Presidential Bank, and HSBC Direct. All transfers are free, and the transfer limits are very generous. The transfer schedule appears to be identical to that of HSBC Direct, and takes three business days. (Worst case: If you initiate on Thursday, money is taken out on Friday, but deposit won’t show up at receiving bank until Tuesday.) I know many people dislike these slow transfers, so you should be aware. Here is a screenshot of the schedule:
Note that your initial deposit will not be available for withdrawal for six business days, probably for security reasons.
Usability
The interface is very simple and utilitarian. I like it. There are only three tabs - View Accounts, Account Services, and Transfer Funds. (Click for a full screenshot of the interface.)
More Information
Customer Service: 877-370-3707, open 24/7.
I’ve called customer service a couple of times, and they do answer and are helpful. Hold times may last a few minutes, but it’s probably due to the recent rush of applicants.
Number of external bank account links allowed: 3
ABA Routing Number: 104000016
I asked them if I could set up third-party transfers like paying my credit card bill with the routing and account numbers, and they said that would be fine. Hopefully it stays that way…
Download formats available: I see no options at all for this. No MS Money, Quicken, or even .csv options.
Interest compounding frequency: Interest is calculated daily and is compounded and credited monthly. Remember, how often interest is compounded really matters very little, especially if you are comparing APYs.
Source: The official website for this online savings account is http://www.fnbodirect.com
May 4th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
This is a little off topic but did you see the rates on this weeks 28 day treasury bills? They took a nose dive (way below my tax adjusted minimum), I wonder if it had something to do with us rate chasers planning to move our money there after HSBC’s promotion ran out. I suspect it to increase back to April levels next week now that everyone’s probably scrambling to put their money in FNBO instead. Does anyone agree with this assessment? I feel like I saw that coming, lets see if my prediction is correct.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Mike - Unless you actually participated in the Treasury Bill auction process, you really have no effect on the rate. The amount of institutional money dwarfs the money from individual investors in T-Bills.
That’s just how T-Bills work, they are sensitive to short-term interest rate fluctuations. It works both ways - sometimes it much higher than savings accounts, and sometimes it’s much lower. If you track the daily market rates of T-Bill you may be able to predict auction results a bit better, but overall it’s very hard to pre-determine the results.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
good review. I just opened mine this week too and the entire process was smooth like yours. no paper / snail mail = A plus. if I’m opening an online account, I really don’t want to deal with snail mail.
I was hoping transfer wouldn’t be using hsbc-like cashedge schedule, but the minute I saw the application process my heart sank. I wonder how many other banks uses these third party back-end for their online divisions.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Looks like most banks are using Cashedge or something similar, there’s not really any way around waiting the 3 business days. Just always do your transfers on a Monday or Tuesday so you don’t lose the weekend interest.
The only way I can think of to eliminate the 3 day wait is to sign up with Washington Mutual for their free outgoing domestic wire transfers. But that approach requires that the receiving bank doesn’t charge a fee for incoming wires (not sure if FNBO charges fees for that or not) and you have to physically go to the WaMu branch while they’re open to initiate the wire. The WaMu branch near my house closes by 6 and the earliest I can get there after work is 5:55, and I’m guessing they’re not going to want to start a wire transfer at that hour…
May 4th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Can I open this account in the name of my child? I heard that interest earned by minor can be up to $2000 tax free. Is that true?
May 4th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
What does the interest rate revert to after the promotion period? How does it compare to other online banks?
May 4th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
To gallelo:
The first $850 of a child’s ncome escapes tax in 2006. The next $850 is taxed at the child’s rate. Anything over $1700 is taxed at the parent’s rate until they are 18. Congress extended the kiddie tax from 14 to 18 in 2006.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
I haven’t had a chance to check out all the information yet, but does it say what the interest rate will be after 9/28?
May 4th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Before the hike to 6%, it was at 5.25% which was pretty competitive. I would guess that it may revert back, however who knows what the interest rate environment in 5 months will be like. Either way, unless guaranteed otherwise all liquid savings accounts can change the rate at any time.
Basically, the days to avoid initiating a transfer are Wednesday and Thursday. Even if you initiate on Fri-Sun, you won’t lose more than 2 days of interest. I don’t see these transfer delays as a huge deal, but others certainly do so I wanted to point it out. It does put a slight crimp on things if you are transferring a large amount of money.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Can the funding source for FNBO be another online direct savings account, i.e. HSBC, so I could just move my money directly from HSBC to FNBO?
May 4th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Yes, you can fund with any account that allows transfers using routing number and account number. I’m pretty sure HSBC Direct allows such transfers.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:00 am
OT a little: About the 3 day delay for transfers, I just noticed my Citibank account has a next day transfer option. It has lower limits, only $2,500 per day, and must be done before 3 pm eastern time. Wondering if that is a different system then Cashedge or what is going on there.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Do they offer/provide paper statements?
May 5th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Just a note to consider - I opened FNBO, and you can only access through Internet Explorer, no Firefox. My login would’t work right, so I called and they told me that. No message on the site about IE only. Also my AmTrust seems to be IE only too.
Abe
May 5th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Thanks for the review! Just opened mine and it went very smoothly.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Cashedge has a “Premium” transfer option that some banks take advantage of.
I used Firefox 2.0.0.3 (Windows) the entire time and I applied/logged in just fine. Must be just for certain versions.
I don’t think paper statements are available.
May 5th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Thanks for the information! I’ve got a bunch of money I need to keep parked for a while and this is going to work out great!
May 5th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Abe - I’m running 1.5 of Firefox, and I had trouble initially starting the application (I would get the “you have timed out” page right from the start), but after I started things with IE, I could restart, and after everything was done, I’ve had no problem with logging on to the account itself.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Good to know you opened an account here. I got an email saying my transfer from Amboy had been processed, but still have not beeen able to access my account online. The email had an account number but when I go to the fnbo sites, including the link on your website, I get invalid certificate messages and can’t click on links. How did you enroll for online access? What is the http of the site where you logged on to your account? I am on day five now. Spoke to a rep Friday and he said I would get a password in about 3 more days, but from reading the posts this might be a Firefox or Safari thing. I’ve learned my lesson about transferring money before having online access.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I also use Firefox 2.0.0.3 (Windows) but does not work for me. Got application time out error during application. I had to use IE to apply.
May 6th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Thanks for the update about firefox. I used firefox and also got the same error so I decided to err on the side of caution and not sign up with them. I thought if they can’t maintain their website well, how safe is my money and will I be able to access it? But if its just a firefox thing, I guess its okay.
May 6th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
We also opened an account with FNBO Direct this weekend and found the process to be totally smooth. Very nice that everything can be done online. We also did the application for the Schwab 4.25% checking account, but that requires a paper application, so the process is a bit slower.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:42 am
I used Firefox (version 2.0.0.3) with no problem, both for opening and accessing my account.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:40 am
removed upon request
May 7th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Jonathan Says above: “Trial verification deposits were sent to funding bank.”
You can save a couple of days and skip the verification deposits if you are willing to give your ID and password for your funding bank. I just applied this morning and FNBO indicated my initial deposit (up to $250,000 should be in my FNBO account within two (2) business days of now.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:28 am
FYI, First National is the same bank that is backing the World of Warcraft VISA credit cards.
