06 Dec 2004 | Adam M said...

NetBank (http://www.netbank.com) looks like a contender. You can tell that they built the bank/website from the ground up to be an internet-based solution. Don't know how good their actual banking is... :-)

06 Dec 2004 | Lance E. Leonard said...

We use US Bank now, but I'm not fond of their online banking. I was more than pleased with Bank of America which I used prior to getting hitched. Very solid online banking.

06 Dec 2004 | Darrel said...

Wellsfargo has a pretty good online interface. I went through 4 or 5 banks a few years ago on the quest for a bank that actually had a decent online interface.

Other than that, though...WF kind of sucks...plenty of nasty fees, in-person transactions at the bank take for ever. That said, they're everywhere and I can always find an ATM. Plus, now that we finally have a decent amount of savings, they bumped us up to a package with free bill pay, which is nice.

06 Dec 2004 | Wilson said...

I was frustrated with my local bank last year, and considered Wash Mutual along with some online-only banks. WM looked nice, but I eventually went with USBank, because there's a branch about 100 yards from my apartment, which still makes a difference. Their online banking isn't bad - the interface isn't anything brilliant, but it's simple and it works (which is more than I could say for my old bank).

06 Dec 2004 | a wamu customer said...

I am a wamu customer. Their online interface went through an overhaul about a year ago and it's much friendlier. Overall, I am not saying it's perfection, but it was horrid the first time I used it. I have both business and personal account through them, the low fees and customer service have kept me happy. Their banking hours are also set more for the "real" world than the "banking" world. I believe branches close at 7pm and allow deposits to post if made by then. Oh and all branches that I know of are open on Saturday until 2 or 3.

06 Dec 2004 | Jeff Croft said...

I use Bank of America and have generally been very impressed with their online bank UI. It's the largest bank in America, so that makes me feel good about their track record, and they seem to sincerly care about proving a good online experience to users of all major browsers (Safari and Firefox are supported 100%).

I like it so well that when i recently moved to a city without a Bank of America branch, I decided to stick with them -- despite the fact that I now have to drive an hour to deposit a check! :)

06 Dec 2004 | cm said...

I've been using e-trade for checking and brokerage for the last 3 years and they've been great (*knock knock*). Used their ATM card internationally as well. And they have a very good web interface (although no webconnect for Quicken Mac, ugh).

06 Dec 2004 | Eamon said...

Bank One online banking is fantastic. I switched from Citibank two years ago and never looked back. Excellent customer support, too.

06 Dec 2004 | Kory Garner said...

My wife and I have been with Washington Mutual for our personal accounts for almost 7 years now and have never had a problem with them. The online banking works fine for us, but then we don't do much with it (check balances, etc.). I would have no problem recommending them to anyone looking for a new bank.

06 Dec 2004 | John Resig said...

I use HSBC (located primarily in New York, but with locations across the US) - they have a nice web interface that's rather easy to use. It works in all major browsers (IE, Mozilla, Opera) and is even usable without a mouse (which I find to be important). They offer a variety of data export options which is handy as I can then whip up a small Perl script to do my finances for me. Just my 2 cents.

06 Dec 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

My preferred online banking interface is Quicken, which provides one consistent and familiar interface across all my banking and credit card accounts. I manage my accounts and do all my online banking from within Quicken; I almost never visit my bank's website. So for me, it's crucial to have a bank that supports online banking directly through Quicken for Mac. That limits the field somewhat, but I think most of the bigger banks support it. Quicken for Mac is but a pale shadow of the Windows version, but it works fine for my purposes...I've been using it since 1995 or so without any significant problems.

06 Dec 2004 | steve said...

to all that is holy and sacred with everything and anythign in the world... DO NOT USE WASHINGTON MUTUAL FOR ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. I am not sure if that gets my point across, but I tried. I have used them for two mortgatges now and have nothign but deceptive practices, horrible customer services, and typical monstrosity corporation issues. I strongly advise against using them for anything. I might be a little biased, but I doubt it. Been thinking fo starting an I hate WaMu club.

