As featured in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and more!

Emigrant Direct Raises Rates and Offers Rebate Credit Card

by Flexo on September 20, 2005

in Saving

For the latest information on the Emigrant Direct Rebate Credit Card, click here (January 2006).

Emigrant Direct raised interest rates on its savings account to a wonderful 4.0% APY today, possibly to coincide with the Federal Reserve Bank’s increase of 25 basis points.

I have updated the latest checking and savings rates table to include the new rates, so take a look (and update your links). The new update also includes HSBC, whose internet savings account offers 3.75% APY.

Update: After I finished posting this, I received an email from Emigrant Direct announcing the new rate as well as a new offering. Here’s the text:

Additionally, we are also pleased to announce the upcoming launch of a no-fee credit card from EmigrantDirect offering the highest cash back rebate in the country on all your purchases — from the first dollar spent on your card to the very last. This revolutionary credit card featuring platinum-level benefits will be offered only to EmigrantDirect customers and be available before yearend. Cash back amounts will be deposited into your American Dream Savings Account automatically not once, but twice a year for added convenience. If you would like to be sent a priority invitation to apply for the card once it becomes available, please send a quick email with your name and email address to emigrantdirect@emigrant.com. We hope that you will become a cardholder and discover yet another way that EmigrantDirect serves and rewards its customers with outstanding value.

I look forward to seeing the details of this no-fee rebate card when it is available.

VN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)


About the Author

Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

If you enjoyed this article, get the free RSS feed or get daily emails.

Join the free Consumerism Commentary newsletter. Enter your email address here to receive weekly emails with behind-the-scenes information, exclusive giveaways, and money tips.



Related Entries on Consumerism Commentary

{ 9 comments }

1 Dusty September 20, 2005 at 10:37 pm

I’m going to wait a few days to see what the other banks do. I find it a little odd that Emigrant jumped half a percentage point on a quarter point increase from the Fed. Any ideas on that?

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

2 Ravi September 23, 2005 at 12:38 am

Hi,

ING Direct is now 3.4 % APR. Thats too meagre !!

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

3 Chris September 30, 2005 at 2:33 am

I’ve read some old comments from Feb-June timeframe from people complaining about difficulties with Emigrant Direct’s site and their customer service. Did they make any noticeable changes to remedy these problems or have people just gotten used to them? I’m comparing internet savings accounts in preparation for my first try with one.

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

4 Flexo September 30, 2005 at 11:14 am

Chris,

Emigrant Direct hasn’t changed their interface, so it may be an issue of getting used to it. It’s not all that bad, although it doesn’t look correct in Mozilla/FireFox/DeerPark. The navicgation could be improved, but it’s easy enough to get around.

I haven’t had to deal with their customer service lately, so I can’t speak on that part of it.

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

5 Anonymous November 23, 2005 at 3:36 pm

Well, we are still waiting for follow-up from the bank about the credit-card offer. They promised more information in two weeks and “a card in your hand” by Thanksgiving. Repeated calls and emails have gotten no further information 60 days later. At the least an additional email explaining the delay should have been sent. Another big company run by a rich family that doesn’t care about what they promise customers.

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

6 Joe December 9, 2005 at 3:12 pm

I recently contacted Emigrant Direct with a separate question but while I was on the line I asked the service operator about the forthcoming credit card. She informed me that it had “hit a couple of snags” but was in the final stages of preparation… whatever that means.

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

7 TrueHeart January 5, 2006 at 12:11 pm

Well, as an account holder I sent an online message asking about availabilty of the rebate card. My messages of 11/23/05 and 12/02/05 have gone 30+ days unanswered. Not the kind of customer service I am looking for in a bank.

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

8 AGirl January 6, 2006 at 4:21 pm

I am also a customer and have NEVER recieved a response to emails to Emigrant. I called, and now they are saying the card will be available end of this month. no details

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

9 Flexo January 20, 2006 at 2:17 pm

The new Emigrant Direct credit card is here…

UN:F [1.7.5_995]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post: Fun With Google: Consumerism Is…

Next post: Medical Billing Errors