May 8th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Jonathan,
How are you allocating your cash in your savings accounts now? You recently posted that you switched everything over to WaMu, but did you keep your Emigrant and other high yield accounts open with some cash in them? I’m currently switched over to WaMu because of Emigrant’s 3rd party fiasco.
May 8th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Sign up did not go smoothly for me. I was using the latest Firefox on Mac.
1. First tried the automatic bank account verification option with my Presidential account. Immediately said I had to use the deposit verification method and that it would take up to a few days.
2. A few days later, still no deposits. Returned to the FNBO site, clicked on “Return to my Application” and typed in the necessary info. It again confirmed that I had been accepted, but said the attempts to deposit into my account failed. It instructed me to mail a check to their Omaha PO Box.
Not bitter or anything, just thought I should post this in case anyone else has been sitting around waiting for days for their two small deposits…
May 8th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Can someone confirm: Is there a Quicken download option for statements?
May 8th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Johnnova: Quicken downloads are NOT supported on FNBODirect.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Forgive the naivety (spelling) but if i choose to deposit 10k in the FNBO account at 6% APY - what would be my first month’s interest earned? Is it $584?
May 8th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I also opened an %6.00 APY account w/ FNBO. I didn’t like a few things w/ the opening including the 3 days of non-interest that transfers see. I thought interest would be acruing while it sat in the pulled from source account/ pending availibity state. I guess I am just used to the AM Trust Direct policies (Highly recommended @ 5.36% APY). Anyway found the linked account section a bit problematic. To me when you enroll all your info noted on the enrollment form (selections, amounts, enrollment account status, etc) should be noted on the account once established. I’m sure it will all work out but here is how mine is going down:
Day 1) Enroll, (sign up)/link Account for transfer to fund account
Day 2) Aproval of enrollment account # provided
Day 3) Funds pulled from funding account ( AmTrust) but not seen in FNBO. Contacted FNBO and bitched about one account going from 50K to 1K but no visual proof of 49K pending in FNBO. CSR told me it was due to intial enrollment. future deposits will show but WILLNOT EARN INTEREST intill transfer clears (3-4 days).
Additionally I have found that the account verification has been problematic… when enrolling a series of questions are asked… lets say 3 of 5 have to be answered… for me the outlying 2 (which I did not pick and therfore had no answers of) were the security questions asked when I tried to sign on. Imagine having to verify question/answers which you passed over during the selection process. It gets you wondering what the deal is.
Overall I am pleased because I think I’m finally in and linked to the accounts I want. I like the real time verification that was availibile for one of the accounts (provide bank username/password), but I seriously dislike the idea of knowing cash was withdrawn from a linked account but not seen (or even worse not getting interest) in the new account.
Customer service is 24/7 but as soon as the APY is introductory rate is over I’m back at Am Trust (but rates at that point in time will dictate where the liquid cash will sit.)
I see this short term move a wash or at most +$100 taxable or so for the 4+ months FNBO offers 6.00APY. Honestly however, Am Trust seems like a REAL good idea for anyone that wants consistant, hassle free, comon sence banking with way above average rate of return.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
To MC:
Thank you for the tax info! I guess I can’t open this FNBO account in my child’s name since that usually is not a generic type of saving account.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:09 am
I despise CashEdge transfers…it really should be illegal for these banks to subject deposits to a non-interest holding period. The money doesn’t just disappear. And with the constantly rolling through of funds, CashEdge’s daily deposits on-hand probably exceed a lot of big banks, no? Somebody is making money off our money. I’m sticking with Eloan even though their interface is a bit flimsy. Transfers post the next day…in and out. I learned my lesson with HSBC the hard way and will never do business with them or anybody else using a CashEdge-like system again. I’M THE LENDER! They’re not doing me a favor, I’M DOING THEM A FAVOR!
May 9th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I used Firefox 2.0.0.3 (Windows) the entire time and I applied/logged in just fine.
The ‘Timed out’ message is just a minor inconvenience. Tell it OK, or whatever it wants, I don’t remember, and you can complete the entire process, as well as online banking, with Firefox.
Jack
May 9th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Charlie: To calculate the interest for one month, multiply your balance by 5.84% and divide by 12. $10,000 x 0.0584 = $48.67. The APY of 6% includes compound interest, that’s why the actual multiplier for one month is 5.84%. That’s annual, so you have to divide by 12 months in a year to get the monthly interest amount.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I’m kinda’ on the fence about this myself. I like the KISS principle (LOL) and don’t really want *another* account, but 6% is descent when I look at it this way……..
If you could increase anything by 20%, that’s a good thing, right? Well, vs. Emigrant, the interest rate would increase by 20%.
PLUS…….even when it goes back down it’ll supposedly be 5.25% (IIRC..maybe someone can link for sure?)
But I still have to leave $10K in Emigrant ‘cuz I use their credit card & need to in order to get their 1.4% rebate on their mastercard.
And Emigrant’s transfers are FAST! 1 day in most cases. I don’t know what this “CashEdge” stuff is all about, but it sounds a little nerve-racking. (????)
****P.S. The other thing I’d thought about, but don’t know if Emigrant would even listen……..would be to ask them if they’d UP their %?? Sometimes asking is all things like this take. I just went over the $50K threshold & that’s valuable to ME, but maybe they’d just laugh at me???
~Red
May 9th, 2007 at 11:24 am
if it only takes 3-4 days for a transfer to clear thats not bad. onc ethe transfer is done can I take that money out instantly? does it start earning interest right away?
when transferring money to ING it usually takes me 3-4 days, than I don’t earn interest on that money when it gets too ING till a week after the transfer (and I cant take out that money either)
kinda lame…
May 9th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Yes, you can access the funds immediately after they clear. If you do a CashEdge transfer into ING the funds will be available after it clears, they won’t put a hold on it on the ING end.
I assume the 3 float is how CashEdge makes their money. The transfers are never “free”, someone has to be paying for them in some shape or form.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
I believe I read something in the HSBC terms that supposedly nobody earns interest on money during the hold period. But I’ll eat my hat if nobody is making any money on the hold period money in any way whatsoever.
Also, with the FNBO terms, I read something I really did not like at all and a big factor in my not now opening an account with them. I clearly says that unless you can “PROVE” any breach of your account was due to internal failures on their part, then the assumption will be any breach of your account is due to your own failure (to safeguard info, etc.). Yeah, right! Forget that. I don’t care what the odds are, or what their chances of prevailing with that in court would be (low, I think); it’s just not worth the trouble.
May 10th, 2007 at 5:49 am
Has anyone been able to hook up fnbodirect to yodlee? For those of you who are users maybe if you submit a service request (new link at top of page when logged in), they will make it a priority. Login process seems identical to fnbo main site other than URL so should be a quick add for yodlee.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Now, I’m curious as to why anyone would want to use any other services OTHER THAN what the banks themselves provide???
I mean, independent firms may be better, but I’d rather avoid the liability. Just let them do their own thing (Cash Edge or whatever they call it) and that way if you ever find yourself in a court room you can point the finger at THEM all day instead of answering questions about some third party you hired.
