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I was pointed today to the eOne online checking account from Salem Five Direct, the online division of Salem Five bank.
The features sound great — too great, almost.
- No monthly fee
- No minimum balance
- Free use of any ATM, anywhere, anytime*
- Free online bill payment
- Unlimited checking, debit card and ATM transactions
- One time $25 bonus when you enroll in direct deposit*
APY:
5.30% for $100,000-$999,999;
5.20% for $25,000-$99,999;
5.10% for $10,000-$24,999;
5.00% for $0-$9,999;
0.50% for $1,000,000 or more.
The fine print:
*Salem Five will never charge a fee for ATM transactions conducted at non-Salem Five ATMs, and we will reimburse the fees other banks charge up to $15 per statement cycle.
Earn 5.30% APY on average daily balances of $100,000-$999,999. Earn 5.00% APY on average daily balances of $0-$9,999, 5.10% APY on $10,000-$24,999, 5.20% APY on $25,000-$99,999 and 0.50% APY on balances of $1,000,000 or more. Minimum to open this account online is $100.00. The rate may change after the account is opened. The stated APY applies to new eOne accounts opened after 7/30/2007.
$25 bonus is an interest credit to be posted to your account within 60 ays of initiating a recurring direct deposit such as payroll or social security payments. The recurring direct deposit must be initiated within 90 days of account opening.
Account requires eStatements. This offer is not available at Salem Five branch offices. Consumer accounts only.
The bank is apparently FDIC insured, as well.
All in all, the account almost sounds too good to be true. A 5% APY, free ATM access, free online bill pay, no fees and no minimums.
But when I went to go open an account, it says that I'm also applying for the "eOne funding account."
Welcome! You are applying for the Salem Five eOne Account and its partner account, the eOne Funding Account.
I can't seem to find any information on this account … so it makes me a little weary of going any further.
Have you used Salem Five Direct before? Tell us how it was in a comment.
Here's a little more info from emoneycentral….
http://www.emoneycentral.com/Salem-Five-Direct-High-Interes.1528.0.html
There are good deals to be had. Here in Oregon, two major credit unions have been offering 6.01 and 6.1 APY on checking for the past several months. Once again, they reimburse fees charged by other bank ATMS. I know a lot of people use Bank of America for the ATM convenience, but with these rates it makes no sense to use a traditional bank. B of A pays nothing on checking unless you have a significant amount (over 25k last I checked).
junger, i'm glad you are looking in to this bank. This looks like an excellent place to have a checking account. Go ahead and sign up and let us know
my family has done banking with the local branches of salem five for 30 years now. They're a great bank and legit.
junger, the funding account is what's used if you're balance goes over $1,000,000. It's a partner sweep account. So rather than send you back any money that goes over $1,000,000, they sweep it into the funding account automatically, then sweep it back when your balance dips below $1,000,000.
SG - thanks for the info. Somehow I don't think I'll be making it over 1 million any time soon …
Yes, Salemfive does not charge ATM fees, but as a former Netbank customer, I was shocked to see that if I have and overdraft protection with Salemfive, they charge a $25 annual fee. BAD DEAL