FirstFedDirect Savings Account Now 5.25%
Aug 23, 2006 - 6:34 PM by Ken Tumin
FirstFedDirect increased the yield on its Internet Advantage Savings Account from 5.17% to 5.25% APY today. To earn this APY requires a balance of at least $1K. There are no monthly fees for low balances. The savings account is like a typical online savings account. Accounts can be opened online or by mail. However, you must live outside of California to apply.
I first reported on this account last December when First Federal Bank of California first launched this online bank. The rates have remained competitive. The last rate increase to 5.17% was on July 18th. One issue with this bank is that it does a hard credit pull through Equifax in the application process. In the online application, there is a checkbox that must be checked to authorize this.
First Federal Bank of California is FDIC insured. The FDIC entry only includes the main bank's web address and not FirstFedDirect's, so I can't prove that FirstFedDirect is part of First Federal Bank. The bank has a 4 out of 5 star rating at Bankrate.com for financial strength.
I first reported on this account last December when First Federal Bank of California first launched this online bank. The rates have remained competitive. The last rate increase to 5.17% was on July 18th. One issue with this bank is that it does a hard credit pull through Equifax in the application process. In the online application, there is a checkbox that must be checked to authorize this.
First Federal Bank of California is FDIC insured. The FDIC entry only includes the main bank's web address and not FirstFedDirect's, so I can't prove that FirstFedDirect is part of First Federal Bank. The bank has a 4 out of 5 star rating at Bankrate.com for financial strength.
Featured Accounts
Useful Resources
Nationwide Savings Accounts
Anonymous - #1, Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 1:27 AM
In the context of opening a savings account, does a "hard pull" refer to completing a credit report to check the applicant's FICO score, or something else? I can understand why a bank would be interested in their potential customer's FICO score for the purposes of opening a line of credit, but I'm not sure why they would care for a savings account?
Also, when a deal refers to a "soft pull", is that also referring to pulling a credit report with one of the big-three reporting agencies, or does it mean something else?
Thanks!
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #2, Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 9:01 AM
A hard pull will affect your credit. I've heard each pull will lower your FICO score by about 5 points for 6 months. For checking accounts a hard pull may be reasonable if you request overdraft protection. For other accounts like savings and CDs, I'm not sure why it's used. I've heard speculation that it's used for cross marketing purposes.
Soft credit check does a check of your credit report (I believe by one of the 3 agencies), but it doesn't have any affect on your FICO score and is not visible to those checking your credit.
Add Your Comment
Post a Comment