dumb questions about online banking and high yield savings

[cricketwife]

Thanks for the replies to my previous question about what to do with funds for my mother from the proceeds of her house.  I appreciate the help and now I have more questions. 

First issue/questions 
I'd prefer a brick and mortar bank with a high yield savings, but that seems not to exist in my area.  For example, the PNC suggestion was great, but when I looked into it, it asked for my zip code and said this product is not available in my area.  Why is that?  I live in a major city?  Is there a way for me to search products by mom location? 

ETA - NVm, I see the PNC thread says this is an offer only for certain states.  


2nd set of questions - how do online accounts work?
1. How do you access your money? If I need to use this savings account to make a once a month payment for my mom's care, what's the easiest way?  Would I transfer it to her local physical bank and write a check? 

2. Is there a robust costumer support, generally speaking?  I will have to establish Power of Attorney before opening the account and then all of my access will be as POA and I'm just wondering how complicated this will be.  

3.  Any thoughts on which online accounts function most similarly to a physical bank?  Check writing ability or access to ATMs? 

I know these are dumb questions, but I really don't want to miss out on thousands of dollars of interest for her, and I feel so ignorant about the online stuff.  And I guess a little apprehensive because I've had to do so many things in person ever since I've been POA for my mom. 

[wanderingback]

I dont have an answer to your first question.
All my banks are actually online. I use USAA for my main checking accounts and capital one for longer term savings and a fun money account, it’s never been a problem.
You can have money withdrawn directly from an online savings or checking account just like a regular brick and mortar bank. But yes you could also have the money transferred to your regular bank for payments.

[dutchgirl678]

I can only speak from my perspective. I have a Capital One online account. I recently opened a Performance Savings account with them and I have a checking account and credit card as well. I have checks through the checking account but hardly ever need them. I also have a local credit union checking account that I use to pay for most bills. If I transfer savings from CapOne to my CU it takes a few days for the money to post but if I do it within CapOne it is instantaneous. I would see if you could make electronic payments directly from the CapOne checking to your mom's care and then transfer from savings each month to cover those payments. They do have lots of ATMs but I've never had to use it, so I can't help you there.

[k3am]

cricketwife , why would you need to access the new account through POA? Could you just open it with you as an additional signer? Have you gotten guidance to run it this way from an attorney or is this just how you think it would work? (It's a lot to wade through, so just want to make sure that you're not potentially skipping an easier option because you think it needs to be that way vs. how it legally needs to be - I don't know the answer to this)

ETA: I work in a bank, and while it's not my area of expertise, I know I got a random call a couple of weeks ago for someone who was managing an account on behalf of her son - it was called a FBO (for benefit of) account. Maybe that's what you're referencing you may need?

[cricketwife]

Jan 24, 2023 14:38:26 GMT -5 k3am said:

cricketwife , why would you need to access the new account through POA? Could you just open it with you as an additional signer? Have you gotten guidance to run it this way from an attorney or is this just how you think it would work? (It's a lot to wade through, so just want to make sure that you're not potentially skipping an easier option because you think it needs to be that way vs. how it legally needs to be - I don't know the answer to this)

ETA: I work in a bank, and while it's not my area of expertise, I know I got a random call a couple of weeks ago for someone who was managing an account on behalf of her son - it was called a FBO (for benefit of) account. Maybe that's what you're referencing you may need?

Great question.  I might need to ask the attorney more specifically about this issue; however, here is my reasoning based on what I believe I know.  

If I were an additional signer, I would be in addition to my mother, and I presume, I’d have to demonstrate POA to the bank for her to be one of the signers. 

Secondly, my attorney has advised that I can’t do anything as POA that doesn’t agree with the wishes of my mom’s will.  For example, even though the POA gives me very broad powers, I can’t name myself sole beneficiary on all her accounts (I asked this because I was trying to avoid probate down the line.) because her will divides her assets equally among her children.  So, even if the bank would let me open a joint account without demonstrating POA for my mom, I’m not sure I can essentially transfer all her assets to my name in that way since her will doesn’t transfer all her assets to me.

Finally, my bigger concern is that we receive financial aid for my kids’ school tuition. If I were joint owner on a bank account with several hundred thousand dollars in it, we’d lose our aid.   

But I’m still very much learning in this whole process so if you or others have advice or differing experiences, I’m very open to hearing them. 

[supertrooper1]

I'm the one that opened the PNC online account tread. It's going to take me about a week to get money into the account when it's all said and done, after verifying my accounts and taking 3 business days for the money to transfer. I don't have a PNC branch near me and only opened a savings account. In the fine print for PNC, it did say I was allowed 6 transfers per month in and out of the savings account without any additional fees. I assume most banks are similar. I know there had been a limit (federal law) of how many transactions can be conducted without a signature, but I think that was waived during COVID and wasn't re-implemented.

ETA:  Also, I have always transferred money out of my credit union account to other people.  But with the PNC account, I have to request money from my credit union account using my PNC online account.  It seems backwards to me but be prepared to do that if you go the online route.

[sadlebred]

Jan 24, 2023 18:25:56 GMT -5 supertrooper1 said:

I'm the one that opened the PNC online account tread. It's going to take me about a week to get money into the account when it's all said and done, after verifying my accounts and taking 3 business days for the money to transfer. I don't have a PNC branch near me and only opened a savings account. In the fine print for PNC, it did say I was allowed 6 transfers per month in and out of the savings account without any additional fees. I assume most banks are similar. I know there had been a limit (federal law) of how many transactions can be conducted without a signature, but I think that was waived during COVID and wasn't re-implemented.

