GMAC's Money Market Account Now 4.70%
Apr 7, 2006 - 8:16 AM by Ken Tumin
GMAC Bank raised the APY on their money market account from 4.65% to 4.70%. The last money market account rate increase occurred March 11th. GMAC also did a 0.05% to 0.10% increase on most of their CD rates. Below is the full list of changes:
GMAC Bank's certificates of deposit have an early withdrawal penalty of 90 days of interest for terms of one year and under. The penalty for terms of over one year is 180 days of interest (see GMAC fees).
There has been some uncertainty with GMAC Bank since GM has been trying to sell GMAC Financial Services. Will the bank keep their rates competitive? It's hard to say, but in the last 6 months, GMAC Bank has consistently stayed on top. With this latest change in rates, it appears GMAC Bank plans to continue to be near the top at least in the near term.
There is a lot to like about GMAC Bank's money market account in addition to the very high rates. Here are a few of the perks:
Here are a few of the drawbacks:
Refer to this FW GMAC thread for more info on GMAC Bank.
CD Term Old APY New APY
3 months 4.70% 4.80%
6 months 4.95% 5.00%
9 months 4.95% 5.05%
12 months 5.15% 5.20%
18 months 5.15% 5.20%
2 years 5.20% 5.20%
3 years 5.20% 5.25%
4 years 5.20% 5.25%
5 years 5.20% 5.25%
GMAC Bank's certificates of deposit have an early withdrawal penalty of 90 days of interest for terms of one year and under. The penalty for terms of over one year is 180 days of interest (see GMAC fees).
There has been some uncertainty with GMAC Bank since GM has been trying to sell GMAC Financial Services. Will the bank keep their rates competitive? It's hard to say, but in the last 6 months, GMAC Bank has consistently stayed on top. With this latest change in rates, it appears GMAC Bank plans to continue to be near the top at least in the near term.
There is a lot to like about GMAC Bank's money market account in addition to the very high rates. Here are a few of the perks:
- Limited check writing. First 50 checks are free.
- ATM card. The first four fees per statement cycle assessed by the ATM owner, up to a total of $6, will be refunded by GMAC Bank.
- ACH transfer system that's easy to setup online
- ACH transfer system that's fast without days of time in which the money earns no interest.
Here are a few of the drawbacks:
- $500 minimum to avoid fees.
- Hard inquiry on your credit report in account opening process
Refer to this FW GMAC thread for more info on GMAC Bank.
Featured Accounts
Useful Resources
Nationwide Savings Accounts
Curiousshopper (anonymous) - #1, Saturday, April 8, 2006 - 1:43 AM
Can you give me some tips? I'm considering opening an online savings or MMA, and can't decide which one to choose. My options are umbrella bank, GMAC, VirtualBank, and HSBC. I probably won't use checks or ATM's because I have a local bank acct. The deposit amount will be 10K or more. So my main concerns are the rate, ACH speed, and credit inquiry. Do you know who pulls a hard inquiry besides GMAC and how long you need to wait before your credit score goes back up after an inquiry? Taking these factors into consideration, Which bank would you recommend? Thanks in advance.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #2, Saturday, April 8, 2006 - 5:52 PM
Neither Virtual Bank nor HSBC did a hard credit pull on me. I believe others also have reported this. Virtual Bank's transfer times are quicker than HSBC's by about a day.
If you would also be interested in short-term CDs, I would go with Virtual Bank. If you don't care about CDs and don't mind an extra day or two in transfer delays, HSBC may be better since they've had higher rates over the last year than Virtual Bank.
I'm not too familiar the details of hard inquiries. Fatwallet may be your best resource for this.
Curiousshopper (anonymous) - #3, Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 9:40 PM
Thanks for your advice, banking guy! I'll consider CDs and also check out Fatwallet. BTW, your blog is really helpful and reliable. Thanks a lot for keeping us posted!
Add Your Comment
Post a Comment