We had accounts in a local credit union so when we went fulltime we had to research what bank we would go with. We both had accounts with almost every bank in the area, some of them national (we thought) and as we started looking into this we realized, it's not that simple.
Whomever you bank with probably offers online banking. One option is to leave well enough alone and continue banking with that organization. Just make sure you don't have to "go in" to conduct business unless they are truly nation or world wide. Wells Fargo is not really nationwide. Each Bank of America has seperate systems in each state and though they are connected, some business must be conducted in the original state.
There is a great article at bankrate.com to get started understanding online banking. Is you money safe in one of the online banks? It is if the amount you invest does not exceed their FDIC insurance as long as our government doesn't fail. As of this writing that is temporarily $250K but is usually $100K. If you are fortunate enough to exceed this amount then you might want to consider investing some of your fortune through an SPIC insured broker or fund. The aforementioned article lists the pros and cons of online banking. To the list I would add for consideration that if a financial institution requires the Golden Signature verification you won't have a way to get it. This signature authenticaion is like a Notary Public but carries a little more weight. The idea, I think, is that your banker, who knows you in person, is verifying your signature. It is typically brokers that require this verification, especially for things like moving stock certificates into a brokerage account. It is something to consider.
With all this in mind I set out to research online banking options. As you know, if you have followed the progress of these sites, I keep notes on the research and share the knowledge on these pages to help those that follow a similar path.
The following chart will not be kept current as tracking things like interest rates is someone elses job. However, the snapshot is concurrent as a reference between different institutions.
| Institution ____________ |
Interest APR% Checking/Savings ___________ |
Minimum Deposit __________ |
ATM Fees _______ |
Nation Wide _______ |
World Wide _______ |
Insurance _________ |
3rd Party ACH __________ |
Comments _____________________ |
| Bank of America (MyAccess™) |
0.0% / 0.20% | $100 | ?? | No | No | FDIC | Yes | CA is on a seperate system from other states. I went to open an acct. before moving to another state and they recommended against it. |
| Bank of America (Prima™) |
0.05% / 0.10% | $100 | ?? | No | No | FDIC | Yes | I have one of these accounts. The online banking gets an A+ from me. However, the bank has problems and is too big to give personalized customer support. |
| Bank of America (CashMaximizer™) |
Prime + 0.5% / NA | ?? | ?? | No | No | FDIC | Yes | They waved my fees and min. deposit because I am such a good customer (I have a mortgage with them). I have more problems with this institution than I have had with any other. They have changed account numbers without informing me including my debit card without telling me. The CA vs. the rest of the world makes this bank not nation or worldwide. |
| Citi Group | ?? / ?? | ?? | ?? | Yes | Yes | FDIC | ?? | Citi may be the only bank that is really worldwide. I don't have an account with them so I could use some more info. |
| Credit Union | 0.10 / 0.47 | $50 | No | No | No | FDIC | Yes | No business accounts, very local. |
| GiantBank | 0.76 / 3.11 | $100 | No | No | No | FDIC | Yes |
Checking Accounts
earn Interest if balance is over $1K. Savings is a Money Market.
Online banking is non-existent. Note: This is really Landmark Bank, N.A. based if FL. |
| VirtualBank | 0.65 / 1.34 | $500 / $5K | ?? | No | No | FDIC | ?? | Interest rate scales up after $2.5K |
| Wells Fargo | 0.0 / 0.10 | ?? | ?? | No | No | FDIC | ?? | Checking & Business accounts don't earn interest! |
Online only:
"Brick & Mortar":
References:
FulltimeRV & Personal Sites Map