CapitalOne is pushing for a savings account program specifically designed for Costco members. This money in the bank deals give 1.75% APY for the savings account which should have at least $5000 of balance. You can get the 10 bonus on a quarterly basis if you maintain a $15,000 balance in the savings account every month.

The current interest rate of this savings account for Costco members calls InterestPlus Online Savings is a few basis points higher than their regular online savings account.

The online savings account for Costco members does not charge any monthly fees and it also makes available an ACH facility so consumers can easily transfer funds.

Looking at how the program works, the 10% bonus is an incentive program to encourage consumers to maintain accounts with higher balances. It is a better marketing ploy than doing another tier of online savings account with a higher interest rate for a $15K deposit.

Costco members also have another plus for opening a new direct account with CapitalOne. Depending on your membership, you can get a $20(Business and Star) or $60(Executive Member) bonus for opening a new Direct Banking account with CapitalOne that will have a $5K balance within the first month after opening.

Some readers have given feedback about the slow ACH transfer of CapitalOne. Some transfers take about 36 hours to complete. The money is taken out from the source account on the same day but is not posted to the target account until after three business days. So there is a potential lost in terms of interest when you look at the process.

The online savings account is covered by the FDIC membership through CapitalOne, N.A. which has certificate number 4297. The ratings of the bank are good with 4 stars being issued by bankrate.com and 3.5 stars given by BauerFinancial when they reviewed its performance using their March 2009 data.

CapitalOne has currently $83 billion in deposit and about $118 billion of assets.