I have an ING savings account. You should really try it. I was skeptical at first and it took me a while to warm up to the idea of putting my money into a virtual bank. I finally tried it and I stand by that bank. It is very user-friendly, safe, and the interest rate is great. Like others have said, it is best for larger chunks of money or money that you don't intend to touch for a while since it takes 2-3 days business days for a transfer to take place. Oh, you can also break your money into smaller sub accounts. Within my own account, I have my money broken into 3 different sub accounts like "overseas vacation", "wedding", and "regular savings".

Those who have created the ING accounts, can you see a considerable increase in what you have in the account now versus when you started the account?

If so, how long have you been with ING?

Soror,
I can see a considerable increase as compared to what I would have if I had a regular savings account (or even a money market account, I think). It is 4% and is compounded monthly. By just having money sitting there and using it then replenishing, I usually earn at least $100 per year in interest, sometimes more.

Its a credit union that is near my alma mater.

I've had an ING account since 2004 and to date this year, I've earned over 125.00 in interest. You know how much interst you earned depends on how much you have in the bank, so that will vary by individual.

I think it's fair to say that ING is the way to go. I will n ever move my money to a regular (local) bank again.

However, I do have my personal and business checking accounts with Wachovia.

I do ALL my banking on line. Pay bills, receive statements, transfer money. I rarely walk into a bank unless I have to deposit a check. I've been doing it for years. LOVE IT! I have 4 banks and never had one problem.

[Now, does anyone use an internet based bank (has no real branches) like netbank.com or pcbanker.com? I so have a friend who has accounts with two on line banks because he gets way better interest rates with them and has never had a problem.[/quote]

I do online banking and love, love, love it!

I also have a savings account with ING Direct that's consider an 'online' bank although they have offices and internet cafes in various cities. I transfer funds between my standard checking account and the ING account with ease www.ingdirect.com

I love OLB. I don't know what I'd do without it. It's so convenient. I check my balance online, pay bills, view my transactions, and send messages to my bank. I also have a paypal account in which I transfer funds from one bank to another. It beats that bank to bank wire fee. In short, the OLB frees me from writing checks, standing in lines at the bank, waiting in the drive-thru at the bank, and going to merchants to pay bills. I do all my banking and bill paying on my couch. I love it.

hmm...never thought of that. Sometimes I pay up to 6 bucks to put money in my sisters account.

I do OLB I'm just careful where I access my account. My company has a secure server but not on my laptop and I'm not sure about school.

I like OLB but I do still go into my credit union for those particular transactions I can't do online. Besides, the employees are really nice.:)

Banking
 

I also do online banking and love it as much as everyone else here. I use the same features as everyone else does.
My bank also has this portfolio feature where it automatically calculates what you spend most of your money on. For example if i deposit $1400 in a month and I spend 140 on lets say food (going out to eat and grocery stores etc.) It will show me a pie graph of the break down of my spending (food, transportation, communication, entertainment etc.) and a chunk of the pie will represent food and it will say 10%. The graph is also color coded. It will show you stats for the month a few months a year or whatever. As a stats junkie (somewhat) I love this and it is also a big visual that will show me when I spend too much money on something like entertainment so its great for budgeting.
My banking questions are:
1. does anyone use the checking accounts that pay you interest? I know Charles Schwab has one and some other places do as well. They say that they give you a good return rate I think like 4% was advertised and they dont charge for atm withdrawls. I dont know b/c I've never used it and I dont know anyone who does.
2. Anyone know of any banking institutions or credit card companies with good rates for college students who are trying to build credit?

The paypal account isn't really too convenient if you need the money real fast. It takes 3-5 days to pull the money from your account to the paypal account, and it also takes 3-5 days to transfer from paypal to the other account. I only use it because I'm lazy, and I hate going to the bank. I also use it because I don't need to use the money right away.