online banks- anyone use one of these?

[asauer]

Thinking of switching to an online bank such as American Express, Discover or Ally since they have sweet interest rates (like 1.45%).  Seems like a great place to park my emergency fund.  Does any one have accounts at one of these three?  Can you share your experience?  thanks!

[Dragonswan]

Thinking of switching to an online bank such as American Express, Discover or Ally since they have sweet interest rates (like 1.45%).  Seems like a great place to park my emergency fund.  Does any one have accounts at one of these three?  Can you share your experience?  thanks!

I love Ally.  It's convenient and easy.  Been an account holder since 2010.  You get $10/month of ATM fees reimbursed since they don't maintain their own ATM system.  Automated bill pay and you can hook outside accounts to your Ally account and do transfers in and out. The only drawback is depositing checks.  I can never get the "take a picture to deposit" to work for me.  But then I only get a live check once or twice a year and for that I go to the credit union.

[Sibley]

I have an Ally savings account and am very happy with it. Only 2 complaints - it takes a bit longer to transfer money than my Chase accounts, and I have the devil of a time finding the account and routing numbers. Currently not interested in an online checking account due to other reasons, but if circumstances change I'd be willing to consider it.

[MrsDinero]

I've been an Ally user for 3 years and love it.  I only have a savings account so I have no experience with the ATM fees, etc.  Transfers between accounts (my primary CU and Vanguard) take a little over a day to process.

I also have a CD with them, 12 months @ 2%

[Rocket]

I've used, IngDirect which became CapitalOne360 for years.  The interest rate wasnt keeping up so I switched to American Express Personal Savings which offers 1.45%.  Its connected to my checking account and I put my emergency fund there.  Its been great in that the interest rate is one of the highest.  I dont use any other feature like ATMS or credit cards.  Its strictly a savings account.

[jamaicaspanish]

Lake Michigan credit Union.
Max checking.
3% on up to 15k.
Easy requirements.

[Rubic]

With a little work, you can park up to $15K at Lake Michigan Credit Union
for a 3% rate:  https://lmcu.org

Here are the criteria to qualify for the 3% rate in an LMCU Max Checking account:

• Sign up for e-statements.
• Minimum of 4 logins to online banking per month.
• Minimum of 10 debit card purchases per month.
• Direct deposit in your account at least once per month.

I have my LMCU account linked to Mint.com, which handles the minimal required logins.

On the first Monday of each month, I reload my Amazon gift balance
with ten purchases of $0.50 each for a total of $5.00 to satisfy my debit
card requirement.

I also transfer $5 each month from my primary checking account into LMCU via
an automated ACH transfer which counts as a direct deposit.

The entire process takes less than 10 minutes each month after you've
got your account set up.  LMCU has a nice link on your account page to
confirm you've met all the requirements to qualify for the 3% rate.

If you need to park more than $15K of cash, you could open an account
at Old Missouri Bank, which has similar terms to LMCU, but pays 3% interest
up to $25K with 12 debit charges per month.  I have both accounts open.
For $15K or less, I'd probably recommend LMCU, because they make
it easier to confirm each month if you qualify for the 3% rate.

[RWD]

We've been using Ally for about five years now and it's been working great for us. We used that account for our house down payment. They have an online form for wire transfers now so you don't have to fax it in like you used to (though keep in mind you should give them a phone call immediately after to make sure they process it in a timely manner).

Various things we've been able to do without issue with our Ally savings account:
- Buying/selling Vanguard funds
- Mobile check deposit
- Transfer money to/from other bank/credit union checking accounts
- Pay bills online
- Wire transfers

The only drawback is depositing checks.  I can never get the "take a picture to deposit" to work for me.  But then I only get a live check once or twice a year and for that I go to the credit union.

Ally's mobile check deposit has worked better for me than Wells Fargo's and my credit union's apps. We've deposited about 24 checks in the last 2.5 years via various mobile apps. When we last moved in 2015 we no longer had access to a local physical bank. But the mobile check deposit has worked so well for us that we haven't bothered opening a local account. One thing I did notice is that when my wife got her new smart phone (Nexus 5X) the camera was much better so the pictures didn't need to be retaken as often.

[Clean Shaven]

With a little work, you can park up to $15K at Lake Michigan Credit Union
for a 3% rate:  https://lmcu.org

Here are the criteria to qualify for the 3% rate in an LMCU Max Checking account:

• Sign up for e-statements.
• Minimum of 4 logins to online banking per month.
• Minimum of 10 debit card purchases per month.
• Direct deposit in your account at least once per month.

