Online Banks: Real People’s Thoughts

We had a bad experience with Bank of America for our joint account, so my husband and I decided to switch banks. We first look at the banks where we hold our individual accounts. He uses Wachovia and I use a local credit union.

We first look at the rates. My credit union was paying around 1- 1.26% for savings and no interest for checking.  Wachovia is a whopping 0.15 – 0.45% for savings and nothing for checking.

We both have free checking [provided we maintain the minimum balances]. The problem we felt was we wanted to at least get a savings account that would earn some money and neither really did that. So we looked at other banks and credit unions, when I stumbled upon an ad for HSBC and ING online accounts. I heard about both companies and heard good things about both.

After researching a bit, we decided to go with ING. We did a test run and only transferred a bit of money into the savings account. We were happy when we saw the interest we’re earning. (I know it’s not much: $1.30/month now versus $0.02/month previously, but it’s an improvement.)

We saw their Electric Orange checking account. It offered interest and free online bill pay. Honestly the ‘no paper’ feature seemed a bit inconvenient, but we went for it.

So far, so good. We just wanted to see how online banking works for other people (aka. people with modest incomes). Please feel free to leave a comment.

Your Thoughts

What bank do you use? How long have you’ve been with them? How’s their customer service?

I saw Get Rich Slowly discussed this topic and I thought to just share our story with online banking.

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