Glitches at E-LOAN's Online Savings Account
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POSTED
ON BY Ken Tumin
E-LOAN had some problems with its online savings account. Several readers have mentioned that E-LOAN incorrectly duplicated transfer requests. Many who initiated a transfer out of their linked account into their E-LOAN account early this week found out that this transfer was done twice which caused several to be hit with an overdraft fee. Since I didn't do any transfers this week, I haven't seen this problem myself, and E-LOAN hasn't sent me any email on this issue. However, E-LOAN has sent emails to several customers. A reader received the following:
Perhaps E-LOAN is experiencing some growing pains. On November 1st, E-LOAN issued a press release stating that the online savings account and CDs has received more than $754 million in deposits from 18,132 accounts. Also in that press release was this quote:
Glitches like this won't help to build trust. But at least E-LOAN seems to be trying its best to correct the issue and reimburse customers affected. Please keep me updated on how E-LOAN does in making mends.
For those with E-LOAN savings accounts, make sure you check your E-LOAN accounts and your linked accounts to make sure all transactions are correct. Regularly checking your accounts is always a good idea. BankRate.com just came out with a good article on bank errors. It describes some of the laws designed to protect you. To get back money that was caused by a bank error, you have 60 days from the date the statement containing the error was sent. If your debit card gets lost or stolen, you have only two days to completely limit your liability to $50. If banks make mistakes in your favor, they have years to correct the mistake (which doesn't seem fair).
There could be one positive from this E-LOAN glitch. It could give E-LOAN a reason to extend the 5.50% APY on the savings account on all tiers. I don't know if they are planning to drop this rate anytime soon. But they already dropped their CD rates and implemented tiers on the CDs. If E-LOAN can properly make mends to its customers who were affected by this glitch, it'll be easy to overlook this glitch if the rates remain on top. However, if rates fall and are no better than other banks, it'll give more reason to switch back to a bank that has been more reliable.
Due to an error that occurred November 7, 2006, our electronic funding service duplicated a small percentage of transfer requests, which may have affected your external account.
We immediately took the appropriate steps to correct this problem, and hope that you will accept our apologies for this incident.
Rest assured there is nothing you need to do, and E-LOAN has informed your bank of the error. We will reimburse you for any fees you may have incurred due to this problem.
At E-LOAN, you are the reason for our continued success. Again, please accept our apologies. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to log into your E-LOAN Deposits Account and send us a secure message.
Perhaps E-LOAN is experiencing some growing pains. On November 1st, E-LOAN issued a press release stating that the online savings account and CDs has received more than $754 million in deposits from 18,132 accounts. Also in that press release was this quote:
More than 84% of E-LOAN customers have indicated that a trusted brand is a key influencer in choosing a high-yield online savings or CD account.
Glitches like this won't help to build trust. But at least E-LOAN seems to be trying its best to correct the issue and reimburse customers affected. Please keep me updated on how E-LOAN does in making mends.
For those with E-LOAN savings accounts, make sure you check your E-LOAN accounts and your linked accounts to make sure all transactions are correct. Regularly checking your accounts is always a good idea. BankRate.com just came out with a good article on bank errors. It describes some of the laws designed to protect you. To get back money that was caused by a bank error, you have 60 days from the date the statement containing the error was sent. If your debit card gets lost or stolen, you have only two days to completely limit your liability to $50. If banks make mistakes in your favor, they have years to correct the mistake (which doesn't seem fair).
There could be one positive from this E-LOAN glitch. It could give E-LOAN a reason to extend the 5.50% APY on the savings account on all tiers. I don't know if they are planning to drop this rate anytime soon. But they already dropped their CD rates and implemented tiers on the CDs. If E-LOAN can properly make mends to its customers who were affected by this glitch, it'll be easy to overlook this glitch if the rates remain on top. However, if rates fall and are no better than other banks, it'll give more reason to switch back to a bank that has been more reliable.