Top Money Market Account Rate at MyBankingDirect

MyBankingDirect.com is currently offering a very competitive rate on its money market account. It's a tiered rate with a 1.25% APY for balances of at least $5,000. The rate for balances under $5,000 is 0.25%, and there's a monthly fee if the average daily balance falls below $1,000. Rates are accurate as of 6/22/2011.

I called the bank at 866-285-1856, and I was told that this rate is a promotional rate that has been available for the last several months. The CSR didn't know how long this rate may last.

I had first reported on MyBankingDirect way back in 2005 when it seemed like they were competing with Emigrant Direct. Like Emigrant Direct, MyBankingDirect is part of a bank that's based in New York. Also like Emigrant Direct, its money market rates became disappointing and stayed that way for several years. Based on this history, my guess is that the rate won't be competitive after the promotion ends (probably sometime this year).

MyBankingDirect is a division of New York Community Bank, the same bank that owns AmTrustDirect.com. New York Community Bank acquired AmTrust Bank when it failed in December 2009. As I have been reporting in my weekly summaries, AmTrustDirect offers a promotional 1.25% APY for balances between $10K and $150K.

MyBankingDirect money market account offers limited check writing and online bill pay. Like any money market account, you're limited to 6 of these withdrawals per month. It also offers an ATM card.

The one downside to this money market account is that they charge $4.95 per month to be able to use MoneyHQ. I was told this fee from the CSR. MoneyHQ is required to initiate ACH transfers. Additional fees will be charged for more than 5 transfers. The one exception to this is the initial funding of the account. The online application allows you to fund the account application via an ACH.

You can avoid using MoneyHQ by initiating transfers from another bank. I was told MyBankingDirect doesn't restrict ACH transfers when done from another bank.

Credit for this find goes to FW member grex23.

New York Community Bank is a sizable bank with $38.53 billion in assets. It has an overall health rating at DepositAccounts.com of 3 stars (out of 5) with a Texas Ratio of 19.09% (average) based on March 2011 data. Please refer to our financial overview of New York Community Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1943 (FDIC Certificate # 16022).

How It Compares?

It might seem hard to believe, but 1.25% is competitive these days for savings and money market accounts. This ties the highest non-promotional and non-bonus rate for a savings or money market account. That's a money market account that's offered by Incredible Bank, but it requires a balance of $100K to qualify for the 1.25% APY.