E-LOAN CD Rates Drop Again and Update on the Transfer Glitches
Nov 15, 2006 - 9:00 AM by Ken Tumin
In a second week in a row, E-LOAN dropped its CD rates. At least the savings account rate remains the same at 5.50% APY for all tiers. The only CD rate that is higher than this is the 1-year CD for balances over $50K. That has an APY of 5.55%. As has been typical for all banks lately, the largest declines have been in the long-term CDs. The following table shows how the CD rates have changed over the last two weeks.
Note, the new CD yields for balances of over $50K are 5 basis points higher for all terms. Please refer to my previous E-LOAN CD post for more information.
Update on the Transfer Glitches
Many customers seem to have been affected by the transfer glitch last week. Several readers report not only experiencing the glitch but also having problems dealing with E-LOAN. Many have spent hours on hold waiting to speak to a service representative (see post).
Ironically, E-LOAN was just ranked the best in a study of online customer respect in the financial services industry. See press release.
I think E-LOAN could have done some things better in this transfer glitch incident. When the first indication that there was a transfer problem, they should have emailed all of their savings customers with an alert about this issue. The email that was sent seemed to have been limited to just select customers. Many people may have held back on transfers if they had known about this issue. Second, when trying to correct the duplicate transfers, they should have consulted with the affected customers to ensure that the reverse transfers are needed and would not create more problems. Many people had linked to savings accounts which have transfer limits. Finally, E-LOAN needs to have a plan to better support its customers especially during incidents like this. I know they need to keep their staff at a minimum to keep costs low and allow for high rates. Perhaps, they could have a plan for a rapid response team to help out when incidents like this occur.
I was lucky that I didn't make transfers during the time the glitch was occurring. I just did a transfer of money out of E-LOAN on Monday, and the transfer completed at both ends yesterday. I've been happy with E-LOAN, but it's hard to judge a bank until you've experienced problems first hand.
E-LOAN Certificate of Deposit Rate Changes
Term pre 11/8 pre 11/15 11/15
All Tiers $10K-$50K $10K-$50K
6-month 5.60% 5.50% 5.45%
12-month 5.70% 5.55% 5.50%
18-month 5.75% 5.60% 5.45%
2-year 5.75% 5.60% 5.40%
3-year 5.75% 5.35% 5.30%
4-year 5.75% 5.35% 5.30%
5-year 5.75% 5.35% 5.30%
Note, the new CD yields for balances of over $50K are 5 basis points higher for all terms. Please refer to my previous E-LOAN CD post for more information.
Update on the Transfer Glitches
Many customers seem to have been affected by the transfer glitch last week. Several readers report not only experiencing the glitch but also having problems dealing with E-LOAN. Many have spent hours on hold waiting to speak to a service representative (see post).
Ironically, E-LOAN was just ranked the best in a study of online customer respect in the financial services industry. See press release.
I think E-LOAN could have done some things better in this transfer glitch incident. When the first indication that there was a transfer problem, they should have emailed all of their savings customers with an alert about this issue. The email that was sent seemed to have been limited to just select customers. Many people may have held back on transfers if they had known about this issue. Second, when trying to correct the duplicate transfers, they should have consulted with the affected customers to ensure that the reverse transfers are needed and would not create more problems. Many people had linked to savings accounts which have transfer limits. Finally, E-LOAN needs to have a plan to better support its customers especially during incidents like this. I know they need to keep their staff at a minimum to keep costs low and allow for high rates. Perhaps, they could have a plan for a rapid response team to help out when incidents like this occur.
I was lucky that I didn't make transfers during the time the glitch was occurring. I just did a transfer of money out of E-LOAN on Monday, and the transfer completed at both ends yesterday. I've been happy with E-LOAN, but it's hard to judge a bank until you've experienced problems first hand.
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Anonymous - #1, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 10:15 AM
E-Loan sucks! I have been locked-out of my accounts for weeks and can't get into there call center to get my password reset.
I have waited hours on hold and nobody has yet to answer.
Anonymous - #2, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 10:40 AM
it took me 20 minutes to get a customer service agent, but 5 minutes after that .. to get my account unlocked. Unfortunately I was among the people who made opened a COD when they had the problem with their system, so my balance keeps going up and down every day.
Anonymous - #3, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 5:57 PM
Eloan's customer service has a lot MORE to desire for. They simply can NOT handle the load. For me personally, time = money. I'd rather stick with another bank with "slightly" lower rate but MUCH less holding time on the phone when I need customer service.
Bottom line, as long as you stay trouble free with your account(s) (which I don't think so since soon or later you will encounter one), Eloan has proven it didn't have enough resources to resolve the problem quickly and PROFESSIONALLY. Eloan did NOT do its homework before starting its online biz.
Anonymous - #4, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 6:25 PM
I got hit last week, and then they did it to me again today! It looks like today's transfer is from a transfer I made 2 weeks ago that didn't go through. After waiting a few days with no change in my eLoan balance, I made the transfer again. This one went through fine. But, for some reason, my original transfer went through today. They're still investigating, but I'm afraid they're going to come back and say it's my fault.
And, yes, silly me, my eLoan is linked to a savings account at my bank, so I'm getting fees for all these transfers. If eLoan takes the blame, they'll reimburse me, but it still sucks.
