Banks! (Which Should I Pick?)

Penguin_Otaku

So I have just around 800 in a savings account, and I know that isn't a whole lot but I want this money to go to a bank that actually offers me some incentives for choosing them instead of this "First National Bank of MY TOWN" that doesn't do a whole lot for me.

I hear about all of these big banks/mutual funds but those scare me because they all seem to be done online or in some other manner that is not... direct. I'm probably mistaken, but thats how I've understood it.

In your guys' experience, what are good banks that offer awesome things for college kids? I like to keep my savings/checking seperate and I've heard some banks offer the incentive of not charging for withdrawls or anythings like that at ATMs. I'm sure this usually takes away from another awesome ammenity... but ya. I'm a newb to all of this.

Anything is appreciated.

Kyougu

Bank of America is my bank, and I never had any problems with them. I do tons of online banking with them too, and their process is pretty easy. There's also tons of ATMs around my town from them, though I rarely use them.

coelacanth

You might look into your student credit union...University of Texas had a great one when I went there.

noir_blood

What are you looking for exactly? There's tons of banks that will give you money for opening an account with them, but they all tend to have rules(i.e, keep the account open for a year, do a certain number of transactions, etc) if you're interest in that, check out fatwallet.com.

Otherwise, I would look around you're area and see if there's a particular bank's atm that you see more than others. Well Fargo I think allows you to use anyone's machine without any charge, so that might be good. I can't vouch for that bank though, as I also use Bank of America.

brandotheninjamaster

You may wanna try looking into being a member of a credit union. Their perks are usually a little better then the average bank.

Quoth

To my knowledge, online-only banks have the best interest rates for savings accounts.

Thanatos

Quoth wrote: »

To my knowledge, online-only banks have the best interest rates for savings accounts.

WaMu has an online savings account that matches or beats most other online banks. You have to have a checking account through them to get it, though.

nome

About 2 years ago I decided to switch to another bank because I was disappointed in the amount of interest I was earning at Wachovia (a money market account). There were 2 things I was looking for, I wanted the highest interest bearing checking account available and they had to be within 10 miles of work or home. So what I did was call every bank in the phonebook (took 20 minutes) and found my current one which pays 2.23% APR and was just a few miles down the street from work. They had a $2500 minimum deposit amount but that was a non-issue for me. I would suggest looking in the phonebook and calling some of the local banks. They can't advertise like the big ones so they compete on rates. I still keep a few hundred in my old Wachovia free checking account for emergencies because they have ATMs everywhere. As long as I use it at least once a year it wouldn't be frozen.

Online savings accounts will be better then anything you'll find in a brick and mortar store. High interest rates and usually no minimums or other strings attached. Check out http://www.bankrate.com/ to compare rates. Keep in mind it will probably take a few days to transfer funds out of a online account. I wouldn't bother with online checking accounts though. In case anything ever goes wrong you want a real building with real people in it that you can bitch at.

Mutual funds are great for long term savings. When I say long term I mean 5+ years. Yes, for some of them you can only signup online and you would also manage everything else through the site. It is actually pretty easy if you know a bit about how to invest (which I wouldn't get into in this thread) but there is no one there to hold your hand if you don't. Some companies do have stores you can go to but I feel they'll try to rip you off in fees and whatever else to earn their commissions. Nevertheless, I wouldn't worry to much about this until you have more in savings. I will just recommend one thing though, read up on what a IRA is and try to set aside some money every month to put into one.

matt has a problem

I have my savings account through INGDirect, currently sitting at 4.1% interest. You can transfer money in and out of it online nice and easy from your checking account, or other savings accounts.

I have my checking through Bank of America, all free since they waive maintenance fees if you have at least 1 direct deposit a month. I've only had one problem with BofA in 3 years, when their system glitched and removed a large amount of money from my account, causing a dozen overdrafts. It was fixed as soon as I called them the next day, all overdraft charges refunded and money back in my account. The only actual check I write any more is for rent, the rest I do all through online billpay. It's saved me more than once when I realized a bill was due the next day.

Penguin_Otaku

I really am into the large amounts of interest. But how exactly do I deposit money there? What are the draw backs? Could they collapse at any time and if they do whats securing my money?

Rhino

Penguin_Otaku wrote: »

I really am into the large amounts of interest. But how exactly do I deposit money there?

Each is different, but typically you setup a linked account which lets you transfer funds electronically.

You log into the site, then select the amount and then transfer it to/from your other accounts.

Once you put the transfer 'in', it takes 2-5 days to show up in both accounts.

What are the draw backs?

If you have problems, sometimes it's hard to get good customer service over the phone or email.

Could they collapse at any time and if they do whats securing my money?

Make sure they are a FDIC member bank, if so; then they are as 'secure' as your normal banks.

Online savings with good rates:

ING Direct (good rates, super easy to buy CDs)
WaMU (good rates, give free checks, have nice online system, but their customer service is poor)
HSBC (goodrates, but I don't like their online website interface and setting up an account is a pain)
Emigrant Direct (good rates, decent site)
Capital One [Money Market account] (good rates and they give free checks)

Gdiguy

Penguin_Otaku wrote: »

I really am into the large amounts of interest. But how exactly do I deposit money there? What are the draw backs? Could they collapse at any time and if they do whats securing my money?

You basically give them your checking account info from your check, activate it (HSBC's was similar to paypal iirc, made two small deposits), and then you can transfer money back and forth... usually takes ~2-3 business days, which isn't horrible unless you have an emergency (though that's what checking accounts are for)


Schwab's interest checking account sounds interesting too - I don't have the energy to change banks again and try it out, but they have a 4% interest checking account that pays ATM fees for you as well