A Peek Inside Our FNBO Direct Online Savings Account
Tip It!This is just a quick note to say that, as good as FNBO Direct is, I’m no longer recommending them as my top pick in the online banking realm. Instead, you should check out Everbank. They’re one of the safest online banks, they have a slick online interface, and they offer an excellent yield.
A couple of weeks ago, I noted that we opened an online savings account with FNBO Direct. All in all, the account opening process was incredibly easy, and the test deposits showed up in our linked (local) checking account within one business day. Two days after that, our $1 minimum deposit had been pulled from our checking account and was sitting at FNBO Direct earning 3.50% APY* (current as of 08/14/08). While I haven’t had an opportunity to move additional money over to FNBO Direct, I wanted to go ahead and give you guys an idea of how things look under the hood.
Gaining access
The login process is pretty standard for a modern online bank. After entering your username, you’re prompted to answer a pair of security questions, and then you’re greeted with a personal message. Once you verify that the personal message is indeed yours (indicating that you’re really on the FNBO Direct website, as opposed to an impostor, you enter your password and you’re on your way. Note that the security questions or only necessary for your first login, or if you switch to a different computer.
Behind the scenes
Inside the FNBO Direct website, you’ll find a very clean interface including all of the standard options for an online bank (see below; click to expand). In fact, it’s so clean that it borders on boring. But guess what? Boring is good when you’re talking about an online bank. The pages all load quickly, and it’s easy to find what you want.
I had planned on including more screenshots, but there’s not that much more to see. There are tabs for managing your account settings, transferring funds (either amongst accounts within the bank or with external banks), and online billpay.
As I’ve noted in previous posts, I’ve been quite impressed by FNBO Direct so far — the combination of safety, a high interest rate, and a user-friendly website is pretty hard to beat.
Published on August 14th, 2008 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Banking, Online
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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8 Responses to “A Peek Inside Our FNBO Direct Online Savings Account”
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August 14th, 2008 at 8:40 am
The interface is a little boring (but fast), which is what I want in an interface, especially when it comes to a high yield savings account.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
there’s 2 things I don’t like about FNBO. the transfers are slow and they don’t show daily interest accrued
August 15th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I like the user friendly. Some of these sites seem like you have to give up your first born to use them.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I have an online savings account with FNBO and found it very easy to open. I wish they would show daily interest like ING does. ING has the best interface but their interest rate could be more competitive. I continue to save with ING and Emigrant but most of my money is with FNBO.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Does anybody know if they allow you to download to Quicken? I have Quicken 2007 Premier. I currently have an account with Countrywide (3.4% APY), but they don’t allow downloads to Quicken versions newer than 2004. It’s really frustrating.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
They say they don’t play with Quicken or MS Money. Good rate though.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
this is probably one of the better high yield accounts here.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I had trouble logging in. It keep asking the wrong security
questions,over and over. So I moved back to hsbc,you can
use your atm card anywhere and they will reinburse you.