P.S. ******ALSO ———–> While researching more on the web about opening this FNBO 6% account, I’m noticing some people say thta FNBO actually **DOES** do a HARD PULL on your credit.
Can anybody verify or deny for sure???
May 10th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I first bcame aware of FNBO on Monday morning(5/7/07) and applied then. My funding deposit (from HSBC Direct) was posted and available today(5/10/07).
May 10th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
After another day on phone with FNBO it appears that Amboy doesn’t allow EFT’s out of my account, even though the EFT deposits went through OK. Will have to call Amboy tomorrow, is that the case some banks don’t allow transfers out? Now FNBO won’t allow me to add another external account like BofA online, they are insisting I mail them a check. Think I will give up on FNBO. Think the browser issue is most likely Mac versions of Firefox and Safari, perhaps they have fixed it by now, they were aware of it a few days ago.
May 11th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I emailed a online banking rep, and this is what they said:
“Thank you for contacting FNBO Direct. Please be advised, we will complete a soft check to the credit bureau to identify the applicant”
May 11th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Anyone have any advice on the most time-efficient way to get money from Emigrant Direct to Bank of America and then to FNBO Direct? What are the best days to initiate the transfers? Thanks.
May 11th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I would like to take advantage of the high interest rates of online savings, but I worry about something happening that will make me lose money! I can’t afford the risk!
Anybody know how safe it really is?
May 11th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
It is as safe as a regular bank. FDIC insured and all that jazz. If you are really concerned you could go with like ING or WAMU…more well known ones.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
On a post above I wrote that my initial deposit showed up on the web page as available within four days of applying for my account. This is true, but now six days later it shows up as not available–not a very helpful practice. I assumed the original post was correct and set up a payment already.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
On a post above I wrote that my initial deposit showed up on the web page as available within four days of applying for my account. This is true, but now six days later it shows up as not available–not a very helpful practice. I trusted the original web page and already set up payment to a credit card. Luckily, I was just able to cancel the payment.
May 14th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Welp………..I bit the bullet.
Put the app thru & just waiting for the confirmation deposits to show up. I wanted to plunk the large amount from Emigrant, but I entered my regular bank first & it doesn’t let you enter another bank account right now……(not ’til after the mini-deposits are done)…….so I guess I have to wait.
I haven’t ever done MM to MM before. I saw somebody else posted about this too, but I’ll throw it out there again anyway………
Do MM companies use typical ABA routing & account # transfers?? I never had to set it up aside from Emigrant ‘cuz Emigrant only asks for my BANK’S aba/acct…….but I don’t want to have to transfer funds to my bank account & then hop over to FNBO, so I’m hopin’ the ET from Emigrant to FNBO will be simple & self explanatory once it’s go-time.
??? TIA ~ Red
May 15th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
My experience with Eloan to FNBO Direct:
Initiated push from Eloan at 8:00 am PDT on 5/14, funds are in FNBO as of 7:30 am PDT on 5/15. Very happy with the transfer speed from Eloan. Did the same thing on the same time/day with a pull from FNBO Direct from WaMu savings, no activity yet as of 3:30 PDT on either account.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Dear Red,
I do not believe FNBO or Emigrant are Money Market accounts. Other postings may help with the terminology. If I am right MM’s are mutual funds with special rules and not banks. They have no routing numbers, but are associated with banks that will not reveal their routing numbers.
At any rate FNBOdirect, HSBCdirect and EmigrantDirect are not MM’s but are divisions of banks and do have and allow use of routing numbers.
I used my HSBCdirect routing number and funded my FNBOdirect account (no confirmation deposits involved) in two days (interest being earned but six day hold).
May 15th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Dear Red,
Or better yet call FNBO customer service at 1-877-370-3707. They were quite helpful when I have called (very short telephone hold time).
May 15th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Thanks!
Ya, to update…….I confirmed the two mini-deposits today so things seem to be going smoothly. I would assume that tomorrow I’ll have the e-mail to set up my account & then be able to set up my Emigrant account from there.
And, actually, I think it’ll be kinda’ nice to have 2 high-yield accounts like this so that I can keep the majority of liquid cash in whoever’s willing to pony up the highest %!!!
:^)
May 15th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
I just wanted to note that I have removed the comments supplied by an employee at FNBO Direct at his request. I was also notified directly by an executive from FNBO which wanted to clarify that the interest rate after 9/28 has NOT been decided yet, although they do plan to make it competitive.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
As an update………(and for us Emigrant customers)
I’m still waiting for the first transfer from my regular bank to show up. I was gonna wait ’til Monday to set up Emigrant, but then I thought about it & decided to get the account at least set up tonight.
Well, despite my having all the info at hand & entering it all correctly……..it appears that FNBO & Emigrant don’t play nicely as it would not let the account verify “automatically”. I had to resort to the “trial deposit” thing again for Emigrant.
Hopefully, by Monday it’ll be set up & ready to go! Wish me luck
:^o
May 17th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Be careful, I set up my FNBO account using Amboy, the two transfer verifications went fine then when I tried to fund my FNBO account it wouldn’t go through. Spent hours trying to deal with this, after having already spent time setting the account up initially with the browser problems. Also, had the same thing happen trying to fund a Washington Mutual account with Amboy funds. Ended up having to close and reopen that account. When an initial funding deposit fails it becomes total chaos. Apparently, some banks just won’t play with or release money to certain other banks, one FNBO tech said there were many banks he had seen this issue with including BofA. Almost gave up, but resorted to mailing a check to FNBO to fund account, been waiting a week for that to go through, they got it Monday and yesterday it still showed pending. Think safest thing is to fund using a checking account.
May 17th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Hmmmmm………I’m not familiar with “Amboy” but I’ll assume that it’s just another protocol for transfers.
I figure, if their OWN system can’t get it done……….(FNBO’s and Emigrant’s)………then I don’t need it.
I’m expecting to see my initial deposit by tomorrow. (that will be the 3rd day SINCE my account being ‘opened’).
I’m also expecting to see the “trial deposits” in the Emigrant tomorrow too, so I can get that set up. I want to initiate my large transfer by Monday/Tuesday at the latest.
:^)
May 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Account opening process - does anyone know how a credit report freeze would/could affect the opening process ?
May 18th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Can’t help ya’ there, but they do seem to answer the phone rather quickly, so I’d call.
I called this morning & asked why my original bank account (the one I created the original transfer from) didn’t show up as a viable ‘transfer’ account. The gal told me that sometimes the initial transfer doesn’t automatically qualify that institution as a ‘transfer’ account, and to just go ahead & do the trial deposit thing. (Too bad they don’t transfer dollars instead of cents….I’d be rich….LOL)
Anyway……..this morning (as I hoped), my initial transfer showed up *and* my Emigrant account rec’d the trial deposits so I confirmed & it, too, is now linked up.
NOW ——————> Should I start my deposit this morning, or should I wait ’til tonight or Monday to initiate my larger transfer????? (In order to not lose interest during the 3 biz-day gap)
May 18th, 2007 at 10:24 am
To FYI anybody
In the past few days I went to a credit card, using FNBO routing no. and my account no., I was able to pay my credit card bill. You can only make any sort of a withdrawal six times a month, so best to save this for the big payments.
