1. Patrick May 23, 2008 6:37 am

   I use ING Direct. They don’t have the highest interest rates but I like their online interface. I would stay with your current bank and just funnel money through to ING. It doesn’t really matter how good or bad your linked bank is if you are doing all your business through ING.

   They have great customer service, free ATM card (at specific ATM’s), debit card, electronic check writing, bill pay, etc. I am still with my original crappy bank and use ING for everything.

2. Prasanth (1 comments.) May 23, 2008 7:27 am

   Go to ING Direct at http://www.ingdirect.com for great customer service, great user interface and decent rates. I also recommend their Checking account “Electric Orange” along with their savings accounts. A great feature is that you can create as many savings accounts that you want which helps in targeted savings and budgeting.

3. Momma @ Tales From The Road Less Traveled (1 comments.) May 23, 2008 8:06 am

   I would recommend Washington Mutual. They have fabulous customer service, a really good web interface, no fees for ATMs. They’ve recently introduced several high yield interest products, but I haven’t really looked into those. They are open until 6 PM during the week and 1 PM on Saturdays, which is easily 1 to 1 1/2 hours later than any other bank I know of.

   I’ve been with Washington Mutual for 7 years now and I still love banking with them as much as ever. We have 2 business accounts and 5 personal accounts there and have never had a problem that they didn’t immediately address to our satisfaction.

4. tom May 23, 2008 8:22 am

   If you qualify… go with USAA. They have the best customer service, ranked #1 every year, free ATM/debit card (ATM fees are even reimbursed), electronic check, free online bill pay, highish savings rate, interest on checking, the list goes on. The new thing they are starting is deposit@home… where you scan your checks and send them the image… they deposit them for you.

5. Jeff (2 comments.) May 23, 2008 8:49 am

   I’d have to say ING as well. Plus you get free money if you sign up through a referral (which I happen to have if you want to email me). Interest checking way higher than most competitors, backed not by your savings account as overdraft protection, but by a line of credit - which is way cheaper than paying overdraft fees… even free if you pay it back quickly.

   I’ve only found two banks that I thought were comparable: HSBC, which doesn’t have good interest checking the last time I looked, and whose online interface isn’t as good, and my credit union, which also doesn’t have interest checking, but makes it up in convenience and higher interest savings than ING — but as with most CUs, you gotta be a family member of a member or an employee of a company signed up with them.

   I agree with holding on to your current bank (if you can stand it) and use that as a funnel to ING. There have been a couple instances where I found it very convenient to have a local bank (depositing/cashing paper checks quickly, for example). I keep the minimum balance in my local bank and use it for a safety deposit box, and personal check cashing/depositing, but do 99% of my banking through my CU and ING.

   So, if you want to start an ING account let me know and I’ll shoot you a referral link. I think they seed you with $25.

6. Patrick (57 comments.) May 23, 2008 8:52 am

   I use USAA, which is perhaps the best bank in the US. However, it’s membership is limited to military members & retirees, their dependents, and the grown children of USAA members. Unless either your parents or your wife’s parents are members, you probably can’t get it.

   I also use an ING account that I use as a buffer account between my main banking and other accounts. It’s all on-line, but very easy to deal with and always pays great interest.

7. Ron May 23, 2008 10:51 am

   #Patrick→

   My wife’s father is a retired Navy pilot. I wonder if that would work?

8. Daniel@youngandfrugal (9 comments.) May 23, 2008 11:08 am

   Ron, Ditto on USAA. My wife’s father is retired Army, he’s a member, therefore my wife is a member, and now I’m a member through marraige.

   I have NEVER had a bad experience with them. They have a great online interface, and if you need to speak to someone it’s easy to get a person in as little as 3 rings. I have never had a wait time. They are not for profit, their representatives are ALWAYS extremely friendly, and their savings rates are comprable to ING.

   I have been blown away by USAA, their rates, their service. I am a customer for life, and I don’t have enough good things to say about them.

   For you to join, you’ll have to get your father-in-law to join, then your wife can, then you can. I can’t believe it, I’m actually getting excited over describing a bank!

9. Tyler May 23, 2008 11:20 am

   If you happen to live anywhere near San Francisco, then I have to recommend First Republic. They have absolutely incredible customer service. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than one minute when either calling them or visiting a branch before speaking with a person one-on-one about my questions. Every time I’ve spoken with anyone, they’ve been extremely helpful, and knew what they were talking about. They even have free cookies (literally) in the offices.

   To review your requirements:
   1. Yes, they have interest on checking and no fees.
   2. They have money market savings accounts with higher interest.
   3. They have better customer service than I ever expected from any large company.
   4. They rebate to you all ATM fees (including charges by other banks/whatever) worldwide.
   5. I would rate their online banking interface as about average — but I’m pretty hard to impress when it comes to online interfaces

   By the way, I also have an ING account, and — if you couldn’t choose First Republic — they’re probably my second choice. Also, I’d like to end with an antivote against citibank

10. Joe @ SimpleDebtFreeFinance (2 comments.) May 23, 2008 12:13 pm

    Based on your desires, I think ING fits the bill:

    *ING Electric Orange checking accounts offer high interest (for a checking account). They also have free bill pay AND if you need to send money via paper check, that’s free too.

