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ShareBuilder By Capital One Review: Discount Online Stock Brokerages

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I‘ve been doing a lot of research when it come to discount online brokerages lately.  It seems like just about everyone has a service that they like best, and that they prefer using.  The first one I had heard recommended was OptionsHouse.  It has  a good mix of research tools, low cost and ease of use.  Definitely one to look into, especially for active traders.

ShareBuilder by Capital One is another one that I had heard good things about, and since I already have a savings account with the same company, Capital One 360, I thought I would give it a once over.

ShareBuilder by Capital One History

From Wikipedia:

ShareBuilder (formally ShareBuilder Securities Corporation) is a United States based online brokerage firm founded in 1996 (as NetStock Direct). It encourages recurring, automatic purchases of shares of stock, ING Mutual Funds (Class O) and exchange-traded funds. All transactions occur online and are entirely at the discretion of the account holder, thus it is an execution-only service. The company does not have brokerage sales representatives or advisors. Account holders can use ShareBuilder’s online research tools to investigate stocks, similar to other online brokerages such as Scottrade, TD Ameritrade and Fidelity. In 2005, ShareBuilder began offering 401(k) plans to small businesses. On November 19, 2007, ShareBuilder Corporation was purchased by ING Direct, a subsidiary of ING Group for US $220 million. In June 2009, ShareBuilder moved its headquarters from Bellevue, Washington to 83 King Street, in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle, Washington. In February 2012, Capital One Financial Corporation completed its acquisition of ING Bank, fsb, and its subsidiaries, including ShareBuilder Corporation. ShareBuilder is no longer affiliated with ING Group

Company Awards

sharebuilder by capital oneShareBuilder has earned a bunch of awards and has been recognized as one of the top online brokers for beginning & long term investors. Among the awards:

  • Forbes Best-of-the-Web awards in January 2003 and January 2004
  • Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranked Sharebuilder #1 in “25 Ways to Invest $1,000.”

ShareBuilder Fees, Commissions And Minimums

Probably one of the most important things to consider when opening an online brokerage account is to consider what fees, commissions and minimums you’ll see when using an account.  Here is what you’ll find at ShareBuilder:

Stock Trades

Sharebuilder has competitive fees when it comes to stock trades.  They have  $6.95 stock trades. Compare to some others like OptionsHouse at $2.95 or TradeKing at $4.95 a trade, and they are a bit higher, but there is a caveat.

If you’re less of an active trader and more of a buy and hold investor, their automatic investments may be a good fit for you, and more affordable.  Automatic investments, done on Tuesdays,  will cost only $4.   If you sign up for their Advantage plan, you’ll get 12 per month for free included in the $12/month subscription, and it’s only $1 for each additional.  They offer a dollar cost averaging plan as well.

Options Trades

Sharebuilder has a fee for options trades of $6.95 per online trade,  + $1.25 per contract. 

Fees And Minimums For An Account

ShareBuilder doesn’t have account maintenance fees, monthly minimums or inactivity fees.  All prices are charged on a flat rate, and what you see is what you pay.

There is no  minimum account funding level, although if you want to get the $25 bonus mentioned above, you need to fund with at least $25.

Here’s a basic fee comparison with other discount brokerages:

Account MinimumMutual Fund CommissionStock CommissionAnnual IRA FeeReviews
OptionsHouse$1,000$9.95$3.95noneOptionsHouse Review
Motif Investing$1000$9.95 (per motif/bundle of stocks)
TD Ameritradenone$0$9.99noneTD AmeritradeReview
Zecconone$10$4.50$30
TradeKingnone$14.95$4.95none
Scottrade$2500$17$7.00noneScottrade Review
Vanguardnone$0$7.00$20
tradeMONSTERnone$15$7.50none
Fidelitynone$0$7.95none
Schwab$1,000?$8.95none
ShareBuilder by Capital Onenone$19.95$6.95noneShareBuilder by Capital One Review
EtradenoneUp to $19.99$9.99none
optionsXpressnone$14.95$14.95none

Other Investment Account Types

ShareBuilder offers a plethora of other investment account options for investors. Among them:

  • Individual Account
  • Joint Account
  • Traditional/Rollover IRA
  • Roth or Conversion IRA
  • ShareBuilder ESA (Education Savings Account)
  • Custodial Account

ShareBuilder Research & Tools

investing-tools-sharebuilde

In the past ShareBuilder may have been a bit short when it comes to the research and education departments.  Within the last few years, however,  ShareBuilder has really built up their library of educational tutorials and investment tools.

