Being kept down by the MAN

You know, we're all out here busting our humps trying to save and make a buck, then I get the news that some of the OSA's (Online Savings Accounts) have lowered their interest rates. ING moved quick but didn't decrease as much as HSBC, which went down from 5.05% to 4.5%. Dayum!

I currently have an OSA with ING, however it's nearly cleaned out since I took my vacation. I've got a few options:

1. Stick with ING
Bottom line, while their rates are lower than other online accounts (currently 4.30%), they spank brink-and-mortar banks (my b-n-m bank offers something like 0.39%). I'm very happy with their user-friendly interface and customer service. Having my smaller and larger savings in one place would be easier to manage.

2. Have OSAs with ING and another bank
Keep ING for the ability to make "subaccounts" for my smaller savings goals and link it to an ING Electric Orange Checking account to pay bills, etc. The benefit of this is that the Electric Orange account also earns interest. 3.50% would be better than the ZEE-RO I earn with my current bank.

  • I would open an OSA with another bank for my larger goals (unemployment, emergency, health care, housing). Since these funds would have higher dollar amounts, I'd like for them to earn as much money as possible. Putting them with an OSA other than ING would allow me to do this. So far the High Yield Money Market product from Capital One looks the most promising. They currently offer: 5.00% annual interest
  • No minimum balance
  • No fees (Well, almost. Wire transfers are $20.)
  • ATM card (From their web site: "ATM withdrawals are limited to $500 per day, with no monthly limit on how many times you use the card. Capital One does not charge a fee for ATM usage, but the ATM owner may.")
  • Six transfers per calendar month, three of which can be by check
I already have a credit card with them that could be linked to the account if needed. The only downside is that their transfers take longer than ING. My experience has been about 2 days with ING. Capital One is talking about 3 to 5. Boo.

I'm leaning towards option 2, but we'll see.