Good internet bank?

[agesilaus]

Looking ahead to this summer. Is anyone using a good easy to deal with internet bank? We are using a regional bank now. I'm not all that fond of Bank America.

Edited February 22, 2020 by agesilaus

[Jaydrvr]

I've been with First Internet Bank since they opened in 1999 and I could not possibly be any happier. Great bank with stellar customer service. (Was originally First Internet Bank of Indiana) Jay

Edited February 22, 2020 by Jaydrvr

[GlennWest]

Alliant Credit Union. But we use Houston Federal Credit Union. Been with them over 20 years. Never saw one until I came to Texas. Most any bank can be internet based. As long as you can go on line and regualte everything. 

[Camper]

Any local bank will work as long as they have a website that you can log into your account, and you have a debit or credit card for your account. 

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, GlennWest said:

Most any bank can be internet based. As long as you can go on line and regualte everything. 

This.

Linda Sand

[Kirk W]

7 hours ago, Camper said:

Any local bank will work as long as they have a website that you can log into your account, and you have a debit or credit card for your account. 

I would also look for a bank that has deposits by phone app. Some banks also will refund any ATM fees if you use another bank's ATM for some reason. Wells-Fargo is one of several that do this. 

[Dutch_12078]

We've been very pleased with the service we receive from the Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Their affiliation with other credit unions and ATM groups gives us access to many thousands of surcharge free ATM's and affiliate branch offices throughout the country. They also offer phone/photo deposits. We recently conducted a high dollar real estate transaction involving the PenFed CU, an upstate NY bank, and a company in California, and we did it all from a Navy Federal Credit Union branch office that was just a few miles away from our campground in Florida.

Edited February 22, 2020 by Dutch_12078

[Second Chance]

If you're eligible (retired military/veteran, parent who was a veteran, etc.) USAA can't be beat. They refund all ATM fees, all banking is done over the internet on the computer or by phone app (including depositing checks, etc.). All of our direct deposits go directly to our USAA accounts and we have USAA BillPay automatically pay any regular bills. I've been with them going on 40 years and they've treated me very well.

Rob

[Sehc]

I use Ally Bank. Best interest of any. Strictly online. I keep an account at BoA. I can use their ATM to deposit cash. I can find a branch within most areas. With direct deposit of my pension check, there are no fees. Ally transfers money from BoA in one day with no fee. Wells Fargo steals from their customers.   I want to recommend Ally Bank.

[agesilaus]

12 minutes ago, Sehc said:

I use Ally Bank. Best interest of any. Strictly online. I keep an account at BoA. I can use their ATM to deposit cash. I can find a branch within most areas. With direct deposit of my pension check, there are no fees. Ally transfers money from BoA in one day with no fee. Wells Fargo steals from their customers.   I want to recommend Ally Bank.

That's the one Clark Howard recommends, I'm leaning towards just sticking with my current bank tho. I got the phone up up and running so that issue is solved

[Sehc]

Ally lets me open many savings accounts, many checking accounts. I use bill pay for all things. I get 6 free transfers from each savings account. I set checking#1 to pay as many bills that are covered by free overdraft transfer from savings#1. Then do the same with checking#2 and savings#2. And others as needed. Was worth a few hundred dollars interest last year. Hardly no effort on my part.  I'm a poooor man and that buys a couple bottles of wine.

[tombarnum]

If you can deposit a check using your bank app, obviously you an deposit from anywhere. As for withdrawals, the largest fee-free network is the allpoint network (http://www.allpointnetwork.com/). Pick any bank that is a member of this network and you've got fee-free ATM withdrawals all over.

[Twotoes]

I have seen adds on TV about Capital One being an online bank. Don’t use them but may look into them in the near future. 

[agesilaus]

As for Capital One we had serious problems in the far past with them where they we quite unethical in my opinion. (I'm not going into any more details) Anyone involved is obviously long gone but we will never use that bank. They were on Clark Howard's good list tho. As was Discovery the credit card comapany which pays back 1% on debit card use if I read that right.

Edited February 23, 2020 by agesilaus

[Ro and Joe]

USAA Federal Savings Bank is a great bank for full timers.  Need to have/or had a family member in the military to join.