I have my LMCU account linked to Mint.com, which handles the minimal required logins.

On the first Monday of each month, I reload my Amazon gift balance
with ten purchases of $0.50 each for a total of $5.00 to satisfy my debit
card requirement.

I also transfer $5 each month from my primary checking account into LMCU via
an automated ACH transfer which counts as a direct deposit.

The entire process takes less than 10 minutes each month after you've
got your account set up.  LMCU has a nice link on your account page to
confirm you've met all the requirements to qualify for the 3% rate.

If you need to park more than $15K of cash, you could open an account
at Old Missouri Bank, which has similar terms to LMCU, but pays 3% interest
up to $25K with 12 debit charges per month.  I have both accounts open.
For $15K or less, I'd probably recommend LMCU, because they make
it easier to confirm each month if you qualify for the 3% rate.

Thanks for the info and good description on how and what to do. I'm using Synchrony currently, but will look into these credit unions - 3% guaranteed is great.

[Slee_stack]

I have an Amex Online savings, but have little in it.

I've used CIT bank for about 4 years now.  They always seem to lead everyone else by about 0.1%. 

I've made many transfers in and out.   Almost all are within two business days.

Website is spartan, but works fine.

[jim555]

I use several online banks, mostly because they offered a bonus to open the account at some time in the past. 

[msmargarita]

I also like Ally.  Their apps are very easy to use, so I rarely even login in on a computer anymore.  If you are interested in opening a checking account, they provide unlimited free checks.

[SwitchActiveDWG]

I have Amex online savings for cash. Money is very accessible and the rate is good. Long time Amex credit card holder and their customer service is always great.

[Prairie Stash]

I've used one (ING) for over a decade, in that time I've earned several hundred more in interest payments.

I keep a regular bank account and transfer sums between, at one point I transferred money monthly between (took 2-3 minutes a month). I found the regular bank better for my checking account, both are free accounts.

In Canada, ING (Tangerine now) runs weird bonus promotions. If you transfer money in you can qualify for bonus interest (I was getting 2.75% in December 2017, regular was 1%). So if you have two accounts (two banks, or a spouse), you can get extra juice by regularly moving the EF between accounts to get the bonus rates. The rules prohibit moving it in and out of your account, it has to be considered "new" deposits (anything above what was already in there during the promo).  Moving takes a couple minutes nowadays, on $10k that was an extra $14.58/month for me; for 2 minutes work.

[ReadySetMillionaire]

I use Ally for my savings and love it.  Very easy to use, good interface, mobile app is good, etc.  Interest rate I think is 1.35%, which is about as good as you're going to get for now.  Also note that my interest rate has crept up and has pretty much always been the market leader.

I believe my interest rate started out at 1.05%.  Then I saw an advertisement for another bank that was 1.20%, logged into my Ally, and noticed that they had come up to 1.20% as well.


For checking, I use Schwab. They give nominal interest rates but they don't charge any fees, have any minimums, require anything, and further, they reimburse all ATM fees.  It's a great bank.

[Michael in ABQ]

I just opened an account with Live Oak Bank that has a 1.60% interest rate. https://www.liveoakbank.com/personal-banking/personal-savings/

Here's a pretty comprehensive list of high interest savings accounts. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/

I could have got twice as much with Lake Michigan Credit Union or one of the other similar ones but I don't want to have to worry about logging in so many times per month or making lots of fake debit transactions.

[alanB]

Another vote for Ally, been using for >5 yrs.  Features I like:

• No physical locations, but you can see their office building from the PA turnpike when you are driving west.  I have a recurring joke where I point at it and tell my wife that's where our money is.
• $10 ATM fee refund per month is enough for me.
• I had to withdraw a lot of cash once and they temporarily raised the withdrawal limit on my card.  I have no idea if other banks do this since I only ever did it that once.
• Phone check deposits used to be terrible but now they are great!

[exige]

we use ally for our emergency fund and our other spending funds, vacation, house etc. we have been using them for about 6 years and have been happy the online interface and application are super easy to use and transfers are fast.

[PizzaSteve]

Have used several.  Never had any problems.  Best as a simple savings account for excess cash.

[Vertical Mode]

I have an Ally Savings Account, got it in the middle of 2017. Switched over from a Capital One 360 for the superior interest rate. No issues whatsoever so far, although as others have mentioned there is a delay when moving money electronically into or out of the account which you will need to plan for.

[asauer]

Thanks so much all!  Very helpful!