May 21st, 2007 at 6:09 am
I have a question here. I am trying to link my HSBC online savings to my new FNBO online savings (as is everyone else), and HSBC says I can’t wire funds directly out of savings to another bank, that I must transfer the money to my checking account first, and THEN it can be wired out. Is this true? That would mean several more days of lost interest, since the time it would sit in checking would mean a loss of interest.
Can FNBO “pull” money directly from the HSBC savings? What is the easiest way to accomplish this?
May 21st, 2007 at 9:39 am
I live in the Albany, NY area and while I was recently reading the various money Blogs out there I came across a post about http://www.rateedge.com which is the online only high yeild savings division of a local credit union. The rate is 5.5%. As I sifted through the FAQ’s I noticed that they mentioned once you are accepted for an account the inital transfer of funds to the account could be made by credit card. I almost crapped myself since I’m currently getting accepted to a Chase Visa with 0% APR on purchases and BT. I planned on rolling all my chase cards limits to this new one and BT-ing to Citi even with the $75fee. I would of course then roll that into my FNBO or AmTrust account. But now it seems I can roll it directly into this new 5.5% account from “Rate Edge”. I IM’ed the CSR team this morning and they confirmed this initial funding can be made as a PAYMENT on a CC. If this is really all legit it looks like both time and money are being saved here. Accounts in the CU are insured up to 100K. The only downfalls I’ve seen are unfortunatly you cannot fund via AmEx or Discover (AmEx has a 15month 0% offer going on). They have a fee structure for withdrawls above 2 per month (you get 6 total) and there is no bill pay option. Also you need to live, have family, do business or work in the greater Albany, NY area. I guess my overall question is …. has anyone ever heard of direct fund addition to an account via a credit card payment? This looks like a sweet deal for me.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:30 pm
To Bob: On your FNBO web page you can link it to HSBC online savings (you need HSBC routing #). You can then initiate withdrawals or deposits on the FNBO page.
To Eric: I have several times used a Chase 0% offer. Soon after the card account opens they have always sent me one or two blank checks(good up to my credit limit) I could deposit or cash anywhere (including directly into FNBO) and get the 0% rate.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I just went through the entire creation process without trouble. Here’s what I did to fix Firefox. Click on tools, options, advanced, and click CLEAR NOW under the cache option. Works perfectly now.
-Wilks
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:43 am
Red- please see the earlier post on this board regarding Emigrant’s past treatment of 3rd party-transfers: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/arc.....sfers.html
It may explain why you were having issues. They don’t block 3rd party transfers IN (such as the trial deposits), but unless they changed their mind (again), they may not allow the transfer out to any account other than one of the verified checking accounts you have on file with them.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:40 am
Mike………
Thanks for the ‘heads up’. I contacted FNBO to see how my transfer was going & the gal told me that while they were having troubles w/ Emigrant’s “MONEY MARKET” accounts, that the savings accounts were typically ‘ok’.
She advised me that she can’t really *see* what’s going on w/ the transfer as that’s Cash Edge’s business (she was impressed that I knew Cash Edge handled the transfers…….LOL) but that if I didn’t see the funds moving as of tomorrow, to call them back & let them know.
(Fingers crossed) =^)
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Sure enough………the bastards ‘rejected’ my transfer! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
}=^[
Just for that, I’m gonna strip it down even further than I was going to. I was gonna give Emigrant a little of the plunder, but now they are getting the BARE MINIMUM for the credit card perks.
What a flippin’ hose job.
FWIW, the rejection showed a code “R20″ and referred to a bunch of BS mentioning nothing about safety, just a bunch of legaleeze leaving me with a loathing for the institution that is…………THE SNOW JOB!
Oh well, live & learn. 5.05 is better than nothing, so I’ll just transfer to my bank, then over to FNBO.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I have a HSBC Direct account and want to open a FNBO account and have FNBO pull from my HSBC Direct account. Do I go thru the account open process with FNBO and provide my HSBC account number, routing number and dollar amount or do I go to HSBC Direct and add FNBO account info once the account has been established and then have HSBC push to FNBO.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Can you explain how you are paying your credit cards with third party transfers?
I just tranferred my money from HSBC to FNBO…application and transfer went well!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:50 am
Red- If it makes you feel better you can call up Emigrant and complain, and they’ll promise you a letter confirming the policy change. Of course, I had my transfer rejected in February and am still waiting on this letter. Just count yourself lucky. It may have cost you a couple days lost interest, but others have missed cd rates, credit card payment, and ira contributions because of this. In my opinion, if they are willing to change this policy and not tell you, what prevents them from changing the minimum balance requirements for their cash-back card and not telling you?
Ted- I did it both ways and didn’t notice any difference in transaction times. I like the added flexibility, but since FNBO is limited to three banks, you could argue that setting it up on only the HSBC side would allow you to free up a spot if that’s important to you.
Jennifer- I haven’t used FNBO in this manner yet, but unless they “pull an Emigrant”, it should just be as simple as logging in to your credit card account and providing them with FNBO’s ABA and your account number. Some credit card co’s like Citi require 7-10 days to set this up, so don’t wait til the last minute.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:40 am
Mike—–
Excellent points!!!
LOL at the “pull an Emigrant” comment…………ROTFLMAO!!! That was great!
Will definitely be keeping a close eye on the credit card statements from now on!!!!!
;^)
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Update…………
Haven’t called Emigrant yet, but do plan to & just give ‘em a piece of my mind…………….especially since I stuck w/ them THROUGH the HSBC 6% offer.
But that’ll teach me next time. Just take all these folks for all they’re worth. Rate chase, screw ‘em, dink ‘em, boink ‘em……….whatever. If for one second I think they’re there for ME…….I need to remember……..THEY AREN’T DOING THIS ‘CUZ THEY’RE NICE FOLKS!
Anyway, money left my Emigrant account today & is scheduled to arrive in my checking account tomorrow. Kinda’ weird when the money shows gone from one account, but not in another & you know it’s in a 3rd party’s hands………a.k.a. The Twilight Zone!!!
(c=
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Dunno how my name turned into “Mike”.
Maybe “Emigrant’s” after me on this board too…………..LOL!!!
May 24th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Well, now I swear they’re all in kahootz!!!!!
FNBO’s website ain’t workin’ well this morning. I first noticed that their like java script (or whatever it is) ain’t working on the home page. (circular arrow advert for the 6% offer)
Then, when you try to log on, when you get to the password, it fails & says to try back soon. (Aaarrrggh)
Just as soon as Emigrant gets the money over to my bank & I’m ready to transfer hop, skip & jump back over to FNBO for its final destination………..kabloooooeeee…………no workeee!!!
Murphy’s Law in effect!!!! =^)
May 24th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Red- When you call Emigrant, see if you can get an update on when the infamous letter outlining the 3rd party transfer policy change will be sent, and let us know on the main post regarding the issue (link). I was promised one as early as March and the last mention on that post was for sometime in May, which is rapidly coming to pass. I’ll be shocked if any of us ever receive such a letter, but I’m mainly curious how long they will continue to lie about it to their customers, and that board is a great history of it.
