Does anyone know what’s a typical interest rate for a fixed deposit in the US (currency USD)?
Can you get the same or similar deals from US banks in Taiwan - any recommendation?
0.03% at Citibank sucks big time … 
I stopped looking when they dropped to 1%. If you’re open to the idea, you might consider a fixed deposit in AUD$ or British pounds; not fabulous rates, but better than the US$.
Cheers,
CK
I’m getting about 2 or 3% on my UK bank account, But there are better ones.
And that’s a bank account, right Matthew? I saw somewhere that fixed term deposits were running above 4% recently, over 5% in Australia. Correct me if I’m wrong.
CK
[quote=“citizen k”]And that’s a bank account, right Matthew? I saw somewhere that fixed term deposits were running above 4% recently, over 5% in Australia. Correct me if I’m wrong.[/quote]You are completely correct, I am looking at getting one of those fixed term accounts. Just a bit tricky opening one from over here, and I have to decide how much I want to lock away for that long.
BFM:
How long is long for the AUD deals, i.e. what terms are we talking about?
The UK bank account is GBP I assume?
I recommend ING Direct. It’s an Internet savings account with no checking account. They have virtually no brick & mortar branches, it’s all via the Internet. Interest rate is 2%. All you need is a checking account at any other US bank to link it up to.
I think if I refer you, I get US$10 and you get US$25 to open an account. PM me if you want me to send you the referral link.
Thanks for the advise, Neo. But for 2% I won’t take the risk of investing with an internet bank.
Union Bank USD 1 year 1.2%, but it costs 200NT to take out every 1,000USD
Rascal, ING Direct is not risky internet bank - they are big in the UK/France/Spain/Italy as well as the US/Canada markets. ING is a Dutch bank originally; they do insurance (in Taiwan) and have worldwide interests.
US banks are all govt backed anyhow ( FDIC ) - if you trust the govt.
Thanks gazza. Actually the CDs look interesting to me, a higher interest rate and the long term isn’t an issue for me.
But can anyone explain what’s APY?
My guess is that it’s Annualized Percentage Yield - so on multi-year products it’s the same as the interest rate because interest is compounded yearly, but on a product where interest is payable, say, monthly, the APY will be higher than the nominal rate. Since they all seem the same as the interest rates anyway, I doubt it’s anything to worry about!
I see. Just figured that the first internet bank in German, called DiBa (“Direct Bank”), co-operates with or is part of the ING group.
Yeah, ING is definitely a major multinational company. No different than Citibank or JP Morgan Chase, only it’s European-based so some Americans might not of heard of it. According to their website www.ing.com, they are traded on the NYSE, have 463 billion euros in assets under management and 115,000 employees.
Annual percentage yield (APY) and annual percentage rate (APR) are two very similar concepts and only differ slightly based on how you calculate them. APY takes account of compounded interest whereas APR doesn’t, so APY should be slightly higher than the APR.
Only if interest is compounded at a greater frequency than yearly, which is why the rates given on the page were the same.
ING direct has the highest saving account interest rates in the US as far as I know. I have had an account with them for quite some time and I am quite happy with them. ING is a large multinational company, mostly selling insurance. They also offer CD’s, the longer you put them in for the higher the percentage, I believe the top percentage is 4% for a five year CD.
More information at www.ingdirect.com
I sent an inquiry to ING USA (being a foreign national and not living in the US), here is their response:
[quote]To open an account with us, you MUST have a valid U.S. checking account, U.S. mailing address and Social Security Number.
At this time, ING DIRECT only offers personal accounts. You may title an
account in your own name, or in the name of yourself and a joint holder. We do not offer any business, payable on death, custodial or trust accounts. [/quote]
Seems as a non-US citizen I can’t directly invest with them …
Thanks daas for pointing that out, you’re absolutely right.
The only reason you can usually count on APY being slightly higher is that it seems that most consumer stuff like savings, loans, etc. are set to compound monthly. I’ve even seen stuff that compounds daily (credit cards and some mortgages) ! Even compounding daily, the interest won’t be all that much higher than something that compounds monthly or annually, unless you let s substantial sum build up for several years at least