06 Dec 2004 | Andres said...

Bank of America, no doubt. I've been using them for the last 4 years and they do nothing but improve. The general interface is excellent, and have some wonderful nuggets of interaction design, such as the calendar for bill pay (free, btw). It seems to work flawlessly in Firefox for me.

Off-line, they have been generally good. A couple years ago I did have a situation with online identity fraud and my money was returned to me in a day, no questions asked.

My fiancee uses a different bank and is considering switching all her accounts to BOA.

06 Dec 2004 | Geoff said...

Another vote for BofA.
Their web app is easy to understand, and very useful.

06 Dec 2004 | jim winstead said...

i'm using (and recommend) everbank. they repay atm transaction fees (and don't charge any of their own).

the interest rates on the accounts are fantastic, too.

06 Dec 2004 | Ryan C. said...

Bank of America.

As Jeff Croft noted, BoA is the largest (which might not always be a good thing.. in this case I believe it is though.) Having used WAMU, US-Bank, and a bank local to the Pacific NW.. I've been happiest w/ BoA.

06 Dec 2004 | Ted said...

I have been a Wamu customer for years. I didn't choose to be a wamu customer. I started with a, who got bought by b, who got bought by c, and finally wamu bought c. Wamu immediately changed my account numbers, which pissed me off. But, I stuck in there out of laziness. I tried using their online account manager a few years ago and quit out of frustration.

Then I opened a new checking account about 6 months ago and took another stab at the online banking. It is really easy to use. I like being able to check my account, transfer funds, and have them send checks to people. All of this is free. So, I would recommend them now. If you asked me a year ago, I'd give you the shoulder raise and say... eeehhhh! I only have checking and savings accounts with them, no mortgages or loans.

06 Dec 2004 | Garrett said...

While there's always room for improvement, I've found Bank of America to be very good.

More imortantly, they are constantly improving it and adding new and very useful features that make all sorts of transactions even easier.

I would highly recommend it based on my experience over the last 4 years.

06 Dec 2004 | Scott M. said...

Another vote for Bank One -- they're online banking is great.

06 Dec 2004 | Michelle Lee said...

I recently switched from Wells Fargo to Bank of America. As a college student in California whose family lives in New Jersey, having physical access to a branch (and ATM) wherever I am is important; the recent Fleet-BofA joining bodes well for me. For once, the monopology does good--BofA is less intent on fee-ing you up the wall. When I transferred, I got 5 years of no-fee, no-minimum-balance checking with free Bill Pay. Regarding online banking, their site has been hassle-free for me, though WaMu's site looks even a bit more straightforward. The coolest part about BofA is that I get to see low-res scans of each of my checks!

Speaking of bank UIs, take a look at WaMu's and BofA's, and then read LukeW on how " As market sectors shift from early adopter to mature phases, they absorb more conservative brand attributes such as tighter color schemes and more realistic imagery."

06 Dec 2004 | robot boy said...

W4MU
4
L1F3!

06 Dec 2004 | Benjy said...

I recently left BankOne after they refused to refund ATM fees incurred by using other banks' ATMs when the BankOne ATM I tried to use nearby was out of order or out of money. I switched to LaSalle. However, BankOne did have the better online banking interface. Neither, however, come close to what I got to use when I had Wachovia as my bank when living in the south. There's was head and shoulder above what I've used recently in terms of functionality, and that was over 3 years ago that I last used their online banking.

06 Dec 2004 | Peter said...

It's been a couple of years, but when I was living in the US I found Bank of America's banking experience to be very good.

The only time I had to pay a banking fee with B of A was when I actually went to a bank teller ATM, cheques, debit transactions, online banking, etc. were all free.

I didn't realize how good their online banking was until I started using my bank's online banking here in Canada.

06 Dec 2004 | Matt Haughey said...

I think my wishlist goes something like this:

- direct connect to quicken mac and quicken windows
- nice web interface that lets me do most things
- I would *love* it if any bank allowed me to program "macros" like an email filter. Example: every time a deposit comes in from XYZ corp, transfer 10% to Savings Account.

I don't really care if the branches are nearby as I go years without needing to talk to someone. So far I've heard that a Schwab One account can do all that, but isn't FDIC insured and your account balance fluctuates with the market.

