Costco/Capital One InterestPlus Online Savings Account
February 9, 2010 by Jim
th="240" height="180" src="http://www.bargaineering.com/images/in_posts/costco-signage.jpg" alt="Costco Sign" />Costco and Capital One have joined forces to offer an InterestPlus Online Savings account that offers a fairly competitive 1.50% APY. It doesn’t appear that a Costco membership is required for this account but there is an incentive for members. If you are an Executive, you can get a $60 bonus. If you’re a Gold Star or Business member, then it’s only a $20 bonus. In terms of bonuses, these are probably the best you can expect for an online savings account but brick & mortar checking account bonuses (where you need to setup direct deposits and make bill pays) will usually pay far more (without a third party paid membership requirement).This offer is attractive if you don’t already have an online savings account and you are already Costco member.
The negatives? (I always like the bad news first)
- The fairly steep $5,000 minimum deposit, when most online savings accounts have much lower minimums.
- The bonus is not enough of an incentive to open this account, $60 on a $5,000 deposit is 1.2%. With an ING Direct referral, you can open an ING Direct Orange Savings account with $250 and get $25.
- Capital One’s other deposit products aren’t special. Compare their CD rates to the best CD rates we maintain and you’ll see they aren’t that competitive.
The positives?
- If you don’t have an online savings account and you can handle the $5,000 minimum, this isn’t a bad one to use. if you have a Capital One account you can link directly to this InterestPlus account, that makes it an even better deal for you since you can transfer funds instantly.
- $60 bonus for Costco Executive Members, $20 for Gold and Business Members; when you deposit $5,000 into the account within 30 days of opening ($5,000 is the minimum deposit to open).
- 10% quarterly bonus on interest earned for the previous month if you maintain at least a $15,000 balance in the account. It makes the APY, assuming the 10% bonus is paid out at exactly 4 weeks, a little less than 1.62%.
- No fees, $5,000 is the minimum needed to earn interest but you aren’t charged a fee if your balance falls below that.
What do you think of this offer?
(Photo: greenwenvy)
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