Bank called and asked me to moving $ from savings to MM

[ErinH]

I just got a call from my bank (Wachovia). The lady flat out asked if I would move my savings into a money market account. I was pretty surprised at the straight-forward question. I mean, litereally, it was the first thing she said after saying “hello”.

I told her we’re not going to do anything with it right now because we’re in the middle of getting a construction loan (from another lender). Of course, I took the opportunity to ask their rates and she’s going to get back with me. … getting OT…

Anyway, why would a bank call and ask you to do this? Is that not odd? Seems really strange to me that they would just ask so bluntly.

 

[Mort Corey]

Not being a banker (let alone one that's bankrupt) this is just a WAG. Perhaps (asssuming that the rates are the same) it's something to do with the way bank manditory reserves are calculated. They may have different reserve requirements on a savings vs a MM account.

That said, I sure as heck wouldn't trust a "voice on the phone" regarding any changes. Twere me, I'd stroll into my local office and ask the manager.

Mort

 

[jamie2112]

Good advice Mort. I would not trust any phone calls and would go speak to the manager of my local branch bank.....IMO of course..

 

[markw]

You might want to compare the rates before getting all huffy about it. She may have been trying to do you a favor. There's no down-side to a MM count as opposed to a plain vanilla savings account.

You can even write checks from it if you choose to. We used a MM account when remodeling our house. What we didn't spend wound up generating more interest than a savings account

She should have been ready with the current rates though, and I would consumate the transaction in person.

 

[cfrizz]

If you are interested, then go into your branch. Don't do anything over the phone!

 

[Adam]

I totally agree with everyone about not doing anything (or giving out any information) over the phone. You were there for the call, not us, so only you can say if it was questionable. Phone calls like that have been used in scams to get people's account information.

 

[itschris]

It's likely a scam. But there is merit to it... for them. They're likely making a greater spread on the mm. There could be as much as 5 sometimes 10bps difference depending on account types. So doing some simple math and you can easily see the advantage to have huge amounts of money shift.

 

[ivseenbetter]

She should have been ready with the current rates though, and I would consumate the transaction in person.

I insist on consumating in person every time.

 

[ErinH]

It was a legitimate call. I wasn't getting 'huffy' about it.

I was just wondering why a bank would do this? Obviously, they're not doing it to help me (yes, it does help me, but common sense says a bank doesn't call you out of the blue just to help you out), so I was just wondering why a bank would want to do this? Lock in your money as an asset for them, maybe?