I've had bad experiences with all the big banks in the past, BofA, Wamu, and WellsFargo have screwed me at one time or another, so for the past 10 years or so I always go with a local Credit Union and suffer from their lackluster web site, lack of quicken features, and lack of macros.

06 Dec 2004 | Amber said...

Another aye for bofa.

My husband has wamu, not that he pays the bills or anything, but just to say, i've seen what a couple of other banks offer and bofa is definately the most robust.

they do support quicken but i don't use it so i can't tell you how well it works.

06 Dec 2004 | Kyle said...

Coming from another college student, BofA gets my vote. In the 14 year (my god!) I've been with them I've had nothing but good results. My accounts are free, and it doesn't seem that hard to get (I either have to have some minimum balance or direct deposit once every two months). Their online interface is top-notch. It's easy to understand and does exactly what I want it to do - be an interactive bank statement. Transfers are easy, as are stop checks online.

But for me, the real winner is the availability of ATMs. I've never had a problem finding a BofA ATM no matter where I go - which is a massive plus in my book.

Honestly, the biggest thing I can commend B of A on is not screwing something up - after all, that's what I want my bank to do - not screw up.

06 Dec 2004 | sam said...

Washington Mutual has a speedy, easy-to-use interface. I have never been frustrated with them. Ordering checks online took me only 30 seconds - from navigating to the order page to submiting my order.

Wamu is highly recommended (this from a customer who has fired BofA and Wells Fargo).

06 Dec 2004 | Dr_God said...

Bank One. Been using them for many years. Great (and fast) online account and online bill pay.

06 Dec 2004 | bk said...

I have been with Bank One for years (originally with their spinoff - Wingspan) and have had quite a few problems. Their online banking interface & system is pretty nice, but for some reason, they still issue paper checks to other banking institutions... I have had several car loan payments go missing or arrive weeks late.

If it were a payment to a private party, I could understand... but not being able to electronically transfer payments to other banks is pretty lame.

06 Dec 2004 | anom said...

CITIBANK does not allow you to access your accounts through Quickbooks. to me, this is like requiring you to conduct all your bank correspondence through semaphore.

06 Dec 2004 | another amber said...

I was really frustrated with BofA/Oregon until they rolled out a much improved improved online banking system. Previously, the Oregon system (I don't know about other states) had no system compatibility with Quicken for Mac, only the PC version. So if you didn't have Quicken (PC), you couldn't bank online at all. I found that extremely frustrating, but right as I was getting ready to switch to a local credit union, they came out with their new site.

BofA's new online interface is good, but far from perfect. The online bill-pay UI can be confusing at times and on some pages, the "paid" status of bills is tucked away in sidebars, that is, in what I consider to be "blindspots." In fact, there was one such instance in which I was so blind to the status of one of my e-bills that I inadvertantly paid it twice. Yikes.

06 Dec 2004 | David said...

DO NOT USE WASHINGTON MUTUAL. I've had bad experience with them, and so has my sister, my parents, and a few of my friends.

I've been using U.S. Bank for the past year and a half and I like them a lot. Their online banking is responsive and decent enough to use (email me if you need some screens), and I just haven't had any problems with them at all.

06 Dec 2004 | One of several Steves said...

I'm another one on the BofA bandwagon. I like their online banking interface, their service is good, and online bill payment is free, whether you have a balance of 1 cent or a billion dollars. I switched from Wells Fargo because they charged like $7 a month for bill payment if your balance dropped below $5k for even one second. Plus, their interface sucks, and you couldn't download directly into Quicken. WF pretty much sucked in all possible ways.

I did use BankOne when I lived in Chicago, and was also perfectly happy with them.

06 Dec 2004 | bob said...

I use Washington Mutual but I've been looking for something better after I tried to log in on Saturday to check a critical bank account and was locked out. All night. They offer phone service to check accounts but I'm just not going to do that.

