Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

There’s a new website Credit.com that I saw linked from BoingBoing. You give them your address and social security number, and they give you back some general indicators of how good your credit is. Very easy to use, and the results, I believe are quite accurate.

For example, I was dinged for not having an auto loan or a mortgage–OK, so having less debt is bad? The explanation they give you is interesting:

You don’t appear to have a healthy mix of accounts on your credit report.

You could be doing better in this category if you had a more diverse list of accounts. And, if you have finance company accounts on your credit report that could be hurting you as well. Finance companies are generally considered to be higher risk lenders who target higher risk customers. As such, consumers who have finance company accounts on their credit reports could suffer lower scores.

If you ever have a mortgage that shows up on your credit report then you will do better in this category. The reason is that studies show that consumers who have mortgages are more stable than consumers who do not. And, credit scores will reward you because of that stability.

They had some interesting statistics too, such as how long you’ve been “in the system” in terms of credit age:

7 years of credit history
Youngest account is 7 months
Oldest account is 85 months
Average age is 44 months

Neat stuff. Again, as it’s totally free, I really recommend checking out Credit.com. Leave some comments on this post and let me know what you think. Many credit reporting online companies are scams looking to steal your information and resell it–this one doesn’t seem to be.

A credit card number always contains a prefix of 6 digits known as the Issuer Identification Number (IIN) which identify the credit card network that issued the card. I could only find three well-known places to find a list of bank identification numbers (BIN) online:

• Mars Banks Base, a donateware application with about 60k BIN numbers for Visa, AMEX, and Mastercard
• The now-defunct Dumpz.biz and dumpz.us binlist, another collection of BIN numbers
• Wikipedia even has a List of Bank Identification Numbers

I’ve compiled them into a CSV file with the following information: BIN, location, type, name, and phone number. You can download bank-bin-list and unzip it.

If you’re a merchant interested in a solution using the BIN/IIN numbers to validate credit cards to lower the risk of fraud, you should check out Service Object’s DOTS BIN Validation webservice, which can validate 95% of MasterCard and Visa card types.

I don’t have a savings account, let alone a high-yield checking account, or an account linked to a money market fund. That’s right, my current annual percentage yield (APY) is a fat 0%. Say that you have a balance of $10,000, and the average rate runs around 3.5%, then you’d be losing $1,877 over the next five years. If you could put in $2,500 a year for the next five years, you’d lose $2783 in essentially free interest.

The Best of National Banks

3.75% APY from WAMU savings

WAMU’s free savings will get you a 3.75% APY, but it comes at the cost of having to setup a linked checking account:

The advertised APY applies to Online Savings only when opened online with WaMu Free Checking or linked to other WaMu checking account. If your checking account is closed for any reason (by you or us), or transferred to another kind of account, standard APYs/rates apply. Online banking and online delivery of statements also required. APY does not apply to WaMu Free Checking Account.

3.50% APY is offered from HSBC savings

Open a savings account with HSBC and you can get a 3.50% APY. There don’t appear to be any other requirements or minimums. Note the offer expires 09/15/08.

3.30% from E*Trade

I like the “>E*Trade High Interest Savings; not only is the yield nice, their online integration top notch, but their terms are quite reasonable:

Annual Percentage Yield is effective 8/3/2008 and is subject to change. A $1 minimum deposit is required to open a new account. Withdrawal limits apply. Online statements required.

3.09% from the Discover Money Market account

Signing up for a Discover Bank Money Market Account will win a nice 3.09% APY, but require a minimum deposit of $2,500. Their FAQ has some pointers:

An initial deposit of $2,500 is required to open a Discover Bank Money Market Account. A minimum average daily balance of $2,500 must be maintained in order to avoid fees.

Local Banks to Check Out

5.01% APY comes if you use them as your primary checking

Northern Federal Credit Union offers a 5.01% APY on their checking account, although you need to sign up for a plethora of additional banking services:

* Receive a direct deposit or conduct an ACH debit
* Receive monthly e-statements instead of paper statements
* Make 10 or more purchases using your debit card (excludes ATM withdrawals)
* Login to Virtual Branch online banking at least one time per month.

Data Table

Other Great Resources

Here are a few links that might help you find the best deals on savings and checkings accounts with great interest rates:

• The Best Online High Yield Savings Accounts
• Which Online High-Yield Savings Account is Best?
• Best Nationally Available High APY Liquid Accounts