Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 8:23 AM

Ohio Woman Has Had Same Bank Account For 98 Years

In January of 1913, a man in Ohio opened up a passbook savings account for his baby daughter with $6.11. And in probably the lengthiest example of customer loyalty, that girl — now a 100-year-old woman — has continued to use that same account ever since.

Ohio Woman Has Had Same Bank Account For 98 Years - The Consumerist

Shorebreak1,280 posts since
Apr 6, 2010
Rep Points: 4,780

1. Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 10:39 AM

Cheap bank, should have raised the interest rate to 5% for at least 100 months, not 100 days.

51hh1,030 posts since
Jan 16, 2010
Rep Points: 4,715

2. Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 7:26 PM

This lady lives in Chillicothe, Ohio. Using the city's zipcode (45601) in the bank's ratefinder, the rate paid on balances up to $2499.99 for Premier Savings and Money Market accounts is 0.05%.

The bank must have multiplied that rate by 100 (in honor of the nearly 100-year association) to arrive at the 5% rate.

I'd wager that the current 0.05% rate is approximately what the account was earning in 1913. However, this is admittedly a SWAG since I haven't found a definitive source for average interest rates at that time.

51hh I agree with you that it would have been appropriate for the bank to give her that rate for 100 months. That would be a wonderful opportunity for her to launch a massive reallocation of "all other resources" at her disposal to that account ;-)

pearlbrown1,003 posts since
Nov 2, 2010
Rep Points: 3,848

3. Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 8:38 PM

Cheap bank, should have raised the interest rate to 5% for at least 100 months, not 100 days.

Whadda ya mean cheap? They gave her a party with cake AND balloons! There's also a rumor they promised to give her a 5% rate for 200 days for her 200th birthday {;-)

Stewie55 posts since
Jan 18, 2010
Rep Points: 308

4. Sunday, June 5, 2011 - 10:58 AM

Well yes, cheap. If they wanted to do things right, they would have provided ice cream too. ;-)

OTOH, they didn't charge a "research fee" to confirm that she had indeed been a loyal customer for almost a century.

pearlbrown1,003 posts since
Nov 2, 2010
Rep Points: 3,848

5. Sunday, June 5, 2011 - 1:09 PM

Cheap bank, should have raised the interest rate to 5% for at least 100 months, not 100 days.

Whadda ya mean cheap? They gave her a party with cake AND balloons! There's also a rumor they promised to give her a 5% rate for 200 days for her 200th birthday {;-)

As in the movie, I would do the cool dance: SHOW ME THE MONEY! SHOW ME THE MONEY!:D

51hh1,030 posts since
Jan 16, 2010
Rep Points: 4,715

6. Sunday, June 5, 2011 - 11:18 PM

Cheap bank, should have raised the interest rate to 5% for at least 100 months, not 100 days.

Whadda ya mean cheap? They gave her a party with cake AND balloons! There's also a rumor they promised to give her a 5% rate for 200 days for her 200th birthday {;-)

That's pretty funny! : )

niniss56 posts since
Sep 22, 2010
Rep Points: 136