DollarSavingsDirect Savings Account Is New Rate Leader
Emigrant Bank’s second online division, DollarSavingsDirect (DSD), increased the rate of its Dollar Savings Account from 2.00% to 3.00% APY yesterday. For those who followed online banks back in 2005, this should remind you of EmigrantDirect, which was the first to have a 3% APY during the 2004-2006 rate hiking cycle. EmigrantDirect was the first online division of Emigrant Bank.
When DSD was launched in 2008, its rate was very competitive, and that lasted for a couple of years, but from 2011 through early 2017, it was uncompetitive compared to other online banks. During these years, Emigrant Bank launched its third online bank, MySavingsDirect (MYD). From its launch in late 2013 through most of 2016, MYD remained competitive. DYD became the competitive online division in April 2017 as the Fed was just ramping up rate hikes in its 2015-2018 rate hike cycle. DYD and MYD flipped again in 2018 with DYD becoming uncompetitive as MYD became the competitive one. MYD’s competitive streak ended in early 2020.
As you can see in DSD and Emigrant Bank’s history, Emigrant Bank uses one of its online divisions to attract deposits while existing customers at its other online divisions remain in low-rate accounts. This makes it less costly for Emigrant Bank to offer competitive rates. Those customers who don’t move their money when rates become uncompetitive lose out.
Based on this history, DSD may remain a good deal for a year or two before it loses its competitiveness. This is unlikely to be a good long-term deal, but if you can make sure to move your money once rates fall, it can be a good short-term deal.
Dollar Savings Account Features
DSD’s Dollar Savings Account has no minimum balance, and all balances earn the stated APY. There are no monthly maintenance fees.
In the initial online application, you must establish a link to an existing checking account which will serve as the funding account. Initial funding can be done with ACH transfer from this checking account or by mailing in a check. The check can only be from this checking account. Future deposits must be done by ACH transfers.
A single beneficiary can be designated during the online application. You will need the beneficiary’s address, social security number and the phone number.
DSD allows customers to open multiple savings accounts. DSD’s online account management software makes it easy to transfer between the savings accounts. The software also allows customers to designate a separate beneficiary for each savings account. These features make insuring deposits over $250k fairly simple, with this DollarSavingsDirect document illustrating how this can be accomplished.
If you want to ensure the vast majority of your savings goes to just one beneficiary and still insure over $250k, this can also easily be done. Please refer to my blog post Maximizing Your FDIC Coverage with Beneficiaries.
ACH Transfer System
An important downside with Emigrant Bank’s online divisions has been that they don’t allow ACH withdrawals that are initiated from other banks. If you open a DSD account, you’ll have to depend on its ACH service to make ACH withdrawals.
After speaking with an DSD CSR and reviewing my earlier blog posts on Emigrant Bank and its online divisions, I was surprised to see that not much has changed over the past 17 years. The ACH details are the same as when I first wrote about DSD in 2008. And if memory serves me right, I think EmigrantDirect listed the same features when it began in 2005. Below is the list of the important ACH features:
- No ACH withdrawals initiated by another bank. External ACH deposits are allowed (CSR).
- Maximum of 2 linked accounts which includes the initial funding account (Q&A).
- Linked accounts can only be personal checking accounts (Q&A).
- No sooner than 60 days after the establishment of your DSD savings account, a second external account can be added (Q&A).
- Establishing second linked account requires mailing in a voided check and form (Q&A).
- Maximum amount that can be transferred via ACH (in/out) is $500,000 (CSR).
Here’s some good ACH news - transfers are fast, with customers reporting ACH transfers that only take one business day to complete. On the other hand, there is a five business day hold time for ACH deposits.
Availability
As an online division of New York City's Emigrant Bank, DSD has no brick-and-mortar branches and any account with DSD must be opened online.
As stated on the FAQ page, opening a DSD Account “is quick, easy and convenient.”
Just click on the Open Now button on our home page. The only requirements are that you are at least 18 years old, have a valid tax identification number, a legal address and a personal checking account in a US bank. If you still have questions, please call Customer Service at 866-395-8693.
Bank Overview
DollarSavingsDirect (along with EmigrantDirect and MySavingsDirect) is an online division of Emigrant Bank, and operates under Emigrant Bank’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.
DollarSavingsDirect/Emigrant Bank has an overall health rating of "B" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 16.67% (above average), based on June 30, 2022 data. Deposit growth has been weak in the past year with a loss of $268.61 million (-7.32%) in non-brokered deposits. This is likely an important factor in the competitive DSD rate. One positive is the Bank’s excellent capitalization level (26.03%), the result of holding $5.61 billion in assets with $1.46 billion in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of DollarSavingsDirect/Emigrant Bank (FDIC Certificate # 12054) for more details.
Launched in 2008, DollarSavingsDirect was the second online banking division created by Emigrant Bank. The first was EmigrantDirect which was launched in late 2004. The third came in 2013 with the launch of MySavingsDirect.