They now have a variety of tools including such things as an investment screener, a portfolio builder, fund/stock/ETF selectors, reports, simulators and calculators.

They also have a wide variety of investment information for beginning investors including tutorials and articles in their investor library.

Capital One 360 Savings Or Checking – Easy Linking

Another thing that I like about ShareBuilder is that you can easily link it to your Capital One 360 Savings or Capital One 360 Checking if you have them.  I personally already have an Capital One 360 Savings account and being able to easily link the accounts for automatic investments is nice.

Conclusion

When considering an online discount brokerage ShareBuilder is definitely one of the best options out there for long term investors who want to set up automatic investments and do long term dollar cost averaging. If you’re more of an active trader you may want to look elsewhere for a slightly lower cost option, although they're still pretty competitive.   But if you just want a plan that will allow you to automatically invest over the long term, ShareBuilder would be a good place to check out.

Have you used ShareBuilder, or considered using them? What has your experience with them been like? Are you happy with them?   Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

To open an account with Sharebuilder by Capital One click here

American Express Bank Personal Savings Review: High Yield Savings Accounts

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On this site we've reviewed quite a few online banks from Ally to ING Direct to Perkstreet. In general we've talked about how people view their customer service, what kind of rates they have, the histories of the companies and so forth.

One bank that I missed that has apparently had an online bank for quite a while now is also the company that I had one of my very first credit cards through, American Express.   I'm not sure how I missed this offering, but it recently came to my attention.  They're currently one of the higher (albeit low) rates right now, so I thought I'd do a quick review of American Express Personal Savings.

American Express Savings Review

History Of American Express Bank

American Express has been around for just over 150 years, so they're no Johnny come lately. From Wikipedia:

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card, and traveler's cheque businesses. Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US, the highest of any card issuer.

BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 22nd most valuable brand in the world, estimating the brand to be worth US$14.97 billion. Fortune listed Amex as one of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the World.

Amex hasn't always had a savings account and for much of their 150+ years they have had more of a focus on the credit card and charge card markets  (can you say “more profitable”?), but only after our recent financial downturn did they speed up customer acquisition for their deposit accounts.   Seems like a lot of companies would like to have that consumer cash on hand nowadays.

Amex Savings Are FDIC Insured

American Express is a FDIC insured bank so you don't ever have to worry about losing your money, as long as you don’t have more than $250,000 per depositor.  In other words, each spouse would be covered in separate accounts for up to $250,000.

American Express is a widely known and highly stable brand, however, so I don't think you have to worry about them going out of business anytime in the near future.  You're good to go.

American Express Savings Account Benefits

An American Express savings account has a lot of features and benefits, similar to a lot of other online banks. Among them:

  • 24/7 Account Access by phone or web.
  • No fees to open or maintain a High-Yield Savings account.
  • $1 to open an account.
  • Set up automatic transfers from a linked checking/savings account.
  • Rated 5-star Safe & Sound by Bankrate.com
  • FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor

Opening An Account With American Express

American Express has made opening a savings account quick and easy 4 step process, very streamlined and painless.

American Express Savings Review

  1. Gather your information: Bring together your Social Security number, address, email, date of birth and existing bank account information if funding your account electronically.
  2. Submit your application: Choose what type of account you want (Savings/CD) and apply online or by phone anytime at 1-800-446-6307.
  3. Receive confirmation: If your account is approved you'll receive an e-mail confirming that your application is approved. You will also receive a Personal Savings welcome kit in the mail.
  4. Fund your account: Then you just need to fund your account and start earning interest!

