I just got this email:
The last time I wrote to you, I told you how committed we are to helping you get the most from your money and reach your savings goals faster.
Well, even as the economy continues to prove challenging and the Federal Reserve reduces rates, we have some good news to kick off your summer.
Your Online Savings Account rate has increased to 3.50% APY*, effective June 2, 2008. That’s up from 3.05% APY. And it’s 9x the national savings average.** This at a time when some other savings rates have been falling.
This great new rate will be available through August 15, 2008. After which, you’ll continue to get our great everyday rate. So the faster you deposit, the faster your money will grow.
And you can feel confident knowing that we’re part of the global HSBC Group ranked number one by Forbes magazine in their annual Global 2000 ranking issued on April 21, 2008.
Once again, I sincerely appreciate that you have chosen HSBC Direct as the place to make your money grow.
Sweet! While other banks are hovering between 2.75% and 3.15% (HSBC Direct was at 3.05% if I recall correctly) and when interest rates continue to drop, this is a sweet interest rate! Too bad it’s only going to last 2.5 months. I doubt others are going to follow suit, but who knows.
If you don’t already have an HSBC Direct account, you can get more information here: Online Savings, Online Payment and Online CD Accounts, HSBC Direct.
Not really worth opening a new account if you don’t already have one, but for those who do, it might be worth it to temporarily hold you savings in HSBC and get the extra 0.5% of interest. Best of all, it applies to your whole balance and not just new deposits like some banks (*cough* INGDirect *cough*).