How is Emigrants Direct Online able to offer a better returns on savings than Wachovia and Bank of America?

Specifically, how is Emigrants Direct able to get a better return on the money, are they investing in different types of investments on the other side of the transaction?

AWESOME Online Bank. We have had an account with them for about 4 years now and it is worth it.

They don't have the overhead costs of a real bank in a building. No rent, no utilities, just one central location with a few employess. B of A and other banks have thousands of locations and millions of employees they need to pay for. INg Direct and Emigrant Direct just do online banking that does not deal with any paper transactions, just EFT's. Much cheaper. AND they invest the money better since it actually stays in the account longer with a higher interest rate. The big banks don't even try to earn your savings business since most of them won't even pay you 1% APR. They make millions of our your uninvested money and can't even pay you pennies to use it. Banks suck. Stick with Emigrant or ING Direct for your savings account. Vanguard for your brokerage accounts, CHASE Rewards Card for your Visa needs and a good Credit Union for loans. Good Luck.

No bricks and mortar stores for one thing. BofA spends money on sponsorships, grants, etc. They also tick people off like their courting of ILLEGALS for credit cards which resulted in a boycott. They'd have more employees as a result of being physically present. Ditto for Wachovia. Also who knows for sure what they invest in--some bankers are intelligent and conservative, others like to pretend they're government employees and can print money so they invest in speculative ventures they don't necessarily even fully understand. Doubt it? Societe General to you and that stuff happens on lesser scales EVERYWHERE in the world.