| Spreading accounts helps out
Welcome to cash management, 2007-style. Forget the quaint notion that you should have your checking account, credit card and savings account all at the same bank. Instead, look to cherry-pick the best of these accounts — with the goal of sidestepping fees, piling up credit-card rewards, earning extra interest and building a great credit score. Sound like a lot of work? It doesn't have to be. -Boosting yield. Start by getting a no-fee, no-interest checking account with little or no required minimum balance, advises Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Many banks now offer such accounts. Not collecting interest might seem like a bum deal. But, in truth, this isn't a big loss. On average, interest-paying checking accounts now require a $3,300 balance to avoid fees — and, even then, you will earn interest averaging just 0.3 percent, according to a recent Bankrate survey.
Check It Out
Bob in Pittsboro continues to defend the lame Bank of America greeter. (If you're new to this debate, a couple of weeks ago we wrote about being faux customer-serviced by a BOA greeter, who pretended to be concerned about our needs. Bob shot back that we were a "grouch" for not appreciating BOA's interest in us, its valued customer. We responded with a list of things we could have done in the 15 minutes we had to wait to see our senior personal banker.) Today, Bob continues to portray BOA as the victim."Not only a grouch," writes Bob, "but a poor planner. From BOA's Web site, here's what you could have done online ... . " He goes on to list several things that can be done with online banking -- which we have and use, thank you very much, Bob. Several things except what we needed to do, which was transfer funds from a CD account to checking, a simple task that we should not have to enlist the aid of an SPB in the first place! Which adds to our, yes, grouchiness!Bob concludes by offering one more thing we could have done in the 15 minutes we waited to see our SPB: "Try doing the 15-Minute Desk Workout (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKCPcRcJmqc) in the bank lobby.
NuUnion Credit Union reinvents checking account
LANSING � Credit union members know the benefits their credit union can offer that most banks cannot. But one Michigan credit union is providing unprecedented returns with its newest checking account. The account, known as SoSMART� Checking, provides NuUnion members with free ATMs nationwide and an impressive 6 percent interest on balances up to $25,000. "Our members have been telling us they're tired of paying ATM fees and want to earn interest on their free checking account," said Steve Winninger, president and CEO of NuUnion. "And we've been listening. We introduced SoSMART� Checking on Sept. 24 - a free checking account with a premium interest rate and free ATMs nationwide. SoSMART� is a unique product that allows our members to earn high interest while eliminating expensive fees.
Protect yourself from phishing scams
Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 10:55 a.m. We've told you to keep an eye on your email for a scam known as phishing -- when it appears a reputable company you're doing business with, asks you to submit personal information to confirm an account. We got one last week, claiming that an online account with a local bank had expired and that the bank needed the person's current information. We did some checking and found two things that didn't add up. First of all, the bank says its employees will never ask people for this type of information and second. The person who received this email doesn't even have an account with the bank. If you ever get these emails, experts say the best defense is to call the company yourself to see if they do business this way.
BofA launches football-related sweepstakes
Bank of America Corp. has launched a six-week sweepstakes to encourage saving through its Keep the Change program. Through the promotion, dubbed Monday Morning Quarterback, customers can win prizes that include a trip for two to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona. Participants also will vie for weekly prizes such as a refund equal to one-quarter of their weekend spending. Customers can go to www.bankofamerica.com/quarterback for information and to enroll. Keep the Change customers have each check-card purchase rounded up to the next whole dollar amount. The difference is transferred from their checking account to their savings account. "Through the Monday Morning Quarterback promotion, we hope to highlight the importance of saving and remind customers that they can join the more than 6.5 million customers who have already saved more than $620 million just by enrolling in Keep the Change and using their debit cards for everyday purchases," says Susan Faulkner, deposits and student-lending executive.
Check not valid after death
Q:My father passed away Oct. 29. The October Social Security check was deposited into his checking account on Nov. 3. I am the administrator of the estate, and my name is also on the bank account. How does Social Security handle checks paid after someone dies? Do I have to return the check to Social Security and have it reissued to the estate, or can I just use the money to pay expenses? F.H., Ravenna A:A person must live the entire month to be entitled to that month's payment. It doesn't matter whether he or she dies on the first or the last day of the month. Because your father died on Oct. 29, the check for that month is not payable. This provision wasn't part of the original Social Security Act, but it was added in 1939. If you would like more information, go online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov or call 800-772-1213.
Big U.S. banks vary widely on protecting consumers from fraud
Bank of America Corp. took top honors for the second year in a row in a report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft.J.P. Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo Co. tied for second place, and Citibank came in third in the study published by Javelin Strategy & Research.The study looked at 25 banks that together hold 50 percent of U.S. checking account deposits and counted only banks that have a brick-and-mortar presence. The study measured banks’ policies for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud, focusing on measures that consumers experience, not internal bank security policies. .
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