by all accounts

So it may not quite be April the 15th yet, but for us 'tax day' has come and gone. Biggest surprise to me was when we went to gather all our paperwork (already mostly all in one place, thanks to the one I married) only to discover that we had Savings Accounts at more than four banks. Why so many? Probably for the same reason as most people, inertia - we opened an account when we young or when we moved to a new part of the country and it was easier or more convenient to open a new account so as to have access to money both 'at home' and 'back home.'

With all the consolidation in the banking world, banks that used to be in other parts of the world are now just down the street and banks that used to be only 'back home' have moved east. So the question becomes, shouldn't you bank where you want to and no longer just where you have to?

One bank that I have heard of but never thought of as a place to open an account is Washington Mutual or WaMu, one of which just opened down the street where I work, conveniently next to a favourite restaurant and sharing the parking lot of the shopping center. WaMu of course, offers Statement Savings and Traditional CD but better yet, Online Savings and an Online CD, just the thing to safely stash money in as Wall Street tries to figure out how to deal with all that is going on today.

WaMu has moved into some of the best looking buildings in Northern California (architecturally speaking) but more importantly, numerous savings services they offer their customers. You owe it to yourself to take a look at what they offer, you may be pleasantly surprised and a bit richer at the end of the month as well.

http://www.wamu.com/personal/savings_account/default.asp