[agesilaus]

I was in the Navy but not a retired. Does that qualify?

Edited February 23, 2020 by agesilaus

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, agesilaus said:

I was in the Navy but not a retired. Does that qualify?

Yes. Dave served not quite four years in the Army and we've been banking with USAA for decades.

Linda

[jamtracy]

USAA has catchy commercials but they are aren't the best for everything.

We use 2 credit unions. Alliant Credit union is one. We did our first RV loan with them. Great rates. 50K limit on mobile deposits.                   

Our main bank is Kitsap Credit Union in Washington State. We live in California but have been with them for many years. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been in a bank.  We do everything online, ATM, mobile, store checkouts, and Direct Deposit. As someone said you can use any bank. Make sure you get one that has no fees and reimburses ATM fees.

Our current RV loan is through First Internet Bank.

 

[Bill Joyce]

We have been with E-Trade Bank since the 1990s and also have brokerage accounts with E-Trade's brokerage side.  They combine the balances for the bank and brokerage for perks like reimbursing ATM fees and since we have our IRAs there, that is not a problem.  Mostly we use them online, but since it is easy to move money between the brokerage and bank accounts, we have deposited big checks at one of their brokerage branches, which are in major metros.  

[Sehc]

I know I can deposit a check using phone app. Every bank offers that.  I have need to deposit cash, good old USA dead presidents and a few Hamiltons. So I have high interest Ally Bank for everyday stuff, common to every online bank. With pain in  the ass Bank of America for when I am holding too much cash.

[losthikers]

Remember the banks are a business for profit. Do not be afraid to change as needed. Take a look at Bankrate.com  Choose the one that works for you. I'll chase interest rates if it fits in my plan. Navy FederalCCredit Union is good. Look at Fidelity and Schwab for debit/ATM cards. I find it useful to have money in separate banks in case of any issue with one I'm not broke on the road.

[Vladimir]

Ally Bank is the former General Motors Acceptance Corporation that offered car loans for General Motors.

During the last financial crises the Federal Government not only bailed out General Motors, but they decided that GMAC (Ally Bank) was really a bank and not a financing arm of General Motors.

I had a car loan with Ally Bank, when I called them and told them I wanted to make a additional principal payment, they told me to compute it myself. I told them....fine. They were accepting my interest calculations and balance due. At that point, they decided that maybe they would tell me how much I was paying in interest and principal.

Unlike losthikers...I have no problem with a for profit business. But this is telling.....I have THREE credit unions that I do business with an multiple accounts with each. I do NOT do business with ANY banks and have closed out and moved accounts to the credit unions ASAP when my accounts were transferred due to mergers, etc.

There are great local banks in this country. There are NO great Wall Street or national banks.

But why take a chance...get a credit union account.

[RV_]

Well said Vlad. I couldn't agree more.

[Kirk W]

There are some interesting thoughts expressed in this thread. I am sure that it also reflects  the wide range of experiences we have all had. Part of the answer to what financial institution will serve you best is keyed to which services you need or will use. It has been my experience that very often the best lender is not the best place to keep your checking account and yet another facility may offer the best savings plans. Since the 1990's there are banks that offer brokerage services and  investment firms that offer banking services. With banking laws somewhat relaxed, there are even some cases where the two have merged. We consolidated everything into a single, national firm that is a merged bank/investment firm which is multinational and have had excellent services for more than 20 years. Other than credit cards, we do all of our financial business with that firm. To me the important point to be gained from this thread is that each person needs to examine their needs and shop which firm will best serve those needs. I doubt that anyone has a best financial institution that will meet the needs of everyone,  Since I have no need for a car loan, I really don't care if the firm that I use has poor service for them or if they even make such loans. 

If I were considering a change I would make a list of all financial services that I use and then look for a place that does a good job of supplying my needs. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Kirk W

[sandsys]

Having a business that creates cash you need to deposit changes everything. I'm glad the few things we sell on Craig's List create small enough amounts of cash that we can just spend it without having to deal with business accounting.

Linda Sand