CNN Money asks, "Why aren't you banking online yet?" For most folks, there's no good reason not to set up a savings account at an Internet bank.
Internet banks like ING Direct and EmigrantDirect offer savings accounts with much higher interest rate returns than other banks - at time of writing, 3.4% and 4.0%, respectively. I've personally held savings accounts at ING for several years now, and it's been one of the most gratifying financial experiences I've had. Everything is done online, it's easy to set up automatic investment plans, and watching interest accumulate over time is just plain fun. With Internet banks, your savings account is linked to another account - in my case, a brick and mortar checking account - and the only drawback is that transfers between the accounts can take several (2-4) business days to complete.
But "high-maintenance" customers, beware!
If you're looking to have your hand held, online accounts are not for you. ING Direct, for instance, closes an average of 3 percent to 4 percent of accounts a month, when customers require too much personal service.
"We fire our customers is a colorful way of putting it," said ING Direct's Kuhlmann. "While the banking business says the customer is always right, we're online guys and you can only do business with us in a certain way.
He added that it just isn't cost effective to maintain high maintenance customers that need more personalized attention.
Hee!