Anonymous - #5, Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 11:20 AM
I've been waiting a week for them to close my accounts and return the $50K I deposited with them. I spoke with my lawyer yesterday, and I will speak to her again on Monday if I still don't have my money.
I agree wholeheartedly with the third commenter. Time is money; E-Loan has wasted probably nine hours of my time now. I will be moving my funds to HSBC; lower rates but top-notch customer service.
E-Loan begged me to keep my money with them. Actually, the rep was obnoxiously aggressive. Unbelievable. To wreak havoc with people's money and then fight them about withdrawing it from their incompetent clutches? I will be writing letters to BPNA and filing a complaint.
safecash (anonymous) - #6, Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 4:37 PM
You would be better of with Emigrant Direct for savings. They are top quality, fast ACH transfers, 5.05% interest also. I have accounts with all 3 banks. HSBC ACH transfers are very slow. Sorry to here you have had problems with Eloan. I experienced a transfer glitch last week also but it was corrected in 1 day. Good luck.
Anonymous - #7, Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 7:01 PM
I would highly encourage people to write the FDIC, SEC, the New York Banking Commission and your own state's Banking Commission.
If you have friends in the media, you may want to drop them a line.
Anonymous - #8, Friday, November 17, 2006 - 9:56 AM
On Friday,the day after the glitch in their system which caused duplicate withdrawals from my checking account, i was on hold for 2 hours to try and get to a customer service rep.
early this week i started a withdrawal of my funds and the transaction was canceled without any notification to me!!!
i tried the withdrawal again yesterday morning and thankfully it went through and I was able to get my money back.
My advice is, first transfer your money out of eloan and then close your account...otherwise you will have to wait forever!
Anonymous - #9, Friday, November 17, 2006 - 1:31 PM
"Eloan rated best for customer service????" That's the biggest bulls*** I've ever heard. I've been locked out of my account for weeks as well, can't get a viable human on the line (a 30 minute wait minimum) and when I do, they are rude and snippy. I understand if they're being overwhelmed by callers, but they should keep professional about it, not yell at me and hang up the phone on me.
Oh, and they should *really* take down that promise to "respond to your message within one business day." The fastest email response I've gotten was in 4 days.
I cannot wait to close my account with them.
Anonymous - #10, Friday, November 17, 2006 - 1:41 PM
I agree with both commenters who said "Time is money." I've annoyed family for making them listen to that generic female voice expounding about Eloan for hours over the speakerphone at home, and now I'm using up a good portion of mobile minutes trying to reach customer service. Despite Eloan's promise to respond to email within "one business day" they are about as active with email as they are to answering the customer service phone.
I was not one of the "elite" to receive any forwarning about the transfer glitches. As a result, my account has been overdrawn several times,and it has been embarassing explaining to the people at my bank (in person, thankfully) about Eloan. Many who work there have heard of Eloan and they do NOT have nice things to say about it. One of the most common comments I hear is, Why do you stil have an account with them after all these troubles?
I would shut my account...if I could reach someone at Eloan.
Is there some sort of agency/BBB to file complaints against Eloan? Their horrendous service deserves to be exposed.
Anonymous - #11, Friday, November 17, 2006 - 2:04 PM
"Is there some sort of agency/BBB to file complaints against Eloan? Their horrendous service deserves to be exposed."
The bank that is holding your account and is behind this whole scheme is Banco Popular North America. BPNA's primary regulator is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
You can file a complaint here:
http://www.ny.frb.org/complaints/survey/form.cfm
(select Banco Popular North America from the drop down menu)
or you can call the consumer complaints division at (212) 720-5914.
Anonymous - #12, Friday, November 17, 2006 - 7:07 PM
Eloan's Award Winning Customer Service
Call Hold Time : 30 mins - 2+ hours
Secure Message Response Time : 10 days
Standard Response: "Send us a secure message."
Standard Reason for any issue : "We have a lot of people signing up / calling in."
erik (anonymous) - #13, Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 6:47 PM
When my intestest posted there was a withdraw posted as well. I went online and asked what is the deal with the withdraw. 6 days later the response is the withdraw was to cover taxes. This is very odd...
Anonymous - #14, Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 8:32 PM
To erik:
When you filled out your online application, you probably checked the box that says "I am subject to backup withholding." It's a common mistake.
Anonymous - #15, Monday, November 20, 2006 - 9:32 PM
Interesting that bankrate.com has not had the e-loan money market listed for a couple of days now...
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #16, Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 8:19 AM
Yes, I noticed that also. Perhaps E-LOAN is trying to reduce demand while it gets things under control. At least they didn't drop the rate to reduce the demand.
Anonymous - #17, Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 10:16 PM
Stay away from E-Loan. This is a terrible business. 6 Months ago, when I was shopping for where to put some money for a CD, I read the horror stories about E-Loan, but figured it must be an exception and they surely would have the mess fixed by the time my CD matured.
Wrong.
I told them to move my money at maturity back to an external account. After maturity, they deleted the on-line instruction I gave them and didn't transfer the amount, and so now everyday I am working with these crooks to get my money I am losing money that I should be making. So much for higher CD rates with e-loan when you lose actual money and time trying to get your money out of the CD.
Don't go with E-Loan for anything. These guys are the worse of the worse.
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