Sunday, January 13, 2008

Bank of America to Buy Countrywide: Will Savingslink Survive?

Well, Bank of America announced last week that they will buy ailing lender Countrywide Financial. That is likely to mean the end of Savingslink in my opinion. Savingslink's role for Countrywide was to increase their deposit base. This was a major reason for their 5.25% APY on the account -- to draw more capital which Countrywide then used to provide home loans. Bank of America on the other hand already has a huge deposit base due to their many branches and strong retail customer base. Therefore, soon after the transaction closes in Q3 2008 I would expect the Savingslink program to be rolled into some Bank of America savings program or shut down all together. At the very least, interest rates on the account should come down appreciably. If you have a Savingslink account, it's time to start looking for another account and as I mentioned a few weeks ago you should visit Bank Deals to help you find the highest rates. I recently set up an account at FNBOdirect and found it quite easy to do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello. My wife and I bought our house about 6 months ago. It was a foreclosure and we were able to get a great deal on it. We also took advantage of the 8K tax credit so that definitely helped. We did an extensive remodeling job and now I want to refinance to cut the term to a 20 or 15 year loan. Does anyone know any good sites for mortgage information? Thanks!

Mike