Money Poll #7: Online Banking
Tip It!Not quite a year ago, I wrote about the prevalence of online banking amongst Americans. At that time, roughly one-quarter of all American adults banked online, with 60% of internet users between the ages of 28-39 taking part. I was thinking back on these numbers earlier today when I decided that it would be interesting to take a snapshot of how the readers of this site do things. That brings us to Money Poll #7, which is focused on online banking. The question of the week is “Do you bank online?” Regular readers of this site already know my answer — it’s a resounding YES. We have accounts at ING Direct ($25 account opening bonus), HSBC Direct, and Emigrant Direct, and we also rely heavily on our “regular” (i.e., brick & mortar) bank’s online features. So how do you guys do it?
Published on April 3rd, 2006 - 11 Comments
Filed under: Banking, Online, Polls
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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11 Responses to “Money Poll #7: Online Banking”
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April 3rd, 2006 at 9:58 am
Online banking is a godsend…it is so conveinient. I have not gone to a B&M bank in a long time for anything.
You should also do a future poll asking about how many use an online bill pay system.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:59 am
I use my brick & mortar bank’s online features, and have an emigrant and HSBC account.
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:08 am
I’d probably drop my B&M entirely but for the fact that my employer (a small business in a very rural area) doesn’t offer direct deposit. I have no real problem with the local bank. In fact, compared to the big national banks, they’re wonderful – no monthly account fees, personal service, blah blah blah. Their online presence is extremely barebones, but at least I can see that checks clear. But for convenience sake (and options available from various online banks), I’d still likely drop ‘em for a virtual bank given the chance.
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:47 am
The flexibility and convenience of banking online is amazing. I still am kind of blown away when I see people balancing their checkbooks by hand…
April 3rd, 2006 at 10:37 pm
five cent,
I think you really need both b&m and online banking services. After all, if there’s ever an emergency — and they do happen, you may not have time for an online provider to resolve it.
Also, there’s a certain degree of identity security with a local bank that knows you well. Besides, shouldn’t you keep your insurance policies in a safe deposit box?
My strategy is to keep my long term savings in an on-line high interest rate account earning near the top. I’m often frustrated with emigrants lag in updating their interest rates and often admire umbrella’s higher rates (however umbrella makes it difficult to move money because it cannot initiate EFT transfers).
The second part of my strategy is to keep operating monies close at hand. Moving savings out monthly into the online accounts. Recently I realized I keep too much money stuck in low or no intrest operating accounts. Consequently, I’ve determined I’ll do better moving my money to more aggressive local banks with Money Market accounts that pay in the 3.5% – 4.3% range. That will keep more of my money doing better.
I do have another idea though. Maybe we’re not as efficient with cash earnings optimization as we can be.
As a matter of fact, I’m going to try to post an article on it at my site within the next two days.
I want to explore other, non MM semi-liquid investment tools available. Especially when considering tax consequences.
Have a great Tuesday,
Regards,
Making Our Way
April 4th, 2006 at 6:44 am
I did 100% of my banking online back in the days before PayPal bought x.com and killed it off. Nowadays I just wish there were an online-only bank that would issue me an ATM card and a checkbook. Savings accounts are OK, but what I need most in a _bank_ is liquidity…and two business days to move funds back and forth is not liquid enough to be my primary financial vehicle.
April 4th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
I’d love to have a B&M account in order to avoid the 2-day mail lag in depositing checks I receive. However, since I owe so much in back child support this is not an option for me. If I open a local B&M account, the county sweeps in, cleans it out, and leaves me with a couple of hundred in bank fees. Not something worthwhile.
So, I’m stuck with online only until I can clear that debt.
April 24th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Nice poll and I guess I have the answer to that already. I actually voted for option #3 but now I realize I do have a true online bank so my vote is option #2. If you ask the people online reading blogs, I would imagine that they have an online bank but if you take the survey offline, then results may vary. Actually majority of the people who have online banking have broadband connection. I will keep an eye on the results of this poll.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Online Banking is great but currently many of the online bank users actually have the account with a B & M that have online banking facilities. Still there are less users of online only banks. Most users trust “online only” banks that have big name like etrade. These there is some threat from some form trojan viruses for these accounts. hope they find a fix for this…
December 7th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
Online banking is indeed great. I have an account with E-loan, and it started at 5.5%, but now it has fallen to 5.38%. I still think it’s one of the better rates, and around 1% higher than ING Direct. The only catch is that you have to initially deposit $5000 and leave a minimum of $500 in the savings account. I’m pretty sure ING Direct has no minimum and you can deposit as little or as much as you want.
September 5th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
What is the status for Capital One Direct Banking? I didn’t see it under the online banks in trouble nor did I see it in the ten best.