    *The Orange Direct Savings is a higher yield than brick and mortar banks, but not the highest online yield… consider this the compromise for EXCELLENT customer service and a SUPERB online interface. They also provide no fee ATM access to quite a number of locations.

    *And, of course there are the free $25 referrals.

    The only drawback I’ve seen in my 3 and a half years using ING is that it takes 3 business days to transfer money into or out of the accounts. This is minor in my mind since I mainly use them for savings and have direct deposit for checking. Also, many online banks have the same 3 day lag.

11. ericabiz (13 comments.) May 23, 2008 12:40 pm

    I recently switched from Wells Fargo to Washington Mutual, and I’d definitely echo the recommendations for Washington Mutual. I picked them for a few reasons:

    1) Several bank branches open near me where I can go in and work face to face with them.
    2) Free checking accounts for both personal and business.
    3) Sign up online for a savings account and it returns better interest than ING.
    4) Link your online savings account and your regular checking account, and if you do that and keep a balance of over $10,000 between the two, you can use their “Platinum Checking”, which gives you 0.1% interest on the money in your checking account.
    5) You can set versatile email alerts online.
    6) You can set your checking account to automatically overdraft into your online savings account, thus saving you fees.

    My second choice was Schwab’s high-yield investor checking account, but in the end, I picked WaMu because they have more convenient bank branches to me (I live in San Jose, CA.) The only minus I can think of is that WaMu’s free checking does tend to attract a more ghetto crowd than Wells Fargo. But it’s never been a problem for me.

    I have a friend (who also lives in SF, much like Tyler, who commented above) who is absolutely obsessed with First Republic for his business account. Also, Ramit from I Will Teach You To Be Rich was the one who gave me the advice to go with Schwab…so I have no doubt that both of those banks will also satisfy all your needs.

12. ericabiz (13 comments.) May 23, 2008 12:44 pm

    Hey Momma,

    If you open a savings account online, it will give you a 3%+ interest rate, and you can transfer money out of your regular savings account at WaMu and into the online savings account with no penalty or fee. If you don’t already have the high-yield online savings account attached to your WaMu account, you should definitely open that and shut down the regular savings account.

    -Erica

13. rocketc (2 comments.) May 25, 2008 12:23 am

    I use a local Chase checking account and then immediately transfer my checks to FNBO. I do all my bill paying from there. Their online interface is not great, but I am there for the interest rate.

14. Aaron Stroud (29 comments.) May 27, 2008 1:01 am

    And half a percent cash back whenever you swipe your debit card and pick credit (at the end of the month). I love USAA!

15. Aaron Stroud (29 comments.) May 27, 2008 1:22 am

    Don’t forget about the insurance refunds. Since USAA is a non-profit, they return a portion of their car insurance premiums to members at the end of the year (assuming they took in more than they had to pay out).

    They also compensate you for sales tax on insurance claims. A year ago I drove through a falling tree. We were fine, but our Honda Civic was totaled. When they paid us the value of the vehicle, they added sales tax to the amount, which was a nice surprise.

16. Becky@FamilyandFinances (7 comments.) May 27, 2008 2:52 pm

    Check out your local credit unions!

    I have dealt with many of the big banks and they are all a pain to deal with. I keep my savings with ING, but my checking and online billpaying is all done with my local credit union. Customer service is A1, lots of tellers, friendly, fees are much, much lower than the banks and the savings interest rates are higher (but not as high as online banks).

    Good luck!

17. Ramit Sethi (1 comments.) June 11, 2008 3:51 pm

    I love that photo.

    I’d recommend:

    1. PHYSICAL BANK
    Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or WaMu for a basic checking account. You will hardly ever use this, but most online high-interest savings accounts require it, and once a year you may need to interact with a real teller.

    2. ONLINE HIGH-INTEREST SAVINGS ACCOUNT
    I recommend ING, which I use. Emigrant Direct and HSBC Direct are also pretty good. I just happen to use ING because it’s simple and it works — and they don’t send me 50 million mailers every day.

    3. CHECKING
    Schwab Investor Checking is the best. They send you prepaid envelopes to deposit checks (but you’ll be using automatic transfers for most of your money, right?), and they reimburse you for ANY ATM withdrawals. Plus, you earn interest.

    Hope this helps.

18. Ron June 11, 2008 5:18 pm

    #Ramit Sethi→

    Thank you for your recommendations, Ramit. I’m honored that you left a
    comment on my blog! I was actually leaning toward ING for savings and B of
    A for a local branch, but I’ll definitely have to check out Schwab. Thanks
    for the lead!

    (glad you liked the photo)

19. Lynnae (12 comments.) June 11, 2008 5:41 pm

    I hate B of A. I never had a checking account with them though. For a credit card, their customer service left a lot to be desired.

    I love Washington Mutual for local checking. We’ve been with them for almost 13 years and haven’t had a problem that wasn’t resolved quickly.

    We also use ING.

20. rocketc (1 comments.) June 11, 2008 10:18 pm

    FNBO is up to 3.5% APR . . .

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