There you go.   As mentioned you should get an email confirming that your account is approved and that you're ready to go.  Look out for that welcome kit in the mail!

Conclusion

American Express is one of the most recognizable brands in the world.  Most people know about them because of their credit and charge cards (that's where I first came upon them), but they've also quickly become a good solid option when it comes to online savings accounts.

You're not going to find many banks nowadays with great rates – or anything really above 1% – but with that said American Express savings is currently near the top of the bank rates hill.

Add to that the fact that their FDIC insured, and are rated as a 5 star safe and sound bank by bankrate.com, and I think you've got a solid savings account option that I would recommend checking out. You can sign up for an account or get details through the links below.

Open Your American Express Personal Savings Account

American Express Account Signup



Zions Bank Review: High Yield Savings, Checking, Money Market Accounts

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I’m always trying to stay on top of what the best banks out there currently are, and where you can find the best bank rates currently in the market. I’ve written about quite a few banks here, including the one we currently have our cash stashed at, Ally Bank. We've been happy with Ally, but this past week I heard about another bank that has piqued my interest.

Up until a couple of months I had never heard of Zions Bank. At first I thought that maybe they were a newer bank trying to capitalize on the slow savings market, but then after researching them a bit I read that they were founded way back in 1873, so they've got a bit of history.  Now that they're offering a good rate of interest, and a good slate of account offerings, I thought I'd write about them here.

Zions Bank Background

From Wikipedia:

Zions Bank (Zions First National Bank) is an American bank, and a subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation. According to the company, it is the oldest financial institution in Utah.  The bank has 103 full-service branches and 150 ATMs, and over 2,700 employees in both Utah and Idaho

Zion’s Savings Bank and Trust Company was started by Brigham Young on July 10, 1873. This became Utah’s first chartered savings bank and trust company.

On April 22, 1960, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decided to sell a majority of Zions First National Bank to Keystone Insurance and Investment Company. Zions First National Investment Company became the majority owner of the bank stock in Nevada on February 17, 1961. Still under the control of the Keystone group, the investment company became Zions Bancorporation in 1965. Zions Bancorporation went public for the first time in January 1966. There were some minority shareholders of Zions First National Bank, but in April 1972 all of the remaining shares were exchanged for Zions Bancorporation shares.

Is Zions Bank Safe?  Is My Money Insured?

With Zions Bank your money will be safe and sound because the bank is FDIC insured. If you deposit your money and the bank goes under, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t have more deposited than the FDIC insurance will cover. Currently that amount is $250,000 per depositor.  I would never even consider a bank unless they were FDIC insured.

Zions Bank Account Offerings

Zions Bank has several different account types that you can get, but I’ll focus on three of them here – their savings, checking and money market accounts.

Zions Bank Savings Account

The minimum to open a savings account is $100, which is about standard for a lot of these accounts.  One thing that should be noted is that you’ll need to maintain a minimum balance of $1,000 in order to receive the maximum interest rate.  That rate is currently at 1.01% APY – easily among the top interest rates in the nation as of the day this post was written.

Zions Bank Checking Account

Zions bank has several checking account flavors – one for whatever your tastes are.  They have options with great perks, ones with a good interest rate or no fees.  Their three most popular checking account options include:

  • Gold Account Checking – While this account has a $10/month fee associated with it, it has a bunch of services included.  Among them are unlimited check writing, free personalized checks and better rates on a variety of savings accounts. You even get a discount on most consumer loans if you are already a Gold Account Checking customer.  There is a $100 minimum deposit
  • Free Checking – This is the standard free checking account with no monthly free, and a $100 minimum deposit.
  • Free Interest Checking – This account will earn some interest along with giving you free checking, although it may not have all of the options of the other account.  Direct deposit is required and there is a  $100 minimum deposit.

Zions Bank Money Market Account

This account type is going to be similar to the online savings account.  Sometimes a money market account will give you a better rate, but this particular one currently has the same 1.01% rate.  Among the provisions of this account type is a $3 fee for withdrawals at a teller window, and that you can make up to six transfers within a 30-day period.  There is an initial minimum deposit of $2,500.

