[Performa636CD]

Anybody have accounts with online banks? I currently have a "conventional" Wachovia savings/checking account, but was thinking about opening another account to take advantage of higher interest rates that online banks such as E-Trade Financial and ING Direct offer.

Any opinions or experiences with these (or other) institutions? I basically want to drop off some money for 1-2 years into a CD. ATM withdrawals, checks, etc. are not required.

I assume it's ok to have multiple bank accounts as long as I report the interest/earnings to the IRS, right?

[torifile]

I don't have one myself but you should got to bestcashcow.com and see what they have to say about these banks before opening an account. Many like ING and Emigrant seem to be 100% safe. Also you should check out the fatwallet finance forums. Tons of good info there.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

I posted a reply in your thread at that other place.

[hflomberg]

I use Keybank's Key.com. I find it reliable and fast. I now use their debit card, seldom write physical checks and usually get all my bank reconciliation done in about 3 to 4 minutes a day. I always know exactly what the status of my personal finances are.

The few times that I have had problems - I called their help line, got a person quite rapidly and my problems were equitably solved

I heartily recommend them

[pilot1129]

i use USAA fantastic service

[Banana]

Originally Posted by pilot1129 i use USAA fantastic service

and you can sign up for it, too!

Wait, you gonna to have enlisted or be a military brat to do that... erm....

Gonna remmy that not everyone is in army.

[pilot1129]

Originally Posted by Banana Gonna remmy that not everyone is in army.

...but they should be...

I know not everyone is, but its open to DOD, and many other government jobs. A lot of times, just when I mention USAA, people realize they are eligible through some random connection. thats what i was going for here.

[alcimedes]

Got an account with ING and I'm very happy with them. Think they're paying out about 4.5% or so right now, but it's normally about 3.7% IIRC. It's a real bank, and it's basically cash.

That was a lot better than the .5% our local bank was offering on a saving account.

[The Grim]

I use Citi bank, ING direct and HSBC direct. I do not like CIti Bank because of to much restriction and hidden cost. HSBC is the best with the very high interest for e-saving, and I have no trouble with any of their service except they kind of slow in response to your e-mail.

[Performa636CD]

Thanks for all your responses. Anyone have any experience buying US Treasury Securities? Either through an account like one from Fidelity or via Treasury Direct?

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by hflomberg I use Keybank's Key.com. I find it reliable and fast. I now use their debit card, seldom write physical checks and usually get all my bank reconciliation done in about 3 to 4 minutes a day. I always know exactly what the status of my personal finances are. The few times that I have had problems - I called their help line, got a person quite rapidly and my problems were equitably solved I heartily recommend them

I'll second the Key bank recommendation. While it's not a full-scale online bank, the website is pretty fast, extremely stable, and works great on any OS/browser combination I've tried (including some fairly obscure Linux browsers).