May 24th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Hmmmm……….posted a thread an hour ago but still not showing. Gonna try w/ different content.
First ————> Finally got money transferred from Emigreedy to my bank hop/skip/jump over to FNBO. Now that that’s done, I wanna hook up ED and FNBO………..BUT………it appears ED won’t accept them as a link???
ED wants a voided check from anybody you attach to them & I don’t have any checks from FNBO. Also………even if I get those ‘quasi’ checks in the mail from FNBO, they won’t accept those either. It has to be a dedicated personal checking account.
What flippin’ bungholes!! What if I wanted to deposit tons of money in there??? They wanna make it difficult??
(rolls eyes)
May 24th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Red, I seem to be having the same problem getting AmTrust Direct to accept a hook up with FNBO. On the bright side, I was able to link my AmTrust to FNBO and I have done one transaction pushing funds into FNBO and it only took one day. It just looks like I won’t be able to initiate anything from my FNBO back, but if I can pull money from the AmTrust I should be covered between those banks…
Really, in this day and age of electronic funding, there should be no reason for some of the hurdles and hoops they make you jump through.
May 24th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Setting up an account with FNBO. Seems to be lots of questions and e-mails. Wondering if it can be done in 1 day?
What is a calendar month ?
30/31 days or May, June etc ??
May 24th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
On the 16th I received an e-mail from FNBO saying my account would be fully functional wihtin 3 days. I still can’t use it. They tell me they are having a programming problem adding the FNBO accounts to the transfer screen. Which means, I can’t move money in. It is starting to make me worry…..
May 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Sounds like FNBO can be a hassle, would anyone recomend AmTrust Direct or is the 6% really worth it?
May 24th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
It actually doesn’t appear to be FNBO any more or less than it is everybody else.
Emigreedy
CashEdge (though I can’t really fault them myself)
and others
I can’t fault my credit union. They’ve been dead-reliable through this whole process. They’re just doing whatever they’re told like a good bank should.
Emigrant is the one that pisses me off right now. If *I* order a pull based on (enter name of regulation here) “regulations” that make it THUS and SO that I am who I say I am at FNBO (can they all agree on a banking standard?), then when I commence a transfer, it should go as commanded.
Heck, I’m guessing that “CashEdge” is even required (if even to the smallest degree) to act as some sort of *escrow* party involved in the process to make sure that everybody is who they say they are in the deal so even if “regulations” don’t hold water, you’d think that CE would (???)
Anyway……….I’ll just jump thru the hoops they want to get what *I* want and smile while taking their money. I also will NOT be swayed in the least, by my worrying about any inconvenience in rate-chasing in the future. If somebody offers me more money………..voila……..I’m gone & off to the races! Money talks & bull$#!t walks!!!!! (IMHO)
=^)
May 24th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Case & Terry-
I have both n AMTrust and a FNBO account. First I’ll say I have both linked in both accounts and I have not had any issues initiating transfers OUT of AmTrust and INTO FNBO from FNBO. Both accounts have their pros and cons I believe I commented on some of these in previous coments (see above).
Acouple of things about AMTrust that I’ve noticed… custoer service is not always totally clar on their policies. I mean they know the basics like 6 wthdrawls out but they (some CSR) don’t know details such as only3 of the 6 can be initiated by a 3rd party. FNBO would be a 3rd party if you initiated a pull from AMTrust via FNBO’s website. Not a big deal they send a nastygram via postal mail but since these details are NOWHERE to be found within your personal account FAQ’s or the AMTrust Direct website FAQ’s I’m sure if a fee was acessed it would get waived. (I’ll comment that both banks CSR’s are very helpfull and friendly). Another issue with AmTrust is that there is a mininum $50 withdrall/transfer out. This a problem sometimes with Account verification from other institutions. Prosper.com for example deposited $0.53 into my AmTrust and pulled $0.39, obvioulsly the $0.39 is below the $50.00. I have not yet had any nastygram or other communication regarding this. Again this is not mentioned on the website FAQ’s but IS CLEARLY STATED in the membership agreement when you open an account.
Overall I’m still liking AmTrust better than FNBO, I think alot of that is due to money transfered in earning interest while it’s still being confirmed and cleared (this money earns interest but is not available to withdrawl for about 4-5 days). AmTrust also has a cleaner, more professional website and they seem to communicate problems to their customer base with accuracy and on a timely basis.
I’m a rate pig so I’ll case the rate but I like the idea of having all these accounts open and linked. See my note about rateedge.com, these guys let you fund your account with a payment on a credit card… sounds like a good way to get a 0% APY purchases/BT credit card and move your entire limit into the account for NO FEES while earning reward points.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Eric, I’m wondering if my problem getting confirmation deposits from FNBO to AmTrust is because of the 50 dollar deposit minimum? Or maybe, I used a wrong routing number? What routing number did you use?
May 25th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Terry, the $50 is money LEAVING AmTrust not money ENTERING. The AmTrust routing # is 267091221, This should be initially called a “checking” account (according to the original paperwork (via US mail) I received with my account number).
May 25th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Greeeeeeeeeat……….
2nd day in a row that FNBO’s website is fubarred!!!
8^P
May 26th, 2007 at 12:12 am
“Terry, the $50 is money LEAVING AmTrust not money ENTERING. The AmTrust routing # is 267091221, This should be initially called a ?checking? account (according to the original paperwork (via US mail) I received with my account number).”
Thanks Eric…I will double check and see if I used that routing number and “checking account”.
May 26th, 2007 at 8:10 am
I am new to this blog, so pardon me if I am repeating something. I’ve been very happy with Countrywide Bank’s bank-to-bank tranfer policy and ability to have the beneficiary be a Living Trust. If I make a request to have my money leave my Countrywide account by 4pm Pacific, it will be in my Washington Mutual account the next day. Same for getting money out. No three day nonsense like at HSBC and all the rest. I also found that only CWB allowed me to list my Living Trust as beneficiary. It has been several months since looking into this. At the time, only CWB allowed this. I also used the free external transfer at Wamu (with free person checking account) to move my money to CWB. Using a wire TRX avoids having that money count toward my allowable monthly limit.
May 26th, 2007 at 10:48 am
OK, took me a little bit to figure it out, but………
Apparently “fnbodirect.com” url is sketchy. Occasionally it’ll work right but mostly it won’t.
“www.fnbodirect.com” acts as if it’s a totally different url and loads properly every time. Dunno what the deal is (different IP’s??) but anyway…………if you’re having trouble just be sure you’re using www in the url.
LOL
May 29th, 2007 at 7:27 am
I’m experiencing long delays with the FBNO account, as well. Glad, at least, it isn’t just me. I have never had any problem with my ING account, and all the transfers are quick and reliable. While the interest is 4.5%, I am wondering if the FBNO is worth the hassle and long delays for the added interest.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:01 am
I just wanted to thank Eric for his help in giving me the correct precedure for linking FNBO to AmTrust. Using “checking” and the routing number 267091221 was just the right combo and it went through smoothly!