Zions Bank Account Opening Procedure

Opening an account with Zions bank is a 5 step process that you'll be done with in no time.  First you select the account type that you want along with if you’ll have a joint account holder.  Then you enter your personal information including full name, date of birth and social security number.  Next you choose account options and setup a linked account to fund your savings.  After entering some final details you’ll receive confirmation of how to use your new account once it is approved.

I’m told that your application for an account will be processed within two days and you’ll then be able to proceed and login online.  No problem, and it sounds pretty comparable to opening an account with just about any other online bank.

Open your account with Zions Bank. Click here for details!

Zions Bank Mobile Banking

Zions Bank mobile banking service allows you to bank anytime, anywhere from your smartphone or mobile device. You can securely access your checking, savings or money market accounts to:

  • View account balances
  • Search account activity
  • Transfer funds

There are apps for Iphone, Ipod Touch, in addition to a ton of other smartphones.

Conclusion

At the time that I wrote this, Zions Bank has some of the highest interest rates in the country and all of their accounts are FDIC insured. Add to that their other solid account options, mobile banking, no fees or minimums, good security and solid history, you’ve got a bank you can count on.

If you’re looking for a good high yield savings account where you can put your money, I think Zions Bank should be near the top of your list. To check out the details of their accounts, click on the links below.

Zions Bank Savings
Zions Bank Checking
Zions Bank Money Market Account

Do you have any experience with Zions Bank? Are you using them, and how do you like them? What are the pros and cons of their accounts? Leave us a note in the comments!

Discover Bank Review: High Yield Savings Account

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Over the past year or so I've done quite a bit of research on online savings accounts. During that time we ended up opening an account with Ally Bank that we've been quite happy with. While their rate is no longer the highest, using them has been easy and pain free.

Only now after I had opened my Ally Bank account did I discover that another bank actually had a higher rate than I had realized, and we could have gotten better returns there.  On top of that, from what I'm reading online people are relatively happy with them as well.  That bank is Discover Bank.

Discover Bank History

Discover Bank was originally known as Greenwood Trust Company, and it first opened it’s doors in Greenwood, Delaware in 1911.   They were renamed as Discover Bank in 2000.

Up until just recently they only offered a money market account type, but since then they’ve expanded their offerings to include a full online savings account, along with several other account type options.  Since doing so – and since their rate is near the top of current offerings, they’ve quickly become one of the industry leaders in the high yield savings account sphere.

Is Putting My Money With Discover Bank Safe?

With Discover Bank your money will be safe and sound because the bank is FDIC insured, and has been since 1934.  If you deposit your money and the bank goes under, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t have more deposited than the FDIC insurance will cover.  Currently that amount is $250,000 per depositor.

Features Of A Discover Bank High Yield Savings Account

Discover Bank’s High Yield Savings Account has a good number of features. Here are a few of them:

  • Low opening deposit ($0) plus no minimum balance
  • Set up automatic transfers from any checking or savings account
  • Rated 5-star Safe & Sound by Bankrate.com
  • Bankrate.com Top Tier Winner for consistently high yields
  • Fast and free online money transfers
  • 24/7 live customer service
  • FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor

Opening An Account With Discover Bank

Opening an account with Discover bank sounds like a pretty simple process.  Their website claims that you can open in “minutes”.    Here’s how it works:

Open A Discover Account
  • Step 1:  You select the account type that you’re choosing, along with whether it is a single or joint account.  Enter your personal information including social security number.
  • Step 2: Enter your linked bank account information and enter how much you’d like your opening deposit to be.
  • Step 3: Verify trial deposits and your account is ready to go.

Doesn’t sound too hard!

Open a Discover Bank account. Click here to get more details now!

Other Discover Bank Account Options

In addition to it’s competitive high yield savings accounts  Discover Bank also has other options available including classic CDs, money market accounts, IRA CDs and their traditional credit card offerings. All of their offerings seem to have rates that are currently very competitive or near the top of the bunch.  For more details about their other account options, click here.

