With the current flight to quality amidst the widespread economic meltdown, American consumers concerned about the safety of their money and investments are increasing turning to trusted online banks and high yield savings accounts for the FDIC insurance protection they afford. For those of you looking for the best online banks in terms of those that offer the highest interest rates for checking and savings accounts, you’ve come to the right place. The following compilation below is a short list and summarized review of what I believe to be the current top five online banks among the many banking choices in the market today. While most of the high interest banks found online offer similar banking features like direct deposit, online bill pay, automatic savings, and the ability to apply for new high yield savings accounts online, they are not all the same. Certain online banks clearly stand out from the pack in terms of proven high marks and rankings in reputation and customer support. Below, I’ve listed what I believe to be the top 5 online savings and checking banks. As an active high interest bank interest rate chaser, I intend to regularly update the list and my reviews to reflect major interest rate changes and shifts in reader preference.
As a reflection of the much lower overhead expenses that they enjoy, online savings banks tend to offer much better annual percentage yields (APY) for savings accounts, money market accounts, and CD’s than the more well known brick and mortar based banks like Citibank, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and even Sun Trust Bank. With the growing popularity of online banking and electronic transfer conveniences, high interest online banks like FNBO Direct, WT Direct, E-Trade, HSBC Direct, ING Direct, Countrywide, Capital One Direct, and Emigrant Direct have rapidly grown in popularity. Online banks have certainly come a long way and with the much higher interest yields that they offer, many of the top online savings banks now rival the account management features and reputations of the larger commercial brick and mortar giants.
The following is a short list of the top 5 online banks that I believe provide the best mix of important banking support services and high yield savings rates. Not only do they all provide full FDIC insurance coverage limits for account deposits, all of them have been around and doing business for many years. While some of the online banks may have names that are unfamiliar to some people, you can rest assured that the ranked recommendations on my list have been personally tested and thoroughly reviewed. Without further ado, here is my quick and easy list of the best online banks followed by short reviews.
Reviews Of The Best Overall High Yield Savings Bank Offers In Terms Of Interest Rate and Account Features
1) FNBO Direct - 3.25% APY - Highly Recommended!
The FNBO Direct high interest savings account is one of my personal favorite choices among the high interest bank offers available. As the online savings arm of the First National Bank of Omaha, FNBO Direct interest rates have always been one of the highest out there. With full FDIC insurance limit coverage for account deposits, and with a very long and reputable history in the banking business, FNBO Direct is one of the safest choices among the top online banks. Currently, FNBO Direct customers enjoy no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum account requirements to enjoy the highest APY rate on their savings account deposits. For the convenience of FNBO account holders, there is even an ATM card option for those who want live, in-person access to their money.
2) WT Direct - 3.31% APY
Offering some of the highest APY interest rates for their top rated high yield savings accounts, it’s no wonder WT Direct is a popular option for those looking to get the highest interest rates for their life savings. While there is no requirement to have a linked checking account, and there are no monthly account fees or account balance minimums, a WT Direct savings account deposit balance of $10,000 or more is needed to get the highest top tier rate. This online bank option from Wilmington Trust Savings Bank is a highly recommended option for those with substantial assets. Currently, banking customers get to enjoy unlimited linked external accounts between WT Direct and their other financial institutions or online brokerages. This benefit affords WT Direct customers greater ACH transfer ease and account management convenience. As with all major online banks, WT Direct customers are fully FDIC insured from bank failure or loss within the insurance coverage limits.
3) E-Trade Savings - 3.30% APY
For some people out there, E-Trade’s appearance on this list of the best online banks may come as a pleasant surprise. Better known for its online discount broker program, E-Trade also runs a traditional banking component as well, featuring high interest savings and checking accounts. For those who want true flexibility and transferability when it comes to moving their money between their E-Trade brokerage account and their online savings, E-Trade’s Complete Saving Account is a recommended choice. Frequently in other cases, the problem with splitting your online savings and your brokerage accounts among different companies is the multi-day lag time required for ACH transfers. With E-Trade, there is no such problem as internal electronic transfers between your E-Trade banking and trading accounts are nearly instantaneous.
4) HSBC Direct - 3.25% APY
With a wide international and national banking presence, HSBC Direct is one of the safest online banking choices out there. Not only do they have a growing network of banking branches all over the world, they’ve also been acknowledged and ranked by various reputable personal finance websites like Kiplingers as one of the best cyberbanks out there. HSBC Direct is widely touted for its great customer service, ATM debit card availability, online bill payment feature, and low minimum balance requirement to get the top APY interest rate - just $1.
5) ING Direct - 3.00% APY
If you read personal finance blogs or financial articles frequently, one thing that seems to be universally agreed upon is that ING Direct is a great online savings bank. ING Direct is well known and appreciated for its online simplicity and streamlined website interface that makes it easy for both advanced users and novice online banking customers to use. The company’s very popular Orange Savings Account is not only remarkably quick and painless to open, the high yield savings account also imposes no monthly fees or account balance minimums. ING Direct also makes it extremely easy for customers to create multiple sub-accounts to help them plan and manage savings goals and objectives in an efficient, paperless way. Another great bonus feature is that the bank is one of the few major online banks to offer customers the ability to earn free ING Direct bonus money for referrals.
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