Friday, April 28, 2006

Tweaking the Online Transfer Process

After a tip from a commenter, I set up external transfers on my E*Trade account. I also then noticed that my local bank also offered that option, so I thought I'd better enable it from their end too. E*Trade's set-up was easier and faster, but Chase's involved $1.31 worth of test deposits, so it was more profitable!
Today I went into E*Trade to move the money from my recent sales out of my brokerage account and into my money market. While doing that, I noticed there was some money in the E*Trade checking account that I never use. It turns out that when I was trying to do a transfer between my Chase savings and checking accounts, I accidentally selected the wrong account and sent the money to E*Trade instead. Fortunately I think I caught it in time and managed to transfer more money into the Chase checking account to avoid having to use my overdraft protection, but Chase charged me $3.00 for the outgoing transfer. And if I didn't have overdraft protection and my check had bounced, it would have been an even more expensive mistake.
The interesting thing is that I was never charged for an earlier transfer that I initiated at E*Trade. In both cases, the money went from Chase to E*Trade, but I guess it matters which bank you ask to do the transfer. E*Trade does it for free, Chase charges you.
Definitely something I'll be keeping an eye on in the future!

5 comments:

IRA said...

I have the same issue when transferring money from Chase to Fidelity. So, I just use online bill pay to cut a paper check and deposit it in my Fidelity money market account. You lose 3-5 days worth of interest, but such is life. I asked the local Fidelity branch office if it would be quicker to walk in and deposit the money. But they said the check would still take 5 days to clear. Go figure.

Anonymous said...

I hate commercial banks. All those fees drive me CRAZY. I use a credit union and am much happier.

By the way, I like the site layout!!
Hazzard

Anonymous said...

ira,

In fidelity, you can enable moneyline. That allows you to transfer money to/from other checking and money market accoutns for free. There's no hassle of requesting a check and having to go or mail it. I'm not sure how many days it takes to clear, but it's definitely a lot easier than your method :)

Andi @ udandi / Lunch It Punch It said...

you actually get those trial deposits? I thought it was taken out of any interest earned.

Anonymous said...

I would suggest you turn off overdraft protection.

The reason is in case someone somehow gets your checking acct number or a debit card, they could clean out your checking account and your money market account because of the overdraft protection. At least that way, only the checking account is cleaned out.

Granted, all monies should be restored, but that can take time.

Just one persons opinion.