Conclusion

At the time that I wrote this, Discover Bank has some of the highest interest rates in the country (higher than my Ally Bank account unfortunately) and all of their accounts are FDIC insured.  Add to that their other solid account options, no fees or minimums, good security and 24/7 customer service and you have a solid bank offering.

If you’re looking for a good high yield savings account where you can put your money, I think Discover Bank should definitely be on your short list.

Do you have any experience with Discover Bank? Are you using them, and how do you like them? What are the pros and cons of their accounts? Leave us a note in the comments!

Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is accurate as of 3/14/2017. Applies to personal accounts only. Fees could reduce the earnings on the account. Rates may change at any time without prior notice, before or after the account is opened. No minimum balance to open.

Prepaid Debit Cards Often Cost More Than Checking accounts

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Checking accounts and debit cards have something in common: hidden fees that are meant to catch you off guard. If you are trying to figure out the option that has fewer fees, you will probably find that a checking account is cheaper. There are several reasons why.

The Overdraft Factor

Generally speaking, a normal user will find that prepaid debit cards are more costly than checking accounts. At Nerdwallet.com we’ve conducted a small experiment: comparing the fees for a checking account at the ten largest checking account providers against the fees associated with ten prepaid debit cards, including America’s most popular, the WalMart MoneyCard.

On average, a prepaid debit card will cost you more than $19 per month, while the average checking account will only cost $6. In the appendix, you can find more details on how we got these numbers.

The major variable, though, is if or when a checking account holder decides to use overdraft protection, the mechanism banks use to make money on checking accounts. Usually, the overdraft charges assessed on a checking account-connected debit card are incurred by mistake. These mistakes are expensive though, as overdraft charges can be up to $35 per transaction. This can be especially damaging if you get hit with the fee without realizing your account is empty.

How much can overdraft fees end up costing you? A study conducted by the FDIC reports that Americans who overdraw their accounts more than twenty times a year stood to lose more than $1,600 for doing so.

Ultimately, you would have to overdraft your checking account five times a year in order to spend more on a checking account than with a prepaid debit card.

On average, the overdraft fee assessed by America’s 10 largest checking account providers is $33.75, which can certainly push users past the $229.67 in yearly fees that accrue to a prepaid debit card, when added the $81.80 in fees that are paid on the average checking account without overdrafts. But those with the discipline to avoid overdrafts will be best served by getting a checking account at a bank.

In addition, as of August 2010 the FDIC has prevented banks from opting customers in to overdraft programs without consent. So now you don’t even need to be disciplined to avoid overdrafts – just don’t opt in to them.

Rather than a prepaid card, get a secured credit card and a checking account

The state of your wallet will probably benefit from avoiding prepaid debit cards. Getting a secured credit card in combination with a checking account is the best option, for the following reasons:

  • A secured card can build your credit, something a prepaid debit card can’t do.
  • Since you need to pay upfront either way, why not pay for the service that improves your credit as well?
  • The woes of consumers expressed through internet forums also provide a grave warning about the potential of getting scammed by a prepaid debit card. Prepaid debit cards do not have the same level of protection for fraud, disputes, or travel-related incidents that most credit cards do.
  • Many secured cards also allow you to move up to a standard card after a period of proven trustworthiness. So, going with a secured credit card now could end up getting you access to more premium rewards credit cards in the future.

All this goes to show that you are probably better off with a checking account connected to a secured credit card than with a prepaid debit card. According to the FDIC, the number one reason why people opt not to open a checking account is that there is “not enough money” to make use of one. Since having a checking account is so much cheaper than a prepaid debit card, perhaps you should consider whether you can afford not to use one.

Appendix

In order to calculate the numbers above, we assumed that prepaid debit card holders would have 1.5 withdrawals from ATMs, eight purchases, two card reloads, and only one balance inquiry each month. Using these values, we evaluated cards from ACE Cash Express (NetSpend), Green Dot, RushCard, Emerald Card, Net Spend Visa, Vision Premier, Western Union MoneyWise, Walmart MoneyCard, AccountNow, and Pay Power.

