Any thoughts, (aside from why)
Benifits
Negatives

Quoted: Any thoughts, (aside from why) Benifits Negatives

I use one.  I don't know if the benefits it provides are because it's online.

I get a portion of my ATM fees returned and a % of my debit card purchase amounts (when used as a credit card).  Decent interest. loan, and insurance rates.

I'm also looking into some online savings accounts with large interest rates to store some extra "on hand" cash I have.

I use WAMU banking online...

It is safe...  How can I say that, I work at the main DATA center that handles all of that information, and much more.

Send me your money...

I use USAA.

It's all benefit for me.  I move around quite a bit, and having a brick and mortar bank can be inconvenient.  The best thing is the convenience of being able to do anything you want right from a computer.  Customer service is great if you ever have to call, and there is no waiting in line at a brick and mortar bank.  

Quoted: I signed up a WAMU account, and they pay 5% on my savings of any amount

What account do you have?  I'm not getting anywhere near that much on my savings account...

That said, I do like Washington Mutual; the offices and personnel are great.  Website is OK, but they take the checks down after 60 days or so -- no real reason to do that then to charge the customer more money, IMHO.

I've just started using an ING Direct savings account.  I haven't played with it too much yet, but the savings rate was good, and they kicked in $25 for opening the account.

I used to use CompuBank, and they rocked until they were bought out by NetBank.  I didn't care for NetBank and quickly closed that account... fast forward to today, and NetBank has shut their doors.

-WhyTanFox

Quoted: Quoted: I signed up a WAMU account, and they pay 5% on my savings of any amount What account do you have?  I'm not getting anywhere near that much on my savings account... That said, I do like Washington Mutual; the offices and personnel are great.  Website is OK, but they take the checks down after 60 days or so -- no real reason to do that then to charge the customer more money, IMHO. I've just started using an ING Direct savings account.  I haven't played with it too much yet, but the savings rate was good, and they kicked in $25 for opening the account. I used to use CompuBank, and they rocked until they were bought out by NetBank.  I didn't care for NetBank and quickly closed that account... fast forward to today, and NetBank has shut their doors. -WhyTanFox

WAMU only offers this rate if you open your savings online, and also open an online checking with it, if you do this online they pay you 5% apy, and the checking is free. were happy with them so far. i told a buddy and he goes in to the bank and opens a savings, and then bitches  at me when he doesnt get his 5%, so i will restate, you must open the accounts online, the great thing is you still can go to thier hard site if you need to. we also have ING which pays a little less 4.3% on thier savings, but unlike wamu thier checking pays you % as well, 3.79. ING also sends out paper checks for me for free if someone i pay electronicly isnt set up to recieve electronic payments, so thats good.ING also has no fees and no minimums. others offer the same or better intrest, but you better read the fine print. Ive found that having both an online only and a brick and mortar is a good way to go. citi also is pretty good, my inlaws opened thiers online, though you have to make at least 2 payments from the citi checking to get the higher intrest 5.12% on thier savings account.

I use GMAC Bank for an online savings account. It was between them and WAMU because they were the only established banks I was familiar with. I was getting 5.16% but I just noticed that it has dropped down to 4.78% APR.

It takes $500 to get that rate but if you have less you still get like 4.68%. There are no monthly fees and they do not charge you for using other ATMs. You can also write checks for the few transfers you get with a savings account.

The downside is you do not have ATMs everywhere and you may have to pay a fee to use someone elses ATM.

Online Banking is FAR safer then using checks. I spent 6 years as a Corporate VP for a larger regional bank. I was heavily involved with property management, operations and security. You'd be surprised at how often people dumpster dive or phish for information. Doing banking via a secure connection with encrypted info is the bomb...for today anyway. Look for the S in the http:...you want to see https...for secure.

some great info here, thanks guys.  i've been looking at ing for a while, now i have something to compare it to and a review of it.  i was w/ a bank that was bought out by chase and now i'm getting nickeled and dimed for every little thing and the service is teh sux.  thanks again.