Emigrant Bank was founded by 18 members of the Irish Emigrant Society in 1850 as a mutual savings bank. By the 1920s, it had grown to become the largest savings bank in the nation. In support of its “hometown,” the Bank invested substantial funds into the New York City community, underwriting constructions loans for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and a public works project that later became Central Park.
In 2013, the Milstein Family (owners of Emigrant Bank) sold 29 of its 31 branches to Apple Bank for Savings. The remaining two branches are located in New York City and Ossining (Westchester County). In addition to its online banks, Emigrant Bank retained its lending platforms and its residential mortgage, mixed-use and small business lending businesses.
Emigrant Bank is currently New York’s 24th largest bank with assets in excess of $5.6 billion, and is also the largest privately owned bank in the country.
How the DollarSavingsDirect Savings Account Compares
When compared to nationally available Money Market Accounts and Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com, that do not require large balances or direct deposit and do not have small balance caps, the DSD Dollar Savings Account currently ranks first.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 9/21/2022.
To look for the best rates on liquid bank accounts, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Money Market Accounts Table and Savings Accounts Table.
Risky as in "Opportunity cost" (potentially).
I would be interested to know if this statement about Emigrant's right to refuse withdrawals is a non stated banking standard or something unique to Emigrant bank since it has sparked much controversy here in the comments.
Refusal to Permit Withdrawal
The Bank may refuse to permit withdrawals in cases such as, but not limited to, the following:
1. The Bank chooses to exercise its legal rights to require up to 60 days advance written notice of any intended withdrawal from this Account and the 60 days have not passed since we received the required notice from you.
One thing I'll say for them - they haven't charged an inactivity fee in 4.5 years!
Per transfer with unlimited transfers? Per Day? Per Month? Other?
I'm hoping one of my existing accounts goes to 3% shortly. I'm planning to finally ditch HMBradley. HMBradley has been paying me 3% for quite some time, but they have a lot of activity requirements and they are about to reduce their credit card cash back. It was worth it until now.
I doubt they will ever use the 60 day restriction. I wouldn't be surprised if they lower the rate after awhile and change the statement on their website. They have done this before.
Clearly the 60 day clause is meant for a financial crisis. So could it happen? If it did it wouldn't be the first time banks had a financial crisis.
In a high inflation economy like this you get paid to borrow money and punished to save it. So depositors understand you don't want to lock that punishment into a long term CD.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/historical-inflation-rates/
Btw, I had an account with DSD a few years back and don't recall having had any problems.
Political discussion is allowed here as long as it's comedy?
And this is how he did it.
"In May 1981, Congress approved virtually the entire Reagan program. It reduced personal income taxes by 25 percent over a three-year period, cut federal spending on a wide swath of social programs and accelerated a military buildup that had begun under Carter."
He also stopped the communist government employee unions from destroying the economy and cut economy killing regulations.
Reagan asks Congress to cut spending and taxes, Feb. 5, 1981
Did I mention that he brought down the Soviet Union at the same time because they could not compete with his economic success and the resulting might of our own military? THAT'S how you disable these foreign dictators and PREVENT wars. Reagan's "Peace through strength."
ALL of this the exact OPPOSITE of what the Democrats are doing now.
Trump--4 years 33% republican
Obama 8 years 74% democrat
Bush 8 years 101% republican
Clinton 8 years 32% democrat
Bush sr 4 years 54% republican
Yes I've heard that silly Democrat Red Herring talking point ad nauseam.
Repeating irrelevant statistics over and over again doesn't make them relevant. The absolute level of debt is meaningless unless it's quoted in relative terms.
At the end of Reagan's term the debt to GDP ratio was 41%. At the end 2021, it was 137.20%.
The phony debt story about Reagan was trashed years ago.
Way too much debt but I was worried about the debt way before now, unlike some people that post on here.
Btw...debt to gdp goes to the president imo, never heard it quoted to congress.
no thanks not falling for this money trap.
For anyone who's opened this account and actually used it (I've done the first but not the second) - can you tell us: for ACH deposits, is there also a delay on when interest starts being paid on that deposit? I don't mean for the initial-funding ACH; one might expect a slight delay there. I mean later ACH deposits.
In my experience it's rare but it has happened, that FIs with a hold time on AHC deposits also fail to pay interest on the ACH during that time.
I wonder what's the hold time on ACH for DSD.
Both great but TZ was the classic winner.
(Just beware that Merchants continues to observe the long-ago deprecated Regulation D limit of 6 withdrawals per month, even taking into account micro-withdrawals made by an external FI as part of the ACH linking process.)
So DSD is not the “Rate Leader” . . . merely a top contender. I just checked and, curiously, verified that I can still access my DSD account online — this in spite of having had an inactive a $0 balance there over the past few years. And my maximum two ACH links (to external checking accounts) remain in place.