06 Dec 2004 | iva koberg said...

Have had great customer service experience with personal banking at WAMU, but woudl recommend E*Trade instead because of their web interface as well as the free ATM usage of any bank's ATM. Unfortunately, neither of them offer the same array of small biz services as Wells Fargo yet :(

06 Dec 2004 | Chris said...

Bank of America hands down, I was using a local credit union before that was so lame that they wouldn't deposit my checks into my account because it had my name and my university's name (even though the university signed the check over to me). That prompted me to open an account with Bank of America and haven't had a problem since. I haven't been inside a Bank Of America in over a year, I do everything from the ATM or Online Banking. I use their BillPay (free) for all my bills. Their Online Banking interface is very easy to use and haven't had a problem with it.

06 Dec 2004 | geeky said...

I love Bank of America, just like pretty much everyone else has said. I switched to them because my local credit union had terrible online banking. BoA has a demo of their online banking if you're interested.

06 Dec 2004 | Chris said...

I would not recommend WaMu for the simple reasons that they feel it's appropriate to tell their employees how to vote. There's been a big uproar here in Seattle about it and people are closing accounts in protest. Here's a link to the article and a choice quote:
Close Your WaMu Account by Josh Feit

"Not only is WaMu pledging cash to the anti-transit obstructionists, but on October 1, the $18-billion company--the largest banking institution on this year's Fortune 500--sent an e-mail to its 9,000 local employees. The e-mail, written by WaMu lobbyist Suzanne Estey, encourages WaMu's employees to "participate in our nation's unique democratic process and exercise their right to vote" and then it tells them exactly how to vote: "yes" on I-83, the anti-monorail initiative."

06 Dec 2004 | Chris said...

Crap. Can you possibly remove the email address from the above comment? I'm so used to email not being disclosed on comment forms that I didn't think twice about it and I'd rather keep spam off of that one. Thanks.

06 Dec 2004 | Ryan said...

I'm not sure a lot of the commenters here are actually from Chicago.

From a Chicago specific side, I'd recommend Harris Bank or Bank One.

I use CitiBank here in Palo Alto, CA because I frequently travel to Chicago and Citi's are everywhere while Bank One's and Harris' are not.

I'm not sure what your needs are exactly, but if you're going for some decent online functionality with excellent business building advising, I'd suggest a good independent bank. Independent banks don't have to yield to the bureaucracy of the large banks. This means flexibility in loans, working your finances around to fit your business more specifically, and just plain good advice.

They're usually competitive too. ATM's are a little more difficult, but Indy banks have a network (Star Network, I believe) with each other, so there's usually just as many, you just have to know which indy banks are around you. An independent bank will really work with you to help you grow rather than treat you as a number, or ignore you because of the size of your business.

An independent bank I'd suggest is Cornerstone National Bank. Exceptional service has made this bank the fastest growing bank in the Chicagoland area (based out of the NW Suburbs).

06 Dec 2004 | Mooch said...

Re: Netbank -- I've had Netbank for 5+ years, and the UI is not great to say the least. They have crappy support for Mac users, too. The only reason I've stuck with them is they have consistently had the best rates. If you don't need to talk to a teller often, internet-only bank is the way to go, in my opinion. First Internet Bank of Indiana gives you refund for ATM fees up to $6 a month, so that may level the playing field a bit. And their rates aren't bad. FIBI and Netbank both give you postage-paid envelopes to send in deposits, which you rarely need these days if you have a direct deposit.

06 Dec 2004 | Clinton Barth said...

I've only been using WaMu for a couple of months, but would only recommend them if you do most of your banking in person. They're fast and friendly at the branches, but their online service is frequently days behind.

06 Dec 2004 | Ryan said...

Another reason to go with an independent bank like Cornerstone is that not only can you use the network of independent banks' ATM's... but you can also use Washington Mutual's ATM's! (They're free!)

If you just went with WaMu, then you would be limiting your free ATM's greatly.

06 Dec 2004 | Jason said...

Another vote for E-trade bank. Good online services, auto-billpay, and they will even mail a check on your behalf if the recipient doesnt support electonic transfers. Its well intergated with your other e-trade accounts (if you have any). The only hastle is you have to mail in your checks since they dont have a branch. But most of my checks are electronicly deposited anyways. They DO provide postage paid envelopes to send check in though so thats nice for when you do need to make an old-school deposit. And customer service is top notch, intelligent people on the other end of the phone, that always try to help, and with very little wait times to talk to a person.

