New 5.15% Online Savings Account at AmTrustDirect

Comments (6)
Aug 17, 2006 - 2:53 PM by Ken Tumin

AmTrustDirect just launched a new online savings account account called the e-Money Market. The APY is 5.15% for balances of $1 and higher. There are no minimum balance requirements, however, there is a minimum initial deposit requirement of $1,000. AmTrustDirect is a new internet division of AmTrust which is under Ohio Savings Bank. It has been offering CDs online since April.

Below is a list of the good and bad features of this account. Some are from the bank's FAQ page and some are from my call with the CSR:

Positives
  • No monthly maintenance fees or balance requirements
  • Can be linked to checking or savings accounts (per CSR)
  • Up to 6 external accounts can be linked
  • External accounts can be linked online
  • ACH transfers between linked accounts are free (per CSR)
  • Monthly paper statements delivered by mail
  • Can be used to fund an AmTrustDirect CD (per CSR)
  • Money from closed CD can be moved into account (per CSR)

Negatives
  • $1000 initial deposit required
  • No ATM card
  • No sign-up bonus (per CSR)
  • Inactivity fee after 12 months. $20/year charge (per CSR)
  • ACH transfers limited to $100K per day and $2.5M per month
  • No check writing
  • May do a hard credit pull. No hard credit pulls done for opening CDs

Ohio Savings Bank is rated 4 out of 5 stars at Bankrate.com (sound). The bank has over $16 billion in assets.

Thanks to Scott who mentioned this new money market account in the finding deals post.

[Edit: Check writing is not offered. Also, there may be a hard credit pull for opening the e-Money Market. The CSR was incorrect on these.]

Post a CommentComments
In order of date posted. - Sort by votes
Banking Guy

Banking Guy (anonymous) - #1, Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 2:58 PM

I made some corrections to the post based on another contact from this bank. They don't offer check writing (I had thought this was too good to be true). The CSR might have confused this with the money market account offered from AmTrust.

Perhaps the e-Money Market name added to this confusion. Usually the name money market implies check writing while the name savings account implies no check writing.

Also, they may do a hard credit pull when you open this e-Money Market account. No hard pulls are done when you open a CD.


1
Justin

Justin (anonymous) - #2, Thursday, September 7, 2006 - 11:34 PM

I just checked my Equifax credit report. AmTrust (Ohio Saving Bank) DID make a hard credit pull just because I opened a CD. I did not open any e-Money Market account.

Sigh~~ They lied, that sucks!


1
Banking Guy

Banking Guy (anonymous) - #3, Friday, September 8, 2006 - 9:07 AM

Justin, Thanks for letting us know about this hard credit pull. I'm checking to see what the policy really is.


1
Banking Guy

Banking Guy (anonymous) - #4, Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 6:44 PM

Regarding the hard credit pull, I have confirmed that their policy is to no longer do these pulls for opening a CD. Mistakes have been made in the past, and AmTrustDirect is working to correct these.


1
Anonymous

Anonymous - #5, Thursday, November 2, 2006 - 12:14 PM

Great website do all you can to verify info but I will bookmark.
AmTrustDirect did a creditcheck on my opening of a 6 month CD as of 10-18-2006


1
Banking Guy

Banking Guy (anonymous) - #6, Thursday, November 2, 2006 - 7:03 PM

Was that credit check a hard inquiry? If it is, I would suggest contacting them to have it removed. They have done that in the past.


1

Add Your Comment


Post a Comment

Featured Accounts
Useful Resources
Nationwide Savings Accounts