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First IB works fine, has 1.26% interest on their checking to boot! NetBank isn't bad either. C'mon, you're on Slashdot, you're probably a geek, go with an Online bank. If you're paranoid like me, do both online and brick and mortar. (Oh? I lost my checkcard. Damn. Let me transfer my money and use my other checkcard while waiting for the other to arrive. Sorry paranoid+bad luck).

Not the best interfaces though, it's really lacking compared to most banks, but you can do everything you've ever needed on it. Bank One/Chase works too. Bank of America(ugh, not that I'm saying to ever get them. Just google for "Bank of America Fees" I've never had so many fees as with them).

On Topic though, I think a lot of places will be increasing support if they did not before, banks don't have to, but stores are easy, if one doesn't work right, there's 50 other places selling that same item normally, and losing 10% of your customer base is really bad no matter how you look at it.

Everything you've said goes for NetBank as well. I've used them since they first started (~8 years ago or so?). For what an AC's recommendation is worth... I can recommend them.

Thank you! Too bad there is no referral program, as I now have a NetBank account.

Thanks for the tip! Paypal is a necessary evil, but this helps a lot.

is NetBank and it works well in Mozilla and Konq. It's been a great bank to work with, especially when I live overseas and don't have a chance to go to the "local" teller.

That's the disadvantage of Wells Fargo, et al. There are some critical services that require you to go to some local branch. Netbank doesn't and everything is quite secure.

No, I don't work for them, just informing all what it's like for me.
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I always use my cell phone number whenever I give out my number to anyone. In fact, since my non-cell phone belongs to my roomate, I don't really have any other number to give. In any case, while I used to get phone solicitations on a regular basis, I've gotten exactly 3 since I got the cell phone almost a year ago. Yes, I could have sued for $1500 (3x$500), and I may have won, but it wasn't worth it for me, because they stopped.

It's really nice getting zero telephone solicitations. Unfortunately, I can't sign up for USPS payment services (can't give them a cell phone number, has to be your home number), and had to fudge the truth when I signed up for Netbank (can't give them a cell phone number, so I gave them my efax voice-mail). I probably would have given the USPS my efax voice-mail number, but then they started asking for my SSN and my driver's license number, and I thought that was a little too ridiculous.

I had a job that had me traveling a lot, like 30-40% of the time. Doing simple things like sending a check to pay the bills, became really complicated when you weren't at home!! The bank I was at required $7.95/month for online access, and required you to use Quicken for it. Stoopid. So I found another bank that let me do all that for free! And more!

Now I rarely write a check -- if I do, its for church offering, and maybe rent (the management office tends to screw up my rent check if it's from the bank). Otherwise, I have automatic bill pay -- I tell the bank how much to send to who, and that's about it. Some are the same every month (car loan), and I even have some utilities sending bills straight to the bank! It's wonderful . . .

The whole cashless/checkless world is coming. I see checks fading out more quickly, more because of privacy issues, it's cheaper, and more convinent (Guys - how many of you like to carry a checkbook around all the time??). If you use a debit card at a grocery store, they like it because the money is moved to their account quicker (at the "point-of-sale", POS, POS machine, get it?), you like it because no everyone in payment processing at the store sees your address, and you get through the line quicker (no more having to check your driver's license). I've been to several restaurants that do not take checks at all -- just cash and credit cards. Of course, I've been to one restaurant that only takes cash -- no credit cards, no checks. But they do have ATMs inside! =)

The answer.. YES! I use NetBank.Com and love them. I've used em now for about, ohh, 8 months or so and never once had a problem. Their fees are lower then ones you'd find at a brick-and-mortar branch AND their lowest-level no minimum balance checking accounts INCLUDES INTEREST! How many banks out there do that? I havent found one. And then theres the conveinence. I can order checks, deposit slips, transfer funds, pay my bills, whatever online. And the best part is I can go downstairs in my building, take out 20$, and instantly see that 20$ taken out of my account in real time. No waiting till midnight for the bank to update their records. And here another kicker, hows 24 customer service via the phone sound? Name ONE bank that does that.All my transactions take place over the defact-o standard ssl 128bit encryption. So in short, especially if you have direct deposit, theres no better way to go then online banking!

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I can't help with the float, but as for the monthly fee, skip Yahoo and head to Net.B@nk. They offer free payment through Checkfree, and no monthly fee for bill payment or for their standard checking account, which pays ~3% annually. The local banks around here (Boston) can't touch them. Disclaimer: I don't work for them, just a (mostly) satisfied customer.

I second this recommendation. I've used Net.B@nk now for about 6 months now, and I've been completely happy with it. They've upgraded their site, so that logins and navigation take seconds instead of a minute or two. They've got free checks (very few banks offer this) and postage-paid envelopes so you can deposit your checks. And of course, the free bill-pay is a huge timesaver. They also respond via e-mail very quickly and have extended telephone customer service hours.

Originally, I wanted a Wells Fargo account but being the giant that they are, they closed my account because of a silly mistake I made in the early days. Well, I was pissed and never went back, and have been very happy that I tried Net.B@nk.

As for brokerage accounts, I have a Datek acct. Originally, I had an Ameritrade acct but switched when I realized that limit orders were cheaper with Datek and Datek had real-time updates to your account as well as the real-time quote streamer and trading info for their associated ECN, Island.
I've had no problems with Datek in the past 9 months and their customer service has been very good to date.

Perhaps I've been lucky with my banking/brokerage experiences but it does take some work on your part to make sure it stays that way!

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One service I particularly like is the automatic bill payment. I schedule it to pay my rent on the 1st, and it pays my rent on the 1st. It doesn't mesh completely well with my every-other-friday paycheck, because I sometimes need to 'float' a little, but it does the trick in general, and worked very, very well when I was paid on the 1st and the 15th.

There's been problems from time to time, but what's kept me there is how they handled things. Once, my rent wasn't sent. At all. I called the bank, and they asked me for the phone number to my rental office, and they took everything from there. They paid my late fees and just took care of things.

In another incident, they had some glitches when they were upgrading, and my balance wasn't updating, and I ended up overdrawing my account (by like 400 dollars). Not a single service charge, not a single check returned. Made me a pretty solid customer.

Everything's free, there's interest paid with no minimum balance on the checking account, which turns out to be about a dollar a month for me, and they provide the checks for free as well. They have no branches anywhere, so if you need a money order or something, you'll have to go elsewhere, but that hasn't been a problem for me.

Since they don't have any branches, you'll end up paying ATM fees to whoever owns the ATM you use. Netbank won't charge you to use the ATM, of course. It hasn't been a big deal for me, I usually just get however much cash I'm allowing myself for that pay period and then I'm done with ATMs.

Deposits are done either by auto-deposit (like your paycheck) or by mail (they give you self-addressed stamped envelopes). No ATM deposits for some reason.

As far as their stocks go, they're not the cheapest on the block, ($25/trade) but they seem to be in the range. The money comes out of/in to your money market or checking account with NetBank.

Drop me an email (by spelling out the dot), and let me know if you're interested in getting a referral. Its not required, but it'd get me a nifty t-shirt and maybe $1000 bux.

Zipwow