Who can recommend a good online bank? I'm tired of my current credit union for mainly two reasons: -Lack of adequate online interface -ATM fees I've done some research (and even opened a Schwab account but was overly confused as to how I was even supposed to deposit money) and have compared some banks, including Ally, ING Direct, HSBC, Wells Fargo, State Farm, Schwab, and a few others. But it gets confusing. I just want a Savings and Checking account. That's all. How hard can that be?? If anybody has recommendations, please pass them along. I'd like to have these basic options: -Free ATM charges/ATM reimbursement -GOOD online interface -Ability to deposit locally (I believe State Farm allows customers to deposit at certain Wachovia ATMs) -GOOD Customer Service
Bank of America or Wells Fargo. I'm with Wells Fargo, and their customer service is awesome. They also have different accounts you can open, some that satisfy those needs you're looking for like Free ATM. Same goes with Bank of America. Bank of America has more locations though.
I've been with chase for 10 years also. I have had maybe two different instances where I had issues concerning deposits which had caused me to get hit with insufficient funds. Both instances were taken care of quickly and my money taken from the insuffient fund fees were reimbursed. All in all, I have enjoyed having them as my bank.
Yep, I had 3 "grace breaks" where Chase paid me back if I over drew. (the fees for the over draw). I don't normally allow my chase account to get that low, but it happened during spring.
I've heard so many horror stories about Chase, so when I found out they bought WaMu (my bank), I was really dreading it. But so far, Chase has been awesome. No complaints whatsoever. And their online banking is FAR easier to navigate than WaMu's. I'm actually glad they bought WaMu. I should've been with them all along.
F*** CHASE. They are by far the worst banking experience I've ever had to deal with...checking, savings, and credit. Wells Fargo is great. I have a checking, credit, and formally my mortgage with them. I've never had a problem with service. Don't know if you live in the Austin area, but A+ Federal Credit Union is pretty great to deal with as well.
You mind me asking which credit union you have an account with? Just curious. BTW, I've heard very good things about ING Direct.
I've only been with Bank of America for a few years, but they've been good to me. I haven't had problems, but all of my deposits are electronic. I mainly went to them because before I was with a small local bank when I was going to school in Huntsville, and I had trouble getting money out when I went home. With BOA, they pretty much have at least an ATM within a few minutes of you. They dont reimburse AMT fees though.
I opened an account a few years ago with my Credit Union out of state, in Florida. The only "benefit" of having a credit union is they have sister branches in just about every city. Still, it's not enough for me to stay. I should have gotten a new account years ago. I may be moving to Austin in the summer, so local branches of brick and mortar banks (BOA, Chase, Wells Fargo) may be more appealing than online only. I suppose the other positive thing about an online bank is never truly having a main branch, making relocation a bit easier.
Same here, heard some bad things about Chase, and had been a Wamu customer apprehensive about the takeover, but I went with them and they've been very good. No complaints here.
he's talking about online banks, and everyone is talking about B&M places. ING Direct has been good to me. The electric payment to any account with any bank is great. I really can't find any faults in it, and I like having both a checking and a savings with them. I also have a Savings account at Emigrant that I opened a while ago, and it's not bad. But I will close it soon--it is preferable to have both accounts with the same company for ease/speed of transfers. The only downside is the lack of ATM reimbursement. You always need to keep a regular bank account open for the ability to deposit paper checks and fund your account initially.. so I have my Bank of America account for that. And I use those ATMs for cash (but I aim to use credit cards almost everywhere). My friend switched over to Schwab because of higher rates (at the time...they have come down now to the same as ING)...but he gets ATM reimbursement. That's great for him--no fees no matter where he is, and the fees charged by the ATM are reimbursed. The downside is that he's not able to electronically transfer money to other bank accounts from there. (i.e. if he wanted to send me a payment to my ING account, it's just not possible) He has to issue a request for a paper check to be physically sent to me instead.. which ING can do also, but it takes longer and requires the person on the other end to deposit it, rather than everything taking place immediately. Personally, I prefer the electronic transfer benefit to the ATM reimbursement benefit because I have Bank of America for that, and they are all around the nation. Which is why I'm sticking with ING..
That's because there's been no money or revenue in that damn account in the past few months because of unemployment.
Very good info...when I briefly had the Schwab account open that was a major drawback (having to mail in physical checks for deposit), but there was a local Schwab branch in Florida, where I was at the time. The problem is they simply weren't used to people coming in and asking questions about a checking account (it was really just a financial services/investment "branch"). I just can't fathom why there isn't a bank out there (that I have come across) that offers free checking and savings, ATM reimbursements, with a fairly decent online website and good customer service. I would definitely be a member of BOA or Chase except that I'm currently in one of the "remote" places in the country WITHOUT these banks (which is why online-only is appealing). I may still keep the credit union account open (for what you mentioned -- ability to deposit immediately), except they have a highly unusual overdraft policy that irks me. I suppose once I decide on a new bank I'll have to take the extra step of using PayPal (which actually may end up being slightly more convenient) to transfer funds to the new account. Maybe someone could clarify which banks (may) offer free and easy fund transfer from one bank to online?
If it's a savings account, does it really matter much other than finding a major name that you can transfer money to? The savings rate sucks on pretty much all of them anyway. I've had a savings account with ING Direct for several years and a checking account with Wells Fargo since the early or mid 90's, I think. Some banks have offices in places like grocery stores (like Wells Fargo), so you may want to consider that if convenience is important. The major ones like B of A, Wells Fargo, Chase, etc. seem to have a branch bank on every dang corner, too.
So I'm [finally] close to making a decision on a new bank. Why now? Well my card was illegally used so I'm without easy access to my bank (not that it's urgent). It got me thinking: is it really necessary to have BOTH a savings/checking account? I'm not opening an account with an enormous amount of funds so the interest earned isn't going to be substantial. As long as I can receive ATM fee reimbursements, overdraft protection, no minimum balance fees, free first set of checks, check card, and a good online/mobile site, I can get by without the need for both savings and checking. Someone confirm my sentiments or tell me I'm foolish.
Different types of checking accounts and savings accounts have different stipulations that each bank/CU offers. My account requires that I both a checking and savings, but I only need a minimum amount in the savings. Check with the bank to see if they offer a checking account without opening a savings account, most banks offer many types of accounts.
you're right. if you're not gonna have a ton of money, you are fine with just a checking account. Especially if you go with ING electric orange where you get some percentage of interest on a checking account (whereas most checking accounts with low balances earn little to no interest) The downside with them is the lack of paper checks. You can have paper checks mailed to places (or have one written out and mailed to yourself maybe? not sure, haven't tried that).. and you can transfer electronically to any account/routing #