Thanks again Eric for your help. It is much appreciated!
Terry
May 29th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Glad to be of help, for the most part my online bank set-ups have gone smooth but the fine print does need to be read and frequent calls do need to be made to the CSR’s. I am only envisioning my next experience… bring on http://www.rateedge.com … are they really going to let me fund my new account by charging $24,000 on my VISA (0%APR) for the opening process? We’ll see (let’s hope). Bring on the reward points!
May 31st, 2007 at 4:32 am
Eric & Terry…I noticed that you both have AmTrust Direct accounts. For what it’s worth, and I don’t know how much credence should be given to this, but AmTrust is rated only 2 stars on the Safe&Sound SM star rating, which is below Industry Average. FNBO and Eloan are ated 4 stars.
Does anyone know how important these ratings are?
As far as putting money into a savings account, I am tring to decide between Eloan and FNBO. Eloan seems to be a little more hassle-free.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:39 pm
John, not sure how Eric feels about the 2 star rating, but with the FDIC insurance and other banking safeguards, I’m not too worried. I don’t have a ton of money in there either, since I moved it to FNBO.
June 1st, 2007 at 8:29 am
Yes John I noticed that on bankrate.com before I dropped a rather large amount into the account, but like Terry mentioned FDIC insurance levels the playing field (IMO). Plus I liked the fact that AmTrust was a division of Ohio Savings Bank… a bank with brick and morter branches in several different states. As a mattter of fact Ohio Savings recently changed their name to AmTrust. Overall I also like their polocies and the fact that the interest rate has been stable at 5.36% for about a year, not varying and not introductory. Also like the free checking account they offer. Since I have opened my FNBO account all AmTrust is holding is $1 but when the intoductory period is over I’ll move my cash back to AmTrust or my previously mentioned “Rateedge” account.
June 1st, 2007 at 11:09 am
FYI. My first interest credit appeared today, dated yesterday. I made my first deposit on 5/4, so it may be that FNBO pays out on the last day of the month. More likely it’s the last business day of the month, since they advertise the 6% promotional rate being good until 9/28.
John- I have an ELoan and a FNBO account. I didn’t experience any hassles signing up with either one. Both were apparently paying 5.25APY prior to this promotion, so their regular rates might be similar after September, but it’s hard to ignore the difference now. Neither offer Quicken or Money downloads, if that’s important to you. FNBO allows you to link 3 external accounts, while ELoan only allows 1 and has limits to how often you can change it. ELoan requires a $5000 initial deposit and says they will close your account if under $500 for 90 days, while FNBO does not. In ELoan’s favor, their transfers are faster, so you don’t lose 2 or more days of interest.
June 1st, 2007 at 10:18 pm
hey guys,
just curious as to whether or not you can see how much interest youve earned on a daily basis on the fnbo website.
so far all ive been able to locate is last months total interest.
i really dont want to drop too much money into the account and find out the last day of the month that i got hosed on the interest.
thanks in advance.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 am
Seem to be caught in a loop trying to fund an FNBO account. Went through the whole deposit verification process and was just told this morning that we had to do all over again. The customer rep indicated something about a 6 day hold on deposits, which I can understand but what the hell has that got to to do with FUNDING the account ?? I get the impression staff are pulling answers out of their asses.
I have wasted 2 weeks in this process. So, contrary to other experiences here, NOT RECOMMENDED.
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:35 am
Thanks Mike, I finally did sign on with FBNO…no complications…email said I was accepted and I am awaiting my initial small deposits. Will let people know my status as it goes on.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Guys FNBO credits interest on the last day of the month. If that day falls on a weekend it would be the Friday before the last day of the month.
Jeff- FNBO componds daily and credits monthly, I’m sure if you pulled your cash mid month at the end of the month you’d still see a positive balance because they would post on the money you had in the account for that portion of time. You will not be able to see interest daily.
Freshegg- not sure where you’re running into problems but for the most part the enrollment is pretty smooth, i believe many of us outlined our personal experiences above. If FNBO doesn’t work try AmTrust.
Good luck.
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Just found this blog today and after reading all the pro’s and con’s I have decided to go ahead with the FNBO Direct 6% interest savings account. My account will not be a a frog strangler by any strech. My current haze is around the actual steps to take in FNBO Direct to affect a transfer from my credit union checking account. I followed the hand held step by step process to have the $1 deposit transferred to FNBO, that now appears on both ends to have worked successfully. Now I’m a week later and the Fund Transfer steps are not exactly intuitive ( to me). Anyone done this a few times and could give me a litlle coaching ?
Thanks for this neighborly service,
Robin
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:07 am
Robbin, if you have already gone through the account verification step linking your CU and FNBO innitiating a transfer between them should be a breeze. The only thing you need to decide is at which insitution you want to initiate from. Since you probably linked your CU to FNBO (you registered a routing/account # for your CU with FNBO) then it is easiest to go into your FNBO account in in the transfer section you will have that CU as an option for funding your account. Select it and initiate a “pull” from your CU to the newly created FNBO. One note, you may see the funds removed from the CU but NOT seen in FNBO right away. This is most certainly due to Automated Clearing House (ACH) processes which I believe is what most online financial institutions used to move cash around. you might not see your funds available for as long as 5-7 days. I think I commented more on this in an entry above outlining my FNBO opening experience. any deeper questions contact customer service they seem to be helpfull. Remember if you want to initiate transfers OUT (push) of your CU from your CU’s website you need to set up FNBO’s routing/and account # on that side of things.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:10 am
It’s good, I’ll open it
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Eric,
Thank you for the helpful response. This blog has been most effective in showing a newby like me the ins and outs of this rate chasing game. As I stated earlier my investments are quite modest but I have recognized the value of having money work for me in other financial endeavors. Being a very recent addition to the retiree ranks, I now must seek to gain where ever possible. The greatest fear is that I will fall victim to the numerous scams lying about so this why I looked for information from independent sources such this site. Any suggestions anyone might have on how to validate the many choices offered. Not that I seek to have dozens of accounts to have to keep track of, but I would like to learn to ferret out the bad guys so as to be able to warn many friends in my situation.
Thanks again for your help and the input from all other participants,
Robin
June 4th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Hello, all. I noticed today that FNBO is no longer listed on Bankrate.com.
Does anyone know why??? Just a little concerned.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Ran into my 1st problem funding the FNBO account. I received the small deposits, entered them in the application, and the message from FNBO said “new account accepted”. But it will not let me fund the new account. Emailed them and will telephone tomorrow..will keep you posted in case other people run into the same problem.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Anybody having trouble getting money out of fnbo?
I have multiple accounts with fnbo and hsbc, and having a lot of trouble transferring money from fnbo accounts to hsbc accounts, or to washington mutual savings account. I keep getting R03 failure code, complaining identity does not match. But if I initiate transfer from hsbc or capitalOne (with completely different first name) to fnbo, then the transfer is successful. I started suspecting something wrong with fnbo side. I called fnbo CSR many time and none can not give me any resolution to this problem. I’m getting to a point where I have to experiment to see which accounts be able to transfer with each other. I’m getting increasingly frustrated with being unable to get money out of fnbo. Anyone has similar troubles with fnbo?