ETA:  Also, I have always transferred money out of my credit union account to other people.  But with the PNC account, I have to request money from my credit union account using my PNC online account.  It seems backwards to me but be prepared to do that if you go the online route.

The "6 withdraws per month" is a Federal Reserve thing called Regulation D. Many banks still go by it. If you go over 6 they may charge you a fee or convert the account to a checking account. Usually it if happens occasionally you might get a "you've been naughty" email or letter, but they won't do anything for the occasional 7th withdraw---usually.

www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/regulation-d/

[tacokick]

If you are a POA for your mom, your best bet is keeping the money in wherever she has it now. You should be able to deposit money into her existing accounts.

It isn’t always possible to open a new bank account as a POA at all, and often if they do allow it, most banks want the person you have POA over to come in person so they verify their identity. It’s not a simple process.


The easier alternative would be opening a new joint account which she would have to participate in opening. This option would have nothing to do with you having POA because it would be joint.

If it is joint, it does mean half would become legally yours and the rest would be part of her estate which doesn’t sound like what you want.

Why do you want to move it? It’s nice to earn more interest but it may make a huge hassle for everyone in the long run.

I know internet banking is very popular but as someone who did all the estate work for my mom and have POA for my dad, I would not want to do any of it online only unless I had no choice. In person was tedious enough. When a friend had to deal with her mother’s online bank accounts it took weeks to do something that could have been done in minutes at a in person meeting because they needed official hard copies of everything.

[cricketwife]

tacokick,
Perhaps by creating a new thread with these questions, I've made it hard to follow the situation.

The easier alternative would be opening a new joint account which she would have to participate in opening. This option would have nothing to do with you having POA because it would be joint.

Every option involves me as POA as she does not have capacity to act for herself.  She cannot participate in any legal, financial, medical, etc. matters for herself. 

Why do you want to move it?

It's not a question of moving funds, it's finding a destination for the funds like will come from the sale of her house.  I don't want to keep them all at her current bank because she will then exceed the FDIC insured limit, which I've always heard/thought you were supposed to avoid.  But perhaps my questions should be about making sure I fully understand how that works.  Perhaps it could all stay at the same bank? And, if I'm going to open a new account anyway, I would like to get a decent interest rate as every extra few thousand dollars is another month of being able to afford her care.

I know internet banking is very popular but as someone who did all the estate work for my mom and have POA for my dad, I would not want to do any of it online only unless I had no choice. In person was tedious enough. When a friend had to deal with her mother’s online bank accounts it took weeks to do something that could have been done in minutes at a in person meeting because they needed official hard copies of everything.

Agreed! I really don't want to do an online account, thus my first set of questions about how to find a brick and mortar that may have better rates.  That said, everything has been a NIGHTMARE to this point and there the processes have been made no easier by the physical branches of Wells Fargo.  Maybe other banks are better, but I can't even tell you how horrid they have been throughout the entire process. And all these places want originals of everything and they want you to FAX the f'ing documents.  It's all absurb!  ARGH!!!

[tacokick]

Jan 25, 2023 9:01:41 GMT -5 cricketwife said:

tacokick,
Perhaps by creating a new thread with these questions, I've made it hard to follow the situation.

The easier alternative would be opening a new joint account which she would have to participate in opening. This option would have nothing to do with you having POA because it would be joint.

Every option involves me as POA as she does not have capacity to act for herself.  She cannot participate in any legal, financial, medical, etc. matters for herself. 

Why do you want to move it?

It's not a question of moving funds, it's finding a destination for the funds like will come from the sale of her house.  I don't want to keep them all at her current bank because she will then exceed the FDIC insured limit, which I've always heard/thought you were supposed to avoid.  But perhaps my questions should be about making sure I fully understand how that works.  Perhaps it could all stay at the same bank? And, if I'm going to open a new account anyway, I would like to get a decent interest rate as every extra few thousand dollars is another month of being able to afford her care.

I know internet banking is very popular but as someone who did all the estate work for my mom and have POA for my dad, I would not want to do any of it online only unless I had no choice. In person was tedious enough. When a friend had to deal with her mother’s online bank accounts it took weeks to do something that could have been done in minutes at a in person meeting because they needed official hard copies of everything.

Agreed! I really don't want to do an online account, thus my first set of questions about how to find a brick and mortar that may have better rates.  That said, everything has been a NIGHTMARE to this point and there the processes have been made no easier by the physical branches of Wells Fargo.  Maybe other banks are better, but I can't even tell you how horrid they have been throughout the entire process. And all these places want originals of everything and they want you to FAX the f'ing documents.  It's all absurb!  ARGH!!!

I thought that was the situation but wasn’t 100% sure I was remembering correctly!

My suggestion would be to talk to her existing bank about hitting the limit. One thing to keep in mind is that it is is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. You may be able to stay in the same bank but put the money in a different type of account(s). The FDIC provides separate coverage for deposits held in different account ownership categories. So a savings account and a CD could both have $250k in them and be fully insured in the same bank. If your name was on any of them with her, you’d have up to $500k insured in one account—I don’t think this is the case for you but good to know!


The banking was/is a nightmare for me too. I’ve never spent so much time in a bank. But if you do it all online, they will still want originals but they will want you to mail them then it is a delay in processing and if they need anything else that is a nightmare in a different way. At least going in person you know they get the originals and have a paper trail of your visits and interactions. Online you are bounced to whoever.