Vulcan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:06 pm
SnowBog wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 1:29 pm
Against other current market rates, this is not really
attractive anymore, as you can get similar with perhaps no hoops... But I still plan on keeping an account open for awhile, in the hopes that inflation/interest rates return to "normal" (good for our retirement portfolios) which means banks will return to paying far less, and if HMBradley maintains their model, they'll return to paying above market rates.
Their model was never going to last... and so it didn't.
I transferred all my HMB deposits to DollarSavingsDirect the day before the announcement. 3% APR with 0% hoops.
After my due diligence so I felt comfortable my money was "safe"... When I signed up, I thought the same thing. But as their rates were so vastly better then everyone else (and I deemed them "safe"), I was willing to pay along thinking if I got 6 months at 3% (actually 3.5% back then), it was far better than I was getting elsewhere.
I think it's now been something like 18 months, they've maintained 3% (or more) the entire time I've used them. And now they have a new partner, and seem to be continuing to offer the same 3% rate going forward...
So respectfully, I disagree. I think their model seems like it's working out much better than you or I expected, so I'll give them the win and say that I think their model seems to be doing just fine.
If your argument is that their rates are no longer competitive, to me that's not part of their model (or at least not how I think of their model). When all other banks were paying < 0.1% many many months ago, they were paying 3%. So in my mind, their model was to offer a
predictable high rate that wasn't indexed/tied to the market rates, rewarding those who "save" money (which was 20% of deposits and is now $500+ a month in savings). Again, they've done that for the 12-18+ months I've known them...
Yes, I'm disappointed that their rates are no longer competitive, and I'll likely be moving out the vast majority of my funds to other options.
But do you really expect banks to keep rates at > 3% for years? I sure hope not... Inflation is showing itself as a nasty thing, so I'm hoping rate fall ASAP.
Which comes back to HMBradley's model. As I see it, if they continue to offer a 3% rate as others fall back towards 1%, that would be amazing. And so far, that's exactly what they've done.
So while I'll move my money in the short run to alternatives, I'm not willing to just write off HMBradley. If they keep doing what they've already done, I'll want to continue to benefit from it when rates start going the other way. And now with their revised 1-month savings tier refresh, they've effectively removed any penalties from doing so.