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Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

wsj.com

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Re: Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

#4
My hot take is that this is a new service, so none of the accounts have much of a history.

Algorithms in place could reasonably impose extra checks on large withdrawals from new accounts.

What's more, I could speculate that Goldman Sachs' limited experience with mainstream retail banking could lead to delays of this sort, where they lack a statistical universe to identify exceptional usage (transactions large percentage of balance) as legitimate.

FWIW, I have a tiny amount of money in an Apple Savings account; I have deposited funds and withdrawn a bit exactly one time each. No unusual delay, but it's not exactly an account I intend to use like checking.

Re: Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

#6
post #4

My hot take is that this is a new service, so none of the accounts have much of a history. Algorithms in place could reasonably impose extra checks on large withdrawals from new accounts. What's more, I could speculate that Goldman Sachs' limited experience with mainstream retail banking could lead to delays of this sort, where they lack a statistical universe to identify exceptional usage (transactions large percent…

It seems to be mostly security alerts on large transfers (over $10,000). The first version of this story I read [0] had Thacker's transfer (first in the WSJ story) as $17,000, not $1,700, but maybe that's a typo.

[0] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-savings-users-com...

Re: Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

#7
post #2

Just like lemmings attracted to the high yields to claim and boost adoption numbers, now the bank doesn't want you to withdraw your money too easily. A very slow and steady rug pull which the yields will gradually drop.

It's not that high of a savings yield (compared to other offerings, it's crazy-high compared to the past few years).

CIT is offering 4.8% APY with $5,000 minimum balance. SoFi is offering 4.2%, zero minimum, $250 bonus for direct deposit.

4.15% wasn't even that great when it was announced, people simply haven't paid attention as interest rates have risen.

Re: Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

#8
post #7
post #2

Just like lemmings attracted to the high yields to claim and boost adoption numbers, now the bank doesn't want you to withdraw your money too easily. A very slow and steady rug pull which the yields will gradually drop.

It's not that high of a savings yield (compared to other offerings, it's crazy-high compared to the past few years). CIT is offering 4.8% APY with $5,000 minimum balance. SoFi is offering 4.2%, zero minimum, $250 bonus for direct deposit. 4.15% wasn't even that great when it was announced, people simply haven't paid attention as interest rates have risen.

4.15% was 10x the national average when it was announced. Neither of the banks you mentioned have the Apple Card -> Apple Pay Cash -> Apple Savings integration. That is the main draw; people who are not interested in this integration will find more competitive rates elsewhere, including investments, CDs, etc.

Re: Apple customers say it’s hard to get money out of Goldman Sachs savings accounts

#10
post #8
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that high of a savings yield (compared to other offerings, it's crazy-high compared to the past few years). CIT is offering 4.8% APY with $5,000 minimum balance. SoFi is offering 4.2%, zero minimum, $250 bonus for direct deposit. 4.15% wasn't even that great when it was announced, people simply haven't paid attention as interest rates have risen.

4.15% was 10x the national average when it was announced. Neither of the banks you mentioned have the Apple Card -> Apple Pay Cash -> Apple Savings integration. That is the main draw; people who are not interested in this integration will find more competitive rates elsewhere, including investments, CDs, etc.

It's still 10x the national average deposit rate, that doesn't change the fact that it wasn't/isn't an abnormally high or unsustainable rate (as the comment I replied to implies).

I'm not making a value judgement on Apple Savings, I'm refuting the idea that Apple Savings must be some sort of a scam designed to draw in lemmings with a high interest rate and rug them by delaying/refusing to return their money.

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