So as far as “liquid storage” is concerned, we currently have at least two viable, highest-yielding options . . .
Keep an eye on Dollar as the last time they stated the "The Highest Rate in America" it changed to "One of the Highest rate in America".
Also looks like Elements Financial is no longer offering 3.25% and a 1 year rate guarantee on their Helium Savings Account.
Helium has deflated to a measly, sub-standard !% APY!
https://www.elements.org/personal/savings/helium-savings/
Taking Elements off my shopping list :-)
THIS IS the Problem with posting info into a completely different thread
that belongs elsewhere. LIKE the Elements thread.
here its off topic and not helpful if looking for info of Elements
https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/elements-financial/offers/
which Ken apparently appended last week (albeit below my radar):
"Elements Financial Guarantees Helium Savings 3.25% APY For One Year - EXPIRED"
Update 10/7/22: This Helium Savings promotion with a 3.25% APY has ended.
Which is by way of saying that I found comment #41 helpful, in bringing this "off topic" topic to my attention. I would have otherwise missed the big picture, which I believe is the ultimate objective of DA — finding and tracking the best deals :-)
1981 $998 31% Reagan tax cut
1982 $1,142 34% Reagan increased spending
1983 $1,377 37% Jobless rate 10.8%
1984 $1,572 38% Increased defense spending
1985 $1,823 41%
1986 $2,125 46% Reagan lowered taxes
1987 $2,350 48% Market crash
1988 $2,602 50% Fed raised rates
1989 $2,857 51% S&L Crisis
1990 $3,233 54% First Iraq War
1991 $3,665 58% Recession
1992 $4,065 61%
1993 $4,411 63% Omnibus Budget Act
1994 $4,693 64% Clinton budgets
1995 $4,974 64%
1996 $5,225 64% Welfare reform
1997 $5,413 63%
1998 $5,526 60% LTCM crisis and recession
1999 $5,656 58% Glass-Steagall repealed
2000 $5,674 55% Budget surplus
2001 $5,807 55% 9/11 attacks and EGTRRA
2002 $6,228 57% War on Terror
2003 $6,783 59% JGTRRA and Iraq War
2004 $7,379 60% Iraq War
2005 $7,933 61% Bankruptcy Act and Hurricane Katrina.
2006 $8,507 61% Bernanke chaired Fed
2007 $9,008 62% Bank crisis
2008 $10,025 68% Bank bailout and QE
2009 $11,910 82% Bailout cost $250B ARRA added $242B
2010 $13,562 90% ARRA added $400B, payroll tax holiday ended, Obama Tax cuts, ACA, Simpson-Bowles
2011 $14,790 95% Debt crisis, recession and tax cuts reduced revenue
2012 $16,066 99% Fiscal cliff
2013 $16,738 99% Sequester, government shutdown
2014 $17,824 101% QE ended, debt ceiling crisis
2015 $18,151 100% Oil prices fell
2016 $19,573 105% Brexit
2017 $20,245 104% Congress raised the debt ceiling
2018 $21,516 105% Trump tax cuts
2019 $22,719 107% Trade wars
2020 $27,748 129% COVID-19 and 2020 recession
2021 $29,617 124% COVID-19 and American Rescue Plan Act
2022 $30,824 123% Inflation Reduction Act and student loan forgiveness
Looks to me like it was right after the Great Recession bailout and QE that debt to gdp jumped.
They just float around wherever they like
making the On Topic post a BSing log jam of " "
Let most of us be able to find Regular Deposit Account Info without all the
Cerebral Mind Melding you guys think is necessary.?
It's great having Guidance for I Bond and Treasuries ect.
but all the personal point of view political baggage that has been dragged in has really
SMOTHERED a once Very USEFUL website destination.
Like has been said GET A ROOM !
So what say I start a discussion of classic rock?
Or ideas on why the physical size of a nickel (5c) is larger than a dime (10c)?
Just saying... 78 comments and almost none of them on Dollar Savings Direct...
....which translates to a 3.15% APY.
When one logs in to their account, the new 3.11% rate isn't reflected yet.
However Customer Service said it takes one day for a new change to show in everyone's account, and said that by the next day the new rate will show in people's accounts.
But another large Fed rate hike is looming.
Let me do the math. For every $100,000 you have in savings, you would have lost $12,000 to $13,000. That comes out to about $650 a month inflation cost (just on your savings, it doesn't count the extra cost of living expenses) per $100,000 since the Democrats took over Washington.
Of course your monthly losses on your savings now are much higher yet as the Democrats have somehow found a way to do an ever worse job as time goes on.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t01.htm
EDIT
Notveryamused: Interesting, right after my post I saw you had already posted the same thing. Can't delete my post now, so... well, great minds think alike.
We'll have to see if DSD holds at 3.5 and sees some of their money leaving for other places or not...
https://www.emigrantdirect.com/securebanking/faq.do