June 5th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Oooooooooooh……..ya……………sorry. Forgot that one little detail. FNBO is a “one-way” financial institution.
The money goes in……………but never, ever, evvaaarrrr comes out!
=^)
June 6th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Here’s a problem I’ve run into with FNBO. I’ve filled out the application form at least a dozen times over the past month & when I click save or next after agreeing to their terms, I get “application error,please try again later”. I’ve tried every setting you can think of,including turning my internet security basically off. I’ve done this on 3 different computers with 2 different browsers,nothing works. Any hints or tips out there? It’s not like I’m new at this. I pay all my bills & do most of my banking online.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
I think I read through all the responses, but I didn’t get an answer. Is it possible to fund FNBO directly from my ING savings? Or, will that get denied?
June 8th, 2007 at 4:23 am
I think my FNBO account is now running smoothly. I had to redo my personal savings account within my FNBO account in order to transfer funds in and out. It does seem to take a long time (3 to 4 days ) before the $ show up. I’m used to ING where the $ usually show up within 1 to 2 days. However, if you’re not going to be transferring often and intend to just let the $ sit there, FNBO seems to bgood considering the 6% interest rate.
JJ…in order to transfer directly from ING you have to input the ING account details to FNBO account and then they will do a small transfer into the ING account to determine if it’s working properly. I have not tried it so I don’t know anything further. At the speed (or I should say lack of it) you may be able to transfer faster from your own savings account.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
How difficult is it to close the account or to transfer the money into a personal checkign account or another type of account that’s not FNBO?
Thanks in advance…
June 13th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I have an acct at Amtrust Direct & just opened one at FNBO & another at Countrywide Bank. Was a bit ticked off to see FNBO’s 3-day hold after money was deducted from Amtrust before it was even credited at FNBO. Someone is making money on this pointless delay, and it isn’t me. But, I don’t plan to transfer money very often between accounts.
I also have a Treasury Direct account linked to the Amtrust account, and transfers between these two accounts are instantaneous. Immediately after the Treasury puts money into Amtrust, it is available to me. Seems to me any bank operating under the Federal Reserve system should operate the same way. I wonder if checks mailed to FNBO for deposits have the same 3-day hold after they are withdrawn from the bank the check is drawn on, I rather doubt it.
I always set up my accounts as “payable-on-death” to get around probate restrictions. FNBO told them they offer no beneficiary accounts, this is a big negative for me. After setting up the FNBO account, they did a test-deposit with my Amtrust Account for the initial funding. Then when I set up the same Amtrust account to be linked to the FNBO account, FNBO did another test-deposit, why I don’t know. This was the same account which successfully transferred money for the opening funding.
I first contacted FNBO online on 6/7 and by 6/13 my first deposit had been made & the 3-day hold has passed. It would have been quicker to fill out a downloaded form, attach a check, and mail it to Omaha!
After that experience I went to a local branch of Countrywide, which it turns out was not really a banking branch. The CSR filled out the forms, gave me an account number & a detailed receipt, provided a FedEx overnight envelope for me at no charge, and I sent my first deposit (for a CD) into a FedEx pickup box in the office. It’ll be interesting to see when the account actually takes effect & when the funds are withdrawn from the bank the check was drawn on. Even though I drove across town, this was less of a hassle than the FNBO online experience was. 6% can’t be beat, though.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:05 am
I have a transfer-money-from-bank-to-bank related question.
I am currently a student, unemployed, and not planing on working for the next year or two. I have about 10K in my saving account with HSBC, and want to transfer the money to FINBO since FINBO is offering a 6%APY. My question is, if I transfer >10K at once, will my account be tracked down by IRS; and if I don’t file tax return next year (since I won’t be working) and not reporting the interest I make, what are the possible problems I would be facing from IRS? (I’ve heard different stories from people, but they were never clear and certain with their answers.) Thanks!
June 14th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
—– As far as I know, banks have to report transactions >= $10,000 to someone, this has to do with prevention of money laundering. Some banks I have dealt with report transactions substantially
June 14th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
[Somehow my reply got truncated, this is a second try at posting]
—– As far as I know, banks have to report transactions >= $10,000 to someone, this has to do with prevention of money laundering. Some banks I have dealt with report transactions substantially
June 14th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
[one more try, don’t know what’s wrong]
less than $10,000 just to be on the safe side, so splitting your deposits may not prevent a report.
—- If you are not required to file a federal tax return for a given year due to insufficient income, what you deposit in a bank, or earn in interest, shouldn’t otherwise matter. Some localities require you to file tax forms with them annually whether or not you owe anything, and in order to do that, you must also file federal forms. Personally I would file tax returns even if I owed nothing.
—– IRS offers a wide variety of free tax form help now, I have used the free Turbo Tax option for 2 years running & have been very pleased with it. Many states offer free online filing.
June 14th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Well, it worked. Something about this blog doesn’t like the mathematical symbol for “less than” or
June 14th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Posting a comment with the ‘less than’ or ‘greater than’ symbols may be confused by the blog software for html. Sorry!
June 15th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I just received an email from FNBO
——————————————————————-
FNBO Direct
Account ending in XXXX
ONLINE SAVINGS
Because security of your account is important to us, we want you to be aware of one of the steps we take to maintain security: We may temporarily restrict all deposits to and transfers from your FNBO Direct account if we determine a security risk exists and we may refuse to complete any transfer based on the existence of a security risk. Please see the “Note about Linked Accounts” and the “Important Note about Security for Deposits and Transfers” in the updated Disclosures for your account here. Corresponding changes are contained in Sections 7 and 12 of the Online Services Agreement and Section 6 of the Deposit Agreement, all found in the Terms and Conditions here.
——————————————————————
Does any one got it too? What do you think of this?
June 15th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Josephine,
Let me translate into plain english so we can all better understand it………
“Since we’ve rec’d such an influx of money over the last few weeks, we are plumb FULL of MUCHO DINERO (the new english in So Cal for “sh!tloads of money). And as such, we would like to advise you that if you’re using us to do anything other than plant your money for months and months (read that- years and years) to come……..we are letting you know now that we reserve the right to put the brakes on any of it so that we can continue to hold MUCHO DINERO in our portfolio for as looooooooooong as humanly possible before letting it slip off the tips of our cold, dead hands”
And, yes, I did get it too!
June 15th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
——- I got the same notice from FNBO today that you mentioned. All banks can put temporary holds on accounts because of security issues, whether online or in person. When I have more time, I’ll track down all the online notices & read them.
——- More on my Countrywide Bank account opening. 96 hours ago I filled out the application at a Countrywide loan branch, put it in a FedEx overnight envelope along with my check, and deposited it in the FedEx box. Unfortunately, the day’s Fedex pickup had already been made, the next pickup was almost exactly 24 hours later. I estimate it would have arrived at the bank about 60 hours ago. Countrywide paid for the FedEx delivery, there was no charge to me. An hour ago I noted the deposit check had cleared the bank it was drawn on. I was able to verify the account & balance with Countrywide by phone right away. I tried to register for online access, but the Countrywide website is malfunctioning, so I haven’t yet done that. 96 hours from touching pen to paper to having the account balance confirmed is far faster than the “online” process I went through with FNBO last week to open an account with them, plus I had a paper receipt & account number right away. My Countrywide account has actually been in full effect for 48 hours already. Of course, not everyone can get to an office of either institution. It makes me wonder how long it would have taken just to fill out an application and mail it with a check to FNBO in the first place!
