Beating Broke

With all the major online banks lowering the rates on their online savings accounts, there are still a few that have pretty good yields.  Shorebank Direct is one that I hadn’t heard of.

It looks like they started offering an online savings account in the latter part of 2007 and from what I can tell they started at 3.5% and have stayed there ever since.  And only a $1 minimum.

One of the unique things that I found about Shorebank is that they are a little bit different from your typical bank.  From their Mission page:

Since its inception in 1973, ShoreBank has been a pioneer in demonstrating that a regulated bank could be instrumental in revitalizing those communities that had been avoided by other financial institutions. We have since expanded our focus to include environmental issues, as it is our belief that environmental well-being is an essential component of any community’s prosperity.

They are a bank with a social conscience.  They build all of their branches with as much recycled content as possible, give higher priority to green projects, and make special efforts to improve each community that they touch.  Does it work?  I would guess that it does, but I’m not a customer so I can’t say for sure.

Oh, and they have a blog.  And unlike some corporations, they aren’t just putting up fluff to sell their products, they have actual content that is worth reading.

Popularity: 14% [?]