Let’s face it, banks which offer high-yield savings accounts are a dime a dozen these days, and the market has practically been commoditized. Whoever offers the best rate at the time will generally draw the majority of new customers. There are so many different options to place your savings at that it makes it rather difficult to choose between them. All you can do is read reviews of all of the different banks and hope to be able to make reasonable comparisons. Today we’re going to take a look at GMAC Bank’s Money Market savings account and take a look if it’s worth considering as your savings account.
GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation) is the financial services arm of General Motors. GMAC Bank along with other sister companies are all subdivisions of ResCap Holding. Currently the company has 39,000 employees and revenues of $19.2 billion annually. The company GMAC Bank itself was established in 2001. With all of its sister companies, it’s quite a large organization.
The money market account they offer is very similar to accounts offered by other banks. Currently the bank is offering a 5.00% APY rate of return on money in its savings accounts, which is fairly competitive in today’s market. It’s one of the better rates available, but certainly not the highest. Like most other online savings banks, your money is FDIC insured.
The major benefit of GMAC Bank’s money market savings account is that it offers its account holders a debit card to withdraw money as they need to. In addition, they will refund up to $6.00 a month in ATM fees that other banks charge you for using their ATM, so if you make just a few transactions a month, you can use the card just about anywhere and get free ATM service. In addition, GMAC Bank’s account holders get free check writing privileges, and get an initial order of 50 checks for free. This is very beneficial for anyone who wants to use the account as an emergency fund because it makes the money a lot easier to get to.
The fees that GMAC bank has are a bit higher than others. You have to have a minimum balance of $500.00 to avoid a $5.00 monthly service fee, as opposed to most other high-yield savings accounts which have no minimum balance. You will also be charged $10.00 if you make more than six transactions per month, and there are a number of other fees for things such as stop payments, official checks, check copies, wire transfers, and statement copies. If you’re going to make use of any of the fee-based services, you’ll probably want to find another bank with lower fees.
Bank Rate gives GMAC Bank a four star rating in terms of customer service, and most people who have shared their experience online have had generally positive experiences. A lot of online-only banks have offered customer service that is a bit lacking, but GMAC appears to be fairly solid when it comes to customer service.
In some cases GMAC Bank is a great place to park your money, in other cases there are better options. If you need fast access to your money, GMAC Bank is a very good option since it gives its account holders check writing privileges and a debit card. If you want the absolute highest rate or want to make use of any of the things that GMAC Bank charges a fee for, you’re probably better off finding another online savings bank such as Emigrant Direct or HSBC Direct.