—— For my own education I split a deposit from one bank of mine to FNBO. At 1500 EDT yesterday I ordered the transfer online. The website of FNBO refused to execute the transfer that day, said it had to wait until the next day. Today I got an email from FNBO saying they had received my online order at 1256 EDT, almost 22 hours after I placed the order online. As of now (almost 1700 EDT) the order has not been executed. I also made out a check for the other part of the deposit & mailed it yesterday at 1700. I figure that will arrive in Omaha on Monday the 17th. I am beginning to suspect it’s faster to mail a check & have it posted to the account than to have an online transaction completed. I’ll leave a note when both deposits get into the account.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Can anyone provide insight into using bank-to-bank wire transfer rather than inter-institution transfer for funding my new FNBO-D account? I read above about people’s experiences with the delay in FNBO’s “pulling” funds, and Citibank has too small a transfer limit for “pushing” funds from there to be a good option for the chunk of money I want to send to FNBO. So I thought a wire transfer might be worth the $18.95 charge, if it saves me the three+ days of lost interest involved with the ACH transfer.
So I’m wondering exactly how the wire transfer works. Supposedly it arrives on the same day, though I’m told by a Citibank rep that there may be up to a day’s delay in Citibank initiating the transfer. Once they do so, is there a dead period where I’m losing interest, as in an ACH transfer, or do the funds transfer instantaneously?
June 19th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I’m still curious to know more about wire transfers for my own edification, but the immediate point is now moot. My initial deposit turned up at FNBO just two business days after being deducted from the funding account. That fact, combined with my discovering that FNBO charges an additional $10 for incoming wires, decided me on just doing a regular pull of the funds, and hoping that they arrive from Citibank in more like two days than three or four.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Ok. I got all set up with FNBO. The process was straight forward, and wasn’t bad at all. I only transferred $10 from my ING to begin with. Now, I’m ready to transfer the rest of my money. Well, I find it funny that I have to re-add my ING accout as a transfer, even though I used it to open FNBO.
=Well, My question is: I got to the “verify account” portion of the “Add Transfer Accounts” and I can either do “trial deposits” again and wait a couple days, or I can type in my ING Account Number and Pin Number for instant verification. Is this safe??? (telling them this info?)
If I tell them my Account and Pin number, will the transfers be instantaneous/same day??? (ie: no 3 day lag time?) (OR, should I just do the trial deposits again, because there would be no benefit to them knowing my account and pin number to ING, except for instant verification?)
Thanks!
June 19th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Followup on my comparison of deposit methods. The check I mailed on the afternoon of June 14th was deposited in my account on the 18th & is now drawing interest. The online transfer I ordered at the same time was not actually done for about 96 hours. My source bank account is now down by the online deposit & the amount has still not shown up on my FNBO account, so I am losing interest while waiting.
What point is there in making online deposits to FNBO?
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
GMAC Bank is the best that I have found and is great to deal with. Interest Rate as of today 6-23-07 is 5.30% and they give you checks and ATM Cards. Great Customer Service and they even speak English. HSBC or Hong Kong,Shanghi Bank Corp. is definitely one to stay away from if you want service of any kind.
June 26th, 2007 at 1:40 am
FYI folks! Major disappointment and I have called to provide feedback to supervisor which doesn?t seem to care.
After the 2week process of applying online, attaining verification of deposits, linking my accounts, and transferring my funds over. I receive a email from FNBO to provide ?additional? validation. It was ridiculous as it?s asking for either a voided check from the funding accounts (hello? they rec?d the verification of deposits already). If you can?t provide a void check (which most of us have online savings from Hsbc or ING).. Then you?ll need to provide your bank statement ?and? a valid ID/Passport.
IF they had stated this upfront, I would have never signed up. What?s frustrating is the fact they approved my account & linked my funds & moved my money? Then sends me an email stating this additional validation. RIDICULOUS!!!
What?s odd is that verify the depoisit online is proof that this is your account. I believe they want to see how much $$ you have in the other accounts for marketing purpose. MOst banks (ie. HSBC) would ask for utility bill or something other than your funding account statements. It was strange and the supervisor was just agreeing with me about their strict security policy. However, would not resolve or try to save the account.
Also, you may cancel out without anytime.. without any penalty or fee.
I would contact consumer internet affairs to complain so they could Flag FNBO if they aren?t as secured as they have stated.
I hope this helps?
June 26th, 2007 at 1:41 am
contacted FDIC to verify certificate (see email response below)
If you have signed up with FNBO.. you should call the parent company to see if they are affiliated also to provide feedback if you?re experiencing the same as me. I couldn?t get a rep so if anyone finds the answer.. I?d appreciate it.
Thank you for contacting the FDIC regarding insurance status on FNBO Direct. Its website indicates it is a part of First National Bank of Omaha. The FDIC does not list the name/address of internet branches or subsidiaries of financial institutions since they change names quite frequently, therefore, we are unable to verify whether FNBO Direct is indeed a subsidiary of First National Bank of Omaha. We can confirm however, that First national Bank of Omaha is insured by the FDIC under certificate #5452. The only official website provided to the FDIC by First National Bank of Omaha is: http://www.firstnational.com. You may contact this website for information regarding FNBO Direct.
We hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
\
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection
550 17th St, N.W.
Washington, DC 20429
June 28th, 2007 at 7:33 am
I can empathize with and echo the words of caveat411 above. It took almost 10 days to set this account up with the back and forth micro deposit verifications. I first moved in a small amt of $ and that went ok. I then moved another small amt $30 with no problem. Then when I was sure they had their act together, I tried to move $97K in and they “jammed” the deposit from going forth. They wanted that further verification of the funding account stuff caveat mentioned, (Hey they already accepted the previous two deposits). I spent 25 mins on the phone with a supervisor; contacted FDIC about this. They responded with a “someone will be contacting you” email. Bottom line………. the transfer went through without the extras and FDIC still hasn’t contacted me and I’m still not getting the warm and fuzzies about FNBO.
June 29th, 2007 at 2:33 am
I contacted First National Bank of Omaha and they confimed that FNBO is their subsidiary with FDIC certificate # 5452. I can’t believe FDIC said “we are unable to verify whether FNBO Direct is indeed a subsidiary of First National Bank of Omaha “. Oh, ….yeah I guess I could they STILL haven’t gotten back to me after more than a week.
June 29th, 2007 at 6:47 am
I suspect FNBO is getting overwhelmed by new accounts & deposits. My 3rd batch of deposits mailed to FNBO was at the Post Office early on 6/25 & as of 6/29 has still not been posted to my account. Usually 3 days is the maximum for 1st class mail from my home to Omaha. FNBO doesn’t seem ready for prime time banking action.
I have looked into GMAC. I sent them an email query about beneficia