Emigrant Direct released their new site today… and promptly got hammered by the millions of people eagerly waiting to type in their 10-digit access code. I finally just got through.

Most importantly, with the new website you also get a different account number! This is extremely important for those that have externally linked their Emigrant account with other 3rd parties, such as TreasuryDirect or credit card bill-payment systems, and they most likely possibly won’t work anymore. (Added: This is per my discussion with a single rep. People have been getting differing answers.) Transfers initiated at Emigrant’s website will still work.

If you’re like me, you get 10+ phishing e-mails a day, asking you to login to some fake bank account site. Heck, my PayPal account was “suspended” five times just today. (Although it was really was frozen once.) Combine this with all the other stories of private information stolen from laptops, and you’ve got lots of potential headaches.

This MSNBC article entitled ‘Know your rights on bank account fraud‘ clearly outlines what your legal rights are if you do become a victim of idenity theft through your bank account. Although it’s from 2005, I learned a lot of new and useful stuff from this article. To quote:
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I keep forgetting to write this – Emigrant Direct is rolling out their new website on 7/24. Current accountholders should get an access code via snail mail. In addition, they announced that their interest rate will increase to 5.15% APY on 7/28.

Want an account? Get up to a $20 bonus for signing up here.

Emigrant Direct is now at 5.0% APY. [Emigrant Review] [$10-$20 Opening Bonus]

Presidential also raised rates last week to 5.12% APY on their Premier Savings Account. [Savings Review]

Added: VirtualBank is keeping their base rate of 4.60% APY, but if you keep $100,000 in there you’ll get 5.13% APY.

Citibank’s e-Savings Account just bumped up to a nice, round 5.00% APY.

This needs to be used alongside a Citibank Checking account. To avoid monthly fees, you need to one of the following:

• Direct Deposit,
• Make two monthly bill payments, or
• Maintain a $1,500 combined average balance.

If you don’t have the minimum balance, I would just set up an $1 monthly auto-pay for your electricity and phone bills or any other two recurring bills you have and you’ll be all set, with nothing extra to remember each month. If you overpay it just carries over to the next month anyways.

Sounds like a great deal if you use Citibank already for your other banking.

With all these recent rate bumps, should you move your money? Perhaps my Rate Chaser Calculator can help.

Trying to keep up with all these online banks and their rate activity could be a full-time job! So here are just a few more snippets. Emigrant Direct is now at 4.80% APY. [$10-$20 Bonus]

BankUnited offers a savings account paying 5.25% APY with $5,000 to open and $300 minimum to avoid fees.

Most of my own cash is still being held in 28-Day and 182-Day Treasury Bills, as they continue to offer the best equivalent taxable yield for me since I have to deal with state income taxes.

HBSC Direct is now back up to 4.80% APY, joining GMAC Bank.

Emigrant Direct has raised their rates again. If you’re opening an account, don’t miss out on your up to $20 bonus through signing up with Emigrant Direct here!

Looking at their account comparison chart, it looks like Presidential Bank has quietly dropped the monthly maintenance fee on their Premier Savings Account, currently paying 4.87% APY (for balances up to $35k). Previously, if you went below $5,000 you were hit with a monthly fee ($7.50 I believe). Ain’t competition grand? Their 4.50% APY checking account still has a $1,000 minimum.

You still need at least $5,000 to open the savings account, although you can take it all out afterwards. If you don’t have that kind of scratch, maybe you could borrow some for free from credit card companies?

Presidential Premier Savings (Presidential Bank review) is now at 4.87% APY, with its Checking at 4.50% APY. These guys are my primary bank.

Citibank e-Savings Account (previously discussed) is now at 4.75% APY.

HSBC Direct (HSBC Direct review) is now at 4.65% APY.

Don’t miss my Rate-Chaser Calculator. I need a new comparison chart…

Being my money blog and all, I inherently have a biased focus on the best places to keep own my money based on my own personal tax situation, time horizons, and existing accounts. So far I’ve mostly talked about the banks in my online savings accounts comparison, savings bonds, and Treasury bills. However, I do feel like I should point out that there are definitely some alternative options to safely ‘stash your cash’ that also offer good if not better interest rates depending on your own preferences. They include other online banks, bank CDs, brokerage taxable and tax-exempt money market funds:
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