I need a place to park my emergency cash as cash.  Got lazy and built up a ~year long emergency fund at USAA with their pathetic interest.  

There are much better rates out there, but are their any tangible or intangible benefits to one or the other?  Customer service, faster transfers, better online experience, smart phone apps, etc?



Bankrate gives a laundry list of banks with .90 thru 1.05% yields.

Looking at things like GE Capital Bank, Barclays, or Discover Bank.  I have taxable accounts with Fidelity and Vanguard and a Roth with Vanguard, but neither seem to offer what I'm looking for.


So...any one of them better than the other?

thanks

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The most important considerations for me are the ACH transfer policies/speed and at least a decent online interface.  I have online savings accounts with Ally Bank and American Express Bank and like both of them just fine.  Also have a CD with Ally and their rates on those are usually pretty competitive.  Customer service, the one or two times we've needed it, has been very good too.

Thanks, those are likely my key considerations as well.

Ally is simple and has great rates.  No reason to go anywhere else.  I have my checking account, savings account, and 5 laddered CDs with them.  Never any issue.

More money has been lost chasing slightly higher yield than anyone can realize. <(Google that phrase please)  Read/http://www.businessinsider.com/joshua-birnbaum-bet-against-high-yield-energy-2014-12/ Just out yesterday. Think a moment, you said yourself you were lazy lately amassing cash in a checking account.  I'd suggest perhaps you redeploy what you do not need into your investments and move on with this yr, rather than chasing the huge yield difference thats actually less than .15% Just a suggestion, its a checking account, and should be low risk, not high yield junk bonds. Just a suggestion. Good luck with your decision. !

just keep it under your mattress.

I bank(both checking and savings)/insure with USAA.  One of those savings accounts at USAA is where my emergency cash is parked.  Like I said in the original post, I am looking for a place to park my emergency cash as cash(not in any bond or stock featuring a high dividend yield).  I have taxable and tax deferred investments, so this is a different pot of money.

I can go from .25% interest with USAA's "Performance First" Savings to ~1% with other savings accounts.  Even without additional contributions, the interest difference is >300 per year.  

Not looking to move it anywhere with a real risk.  

A checking account with 1% interest is just as low risk as a checking account with 0.05% interest.  It's a checking account either way, not an investment account.

Thanks for the input all.

FWIW I'm going to go with Barclays based on a few reasons.  Have already closed out that specific USAA account and will open the Barclays account on the 1st(simplicity with taxes drove that date).  I'll still do a majority of my day to day banking with USAA.

I chose it over Ally as it has a slightly better interest rate, and I didn't need the other full service aspects available at Ally.

I chose it over GE Capital Bank simply because of the Barclays worldwide name and potential uses overseas.  You never know.  GE Capital does currently have a .05% better rate, but it shouldn't be a big deal.  Also, there are threads on Bogleheads for a couple years talking about Barclays, but GE Capital seems to be a recent manifestation.

Other things out there was UFB, but it seems too new and I love the association with "Bank of Internet".

Sooo, all that debate, will go with Barclays  and will continue to not ask for much from a no frills savings account.