Through 4/30/07 HSBC is offering a 6 % rate on savings accounts. This is only for “new money”. So it will not jump up the rate on any money you currently have on deposit (arg), but if you add new money to your account, it will receive the new rate. Here is the fine print on “new money”

New Money Period is January 29, 2007 through April 30, 2007. Starting Balance means the available balance in your account as of the close of business on January 26, 2007. New Money means funds not previously held by any member of the HSBC Group deposited during the New Money Period less any withdrawals, and it excludes your Starting Balance as calculated below. New Money must be in available funds for the promotional rate to apply.

I’ve tried two higher interest saving accounts. These rates beat any local rates I could find by a long shot. The first one was ING Direct. The whole process was very simple for this bank. Their website is very friendly and easy to navigate. Transferring money into the account was also a snap.

HSBC was the other bank I’ve tried. Their rate is slightly higher than ING Direct. The application process was quite a bit more involved and transferring money was a little bit more work, but in the end everything went quite smooth.

For overall user-friendly website, I will give the nod to ING Direct, but for interest rate, the edge goes to HSBC.