Looking for a small bank in Somerville

[yihwalu.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone,

I did some reading on the "shift your money" movement that the Somerville Local First organization is promoting, and I am ready to make the switch but not sure where to go!

Has anyone made the switch?  Where to?

Thank you very much,
Yihwa

Comments

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Must be a teaser rate. Really.

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nathanjw]

It's a weird deal, but one a lot of banks are offering - the general term is high yield checking. The bank makes money off of the debit card transactions, and I presume they're gambling that they'll make more money through those (and probably through whatever normal uses of the deposits) than you'll make in interest, that you won't manage to use your debit card that much every month (in which case the interest becomes essentially zero for the month), and so on. You can find a list of banks offering such accounts, and the rates and approximate terms, here.

20 transactions a month is actually a pretty high number for this type of account - the average seems to be more like 11.

Re: Cambridge Savings

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I switched to the SuperSmart checking account at CSB a few months ago, and when I was on the phone with the nice lady at the bank, she put me on hold to check if I had enough transactions over the past few months to meet the threshold (yet another example of great customer service from CSB). She came back and was laughing—I use my debit card ALL the time and had way more than the minimum.

I have the feeling those accounts are aimed at younger customers who are more likely to use their debit cards a lot and not mind getting electronic statements (a requirement for that account and Cambridge Savings). I suspect they also bank on you transferring money into your checking account to earn interest and then unwittingly spending it down, meaning they pay less interest. Who knows.

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Is there a max on how much you can deposit? I mean, would they still give me 8K at the end of the year, if I put in 200K and buy 20 packs of bubble gum on my debit card each month?

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, just saw there is a 25K max...