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It’s good to have an Emergency Fund in your investing matrix, but where should you put that money? I’ve had a few readers ask the same question and I’m at the stage now where I’m ready to start moving some money from my checking to a high yield Savings/MMA account, but where do I look? I recommend Bankrate.com but it can sometimes be finicky to dig through, so I figured I’d post my own list.

One thing to look at when signing up for an account is to ask about the “rate after introduction” because it CAN change at a lot of the banks without warning.I’m not interested in CD accounts as I don’t like my Emergency Fund locked up (nor should anyone else) for 1 month to 5+ years.

There are 300+ banks out there that are offering the “best in online savings” but who really is the best out there? Well, here is what my research has dug up as of December 10, 2007 from highest to lowest APY (What’s the difference between APY and APR, click here):

1. Focus Bank is offering 6.01% Savings with an initial deposit of $100. (has some hoops to jump through, 10+ debit card transactions dumps me – I like my skymiles card for travel - m ore details from Banking Guy)
2. GM Demand Notes is offering 6.00% MMA with an initial deposit of $1,000. (more details needed; but it appears you need to buy 1 share of GM stock to start, anyone have more info? Cluter2Cash has a few points)
3. EverBank is offering 5.36% Savings with an initial deposit of $1,500.
4. Amtrust Direct is offering 5.26% Savings+4.68% MMA with initial deposit of $1. (update, just got off the phone with them - the 5.26% is good for the first 90 days and then drops to 4.8% - not bad, but not on the page either…
5. Zions Bank is offering 5.23% Savings with an initial deposit of $50,000.
6. UFB Direct is offering 5.22% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
7. FBNO Direct is offering 5.05% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
8. Etrade is offering 5.05% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
9. Flagstar Bank is offering 5.00% MMA with an initial deposit of $1.
10. Shorebank is offering 5.00% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
11. AppleBank is offering 5.00% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
12. M&T is offering 5.00% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
13. Amegy Bank is offering 5.00% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
14. WT Direct is offering 4.90% Savings with an initial deposit of $10,000.
15. iGoBanking is offering 4.90% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
16. GE Interest Plus is offering 4.85% MMA with an initial deposit of $1.
17. Beverly National is offering 4.75% Savings with an initial deposit of $5,000.
18. E-Loan is offering 4.75% Savings with an initial deposit of $5,000.
19. Washington Mutual is offering 4.75% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
20. Emigrant Direct is offering 4.75% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
21. PayPal is offering 4.69% MMA with an initial deposit of $1.
22. Presidential Online is offering 4.60% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
23. Excel National is offering 4.50% MMA with an initial deposit of $10,000.
24. HSBC is offering 4.50% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
25. CountryWide is offering 4.50% MMA with an initial deposit of $1,000.
26. Amboy Direct is offering 4.50% Savings with an initial deposit of $3,000.
27. GMAC Bank is offering 4.40% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
28. Capital One is offering 4.40% MMA with an initial deposit of $1.
29. Achieva Financial is offering 4.35% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
30. Virtual Bank is offering 4.34% MMA with an initial deposit of $1.
31. Advanta Banking Corp is offering 4.25% MMA with an initial deposit of $2,500.
32. INGDirect is offering 4.20% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
33. PC Financial is offering 4.10% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
34. Transportation Alliance is offering 4.08% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.
35. Citibank e-Savings is offering 4.00% Savings with an initial deposit of $1.

If anyone has their own preference/bad experience with any of these, let me know - I’d be interested to know myself. JR, PiggyBanker, Flexo, Bankaholic, Bankdeals, and Ken have all crafted up posts of their own on the subject - Good experiences/bad experiences? The first 3 savings/MMA deals on my list appear to have some strings attached, but Amtrust Direct and UFB Direct look to be the real deal… Anyone have any of these?

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