For the banks in the comparison, we made the assumption that a checking account will start with a $100 balance, and that account holders would use an ATM that is out-of-network once per month. With these values, we looked at checking accounts from Citi, HSBC, PNC, Capital One, Sun Trust, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, and TD Bank.

This post comes from the NerdWallet.com team, personal finance bloggers and experts in helping consumers find the best low APR credit cards.

Ally Bank Review: High Yield Savings Accounts

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For a while now I've been looking into all the online high yield savings accounts because we wanted to find a place to put our hard earned emergency savings. 

As of this writing, because we're so conservative, we're currently sitting on close to 12 months of expenses in savings.  As you might expect, 12 months of expenses is a nice chunk of change to be earning interest off of. 

We wanted to make sure we were putting our money in a place where it would be earning good interest, but also that it was a solid bank with a good reputation.

Today I’m reviewing one of the banks that we ended up getting an account with,  Ally Bank.

Ally Bank – Who Are They?

The brand – Ally Bank – has been around for a year or two now, although they aren't a new flash in the pan bank.  A lot of people don’t realize is that Ally Bank is the new face of an old name, GMAC bank.  They changed the name in May of 2009 at a time when they were giving the company a face-lift, and giving a promise to be the customer’s “ally”.  While the old GMAC bank wasn't my favorite bank – and the fact that they needed a face-lift from the start had me skeptical.  But when you also factor in the fact that they have one of the competitive bank rates right now, and that so far they've gotten good reviews – I was more than willing to give them a shot.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance named Ally Bank high yield savings account the “Best Internet Account” and “Best For Millennials” for 2018!

Is My Money Safe At Ally Bank?

Whenever you're considering signing up for a new bank account, it's important to find out if  your money will be safe at the institution, and whether or not the bank is insured.  Ally Bank is fully FDIC insured, and has been since August 2004 – under their old name of GMAC.  If  the bank has problems and goes bankrupt, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t have more deposited than the FDIC insurance will cover.   Currently that amount is $250,000 per depositor.

Fees, Minimums And Other Features Of Ally Bank

Ally Bank’s high yield savings account has low fees, no minimum balance and you can open with zero dollars if you want!

  • Open with $0
  • No minimum balance
  • No monthly fees
  • Ability to create sub-accounts with different names and account numbers.
  • Daily compounded interest for maximum earnings
  • 24 hours a day, 7 days a week customer service at 1-877-247-ALLY (2559) for 24/7 assistance or by e-mail at customercare@ally.com
  • FDIC insured up to $250,000
  • Six withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle.  (mandated by the government for savings accounts)
  • high level of online security

Open An Account With Ally Bank

I opened my account with Ally Bank about 4-5 months ago.  It was pretty simple.

It’s a 5-step process.  You’ll have to give them some basic information (including your SSN and drivers license), and they’ll do a hard credit pull. Then you just set up your initial deposit from your linked account,  set up a few account options and you’re set to go.  No fuss, no muss.

Other Ally Bank Account Types

In addition to it’s competitive high yield savings accounts Ally Bank also has other options available including classic CDs,  no penalty CDs (ability to withdraw early with no penalties) and money market accounts.  All of them seem to have rates that are currently competitive.  For more details about their other account options, click here.

I Signed Up For Ally – You Should Too!

I've now been with Ally Bank for several months, and so far I've been extremely satisfied.  They offer some of the highest interest rates in the country and all of their accounts are FDIC insured (to find current updated rates, go here).  Add to that their solid 24/7 customer service (which I have used more than once) and other account type options, and you have a good solid bank that does what it should.

If you’re looking for a good high yield savings account where you can put your money, I think Ally Bank should be near the top of your list.  I know it reached the top of mine, and was one of the accounts I ended up opening.

Open an account at Ally Bank. Click here for details!

Do you have an account with Ally Bank? How do you like them? What are the pros and cons of their accounts? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!