socialmedian: How to Shop Banks to Get Better Yields

User-submitted headlines for this story

Clips

Source: Wall Street Journal

Jun 24, 2009

Summary

After months of grappling with the financial crisis and government-ordered stress tests of their health, banks are emerging from the chaos determined to win new business. On the East Coast, TD Bank treated potential customers to pizzas and Citizens Bank is promising to kick in $1,000 to families saving for college. In Oklahoma, the tiny Bank of the Wichitas started an online division with a target audience and catchy slogan: Redneck Bank, “Where bankin’s funner.”

Banks can’t afford to jeopardize their health by offering deals too far out of line with the near-zero percent interest rate target set by the Federal Reserve. That helps explain why their perks often come with strings attached. Citizens Bank will kick in that $1,000 for college savings only if you deposit at least $25 a month for a child age 6 or under until he or she is 18—at a recent interest rate of just 3 to .5 percent. HSBC recently gave away Amazon Kindle 2 portable book readers, but only to customers depositing $50,000 in a new account and keeping a combined balance of $100,000.

Still, some ba

...Read the full article

Comments (0)

Add Your Comment