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The following is a sponsored review of Savings Accounts offered by Washington Mutual (WaMu):

When you follow the above link to WaMu’s personal banking site, you are greeted by a map of the United States from which you can select your location. WaMu offers several different account options, including traditional and online CDs and savings accounts. When I selected my home state, I was given the option of signing up for either traditional (statement) or online savings. The minimums on both accounts were reasonable ($4 and $1 respectively), so I decided to go with the online option (obviously).

On the next screen, you are presented with WaMu’s interest rates for their savings accounts. Currently, the rate is 3.25%, and it’s the same whether or not your reach their $10,000 cut-off for a different rate schema. That’s really good news for most people starting out fresh with a new savings account, since you’re not getting penalized for a lack of capital. If you have over $10,000 though, you might be able to do better by speaking with a WaMu rep directly.

It is important to note that the 3.25% rate is only applicable if you open a WaMu checking account as well. If you don’t, the rate is a mere .25%. Obviously, WaMu would like you to do your checking business with them. Since you basically need the checking account to consider this account, I took a look at what it has to offer as well. You get free checks and a one-per-year freebie on overdrafting your account, which are both nice features. Other than that it seems like a pretty standard checking account, certainly not a bad deal. Of course, the real measure of a bank is the customer service they provide, and I don’t actually have an account with WaMu, so I can’t really comment on how good or bad theirs is. The portion of the website that I’ve seen so far does seem well-constructed and easy to understand, and I’ve found that companies with logical websites often have logical customer service policies of letting their employees help customers.