AmTrust Direct - Premium eMoney Market

Average Score:

•   So far, so good

  I've had an money market account with AmTrust for about two years now. In reading their material, I was initially pleased to know they were formerly Ohio Savings, a brick and mortar bank I had used when I lived in Cleveland back in the 1980s. They were a great neighborhood bank then and so I opened an e-account with them because they had a good rate (at the time) and for nostalgia purposes. Since then, rates have plummeted, but I have been pleased with the way they communicate with me and with their customer service. Everyone I've spoken with has been pleasant and able to answer my questions. I like that most of my business can be taken care of online without having to deal with customer service.

  The best thing about the account is their easy way of providing information online. It is straightforward and doesn't have a cumbersome interface, as some e-banks have. The worst thing is that they make you use your social security number as your login, which I find a bit disturbing. This should be changed immediately and I have mentioned this to customer service people. So far, there is no option to change the log in.

  I am giving them three stars because of the social security log in requirement. That makes them average (a disappointment, since I loved Ohio Savings). But I consider my money safe and secure; they are FDIC insured. That is my criteria these days, since almost every bank I've had an account with has changed names or merged with another bank over the past two years.

  Posted by exhillbilly -- Aug. 10, 2009

•   Potential subprime problems?

  AmTrust's Premium eMoney Market seems like a strong account for mid-level balances. I'm a little turned off by the 8 different rate tiers that they use (basically just a way to make it easy to manipulate the rate) but for balances between 10k-149k, their 1.50 rate is pretty good right now.

  I called up AmTrust to get a little more information - the service rep that I spoke with had a really thick accent which made it really difficult to understand him. I think I would have preferred an indian call center. Fortunately, after a few repeated attempts I was able to get the info I was looking for - AmTrust has their own ACH system, with reasonable limits of $125k/trans for deposits or withdrawals. Checks are available for the account, although they have to be ordered, but they do offer their online billpay system for free - unfortunately no info on the quality of the system. One item to be aware of is that the account can only be funded by a mailed check - I asked about ACH, and the rep mentioned they're working on it, but it's not quite ready.

  My big concern with AmTrust is their stability. AmTrust has been around for a long time - since 1889. However, they also are quite proud of the fact that they are one of the 20 largest mortgage lenders in the United States (right on their web page), and were one of *the first* banks to offer convertible adjustable rate mortgages (again, on their web page). I could be wrong, but if they're on the front lines of aggressive mortgage products, I'm guessing they didn't sit out on the subprime wave.
  

  Posted by donovanmustgo -- March 21, 2009