No-Minimum GE Money Savings Account - $25 Bonus
May 24, 2006 - 7:53 AM by Ken Tumin
GE has a no-minimum online savings account with a $25 signup bonus. This savings account is new to me. The interest rates are not really competitive: 3.80% APY for balances over $4K, 1.75% APY for balances under $4K. But like ING Direct, there are no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. It can be set up just like an ING Direct account by linking it to an external checking account and the application can be done online.
Since this is new to me, I checked it out at the FDIC's bank find tool. I searched for "GE Money" and the search produced one result for "GE Money Bank" The web address listed was at www.ge.com. From GE's site, I eventually found a link to the gemoneysavings.com.
For the $25 bonus, here's the info I received from a FW thread:
I wasn't able to confirm this bonus since the customer service hours don't start until 9:00am EDT. It's not known if they do a hard or soft pull.
Even though they don't provide the best interest rates, the more online savings accounts and more competition, the better rates and deals we should see in the future.
Since this is new to me, I checked it out at the FDIC's bank find tool. I searched for "GE Money" and the search produced one result for "GE Money Bank" The web address listed was at www.ge.com. From GE's site, I eventually found a link to the gemoneysavings.com.
For the $25 bonus, here's the info I received from a FW thread:
- You will be eligible to receive a $25 bonus only if you maintain a minimum average daily balance of $500 for the first 30 days after your Account is opened.
- Offer only available to primary Account holders who are new customers and open a new GE Money Savings Account.
- Limit one $25 bonus per Promotion Code per Account.
- $25 bonus will be provided within 30 days after eligibility requirements are met.
Promo code: GEMMC136L
I wasn't able to confirm this bonus since the customer service hours don't start until 9:00am EDT. It's not known if they do a hard or soft pull.
Even though they don't provide the best interest rates, the more online savings accounts and more competition, the better rates and deals we should see in the future.
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OloMedik (anonymous) - #1, Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 10:16 AM
Please let us know if you verify this bonus with customer service! Thanks for the great info!
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #2, Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 1:22 PM
When I called, the customer service rep gave me another promotional code. She said that it's good for multiple users. I'm not sure why it's different than the one the FW user posted. It's RSF66
All other info on the $25 bonus matches what I was told.
Also, I was told that there's no hard credit inquiry for opening the account.
hair (anonymous) - #3, Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 2:13 AM
I'm the original poster from FW. I got the GEMMC136L code from www.gemoneycards.com
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #4, Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 12:25 PM
Thanks for the info. I can see it listed at www.gemoneycards.com.
Looks like there may be multiple valid promotional codes. I entered the one I received, and it was accepted.
hair (anonymous) - #5, Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 1:29 AM
Not really noteworthy, but they've bumped the interest up to 4.0% APY for $4,000 and above. I do not plan to put more than $500 for 30 days for the bonus. I did notice that they allow scheduled and recurring transfers both TO and FROM linked accounts. This might be handy to take care of some automated ACH pushes for direct deposit requirements at other banks (being careful not to go over 6 withdrawals per month). In my quest to test things out I linked up several other checking and savings accounts. The link to HSBC online savings (and perhaps the others as well) caused an error on their end and kicked it out for manual review. I learned this because a representative from GE Money called me and explained links to savings accounts will cause errors and she told me to remove the links (this is contrary what what their FAQ states about allowing links to savings accounts). My attempt to link from HSBC also failed, apparently the ABA number HSBC has for GE Money Bank is incorrect or does not apply to their online savings accounts.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #6, Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 7:40 AM
hair, thanks for the info. I can see how that recurring transfer feature can be useful. I'll have to keep a lookout for that feature at other banks.
Does the account linking use the trial deposit method? Too bad it doesn't support linking to non-checking accounts.
hair (anonymous) - #7, Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:33 PM
Both HSBC and USAA also offer recurring ACH transfers for both push and pull. With those accounts it's very easy to set up a year's worth of monthly withdrawals or deposits with just a few clicks. Other banks/savings accounts that offer free ACH such as ING and Capital One savings only allow the recurring transfers for PULL only. To set up a recurring withdrawal would require you to manually set up each individual transfer and date.
The GE Money linked accounts are done with the same 2 small desposit method. They all went through fine, even to the HSBC savings. So I got a couple bucks of free change out of that. I'm not sure what the problem was with the linked savings accounts. The rep said they were hoping to be able to offer savings account links in the future, but attempting to transfer money now would cause an error on their end.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #8, Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 6:18 PM
A reader mentioned that GE Money Savings is offering promotions in select cities. The promo codes and open to use for all include:
portland1, seattle1
I tried the seattle1 and it gave the following promotion:
Promotional interest rate of 4.75% is good for 90 days from the date the account is open and funded.
Anonymous - #9, Monday, July 3, 2006 - 2:35 PM
GE Money Savings now 4.5% for amounts > of $4,000.00
hair (anonymous) - #10, Thursday, August 10, 2006 - 12:51 AM
The promo codes referenced above have expired, but I found new ones. See the FW thread linked in the original post for the new ones.
Lesly (anonymous) - #11, Sunday, August 31, 2008 - 5:43 AM
Hi. I like your blog. The thing I post a comment here is that I want to ssay a few words concerning GE Money Bank, since you are talking about it here. I say it is not a very reliable bank. I had certain misunderstandings with the company and I will not go there any more. I would recommend this to everyone. Go to this great site www.pissedconsumer.com and find out what other problems people have.
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