Depenging on the account you get you can also use ANY ATM from ANY bank and not have to pay the surcharge fee, they will reimburse you. Or use their website to locate an e-trade ATM.

And finally... since they dont have branches (and therefore overhead costs are lower) they tend to have better rates.

Geez, I should buy stock in them!

06 Dec 2004 | sloan said...

I used a net only bank when I lived in NYC, but now that I am in L.A. I have had to switch to Bank of America. It is fine, but it does have some annoyances... like, if you pay a bill online and it isn't an ebill, the account summary doesn't show that you have outstanding checks, even though you "wrote" them through the website... really annoying.

06 Dec 2004 | Will Hayworth said...

I definitely wouldn't go with Commerce Bank, Washington Mutual, Fleet, or SunTrust for one extremely good reason: they all have ASP.NET, IIS websites that have been compromised before.

The nice thing about Citibank, Bank of America, Chase, and most others is that they use JSP/Netscape server or Apache and PHP, which are all far more secure.

06 Dec 2004 | jm said...

Another vote against WaMu. I've had accounts with them on two separate occasions, with both ending horribly. (Forwarded statements/cancelled checks to a customer in another state, bounced a valid check because their account #'s were crossed, etc.) It seems that if nothing goes wrong, people are pretty happy with WaMu. When something does go wrong, expect it to take a substantial amount of effort to clean it up.

Industry inside comment: A close friend of mine was a branch manager for WaMu in the west during the time I had my second account. He indicated that much of WaMu's growth (particularly throughout the east) has been through acquisition which has left a WaMu sign on an independently trained bank, thus the great disparity in service and performance. The general feeling was that there is little unity between branches and you could get lucky, but then again, you might not.

07 Dec 2004 | John Zeratsky said...

My girlfriend uses BankOne, and it looks good. I haven't really used it, so I can't say with certainty.

07 Dec 2004 | BankOne Customer said...

The Bank One interface is truly top-notch. RGA designed it originally, and it's steadily improved since launch. It also has at least two of the goodies Haughy is looking for, with a close approximation of the email notification.

07 Dec 2004 | David said...

There are many things not to like about Fifth Third but its online banking is actually pretty nice. You can see check images, and online bill payments are free (for now), though I'm sure once people are hooked, they'll start charging.

07 Dec 2004 | Nick said...

I'm surprised to not hear more from fellow Chicagoians on LaSalle. They're local, have lots of branches, and have free online billpay and free checking (although you have to pressure them a bit for the free setup, now that the "we'll pay you $50" Nov. promotion is over).

I've recently moved my personal Bank One account to LaSalle, after various new account fees have mounted there since their NY takeover.

I'm deeply interested in Chicago's neighborhoods and retail mix. WaMu is a banking newcomer, and have carpetbombed the city with their retail outlets. I really hate it, and am of the opinion that these service centers in traditionally retail locations weaken the urban, pedestrian, and shopping flavor of the city. When WaMu discovers these aren't working as well as they thought and abandon the approach throughout the city, we're going to be left with a lot of empty banking-specialized storefronts.

07 Dec 2004 | Ketan said...

HSBC for me... they are in many states accross the country and all over the world (I was recently in Bombay and they were there, London, France, etc... makes it nice) The online interface is simple and I have never had a problem.

07 Dec 2004 | Gabby said...

Another vote for LaSalle. I've been with them for five years and, though they took their sweet time making online banking free, it is now and it's top notch. It works seamlessly with Mac (both Safari & Firefox) and their CSRs and tellers are very nice and helpful.

07 Dec 2004 | Stefan Rudersdorf said...

I just gave it up and bought a HBCI Card-Reader and a nice piece of software. Since that day the only "online thing" is the transfer itself.
Its secure, its fast , its independant and I always have a usable environment...

Sometimes pragmatism rules...
No... Pragmatism rules always!!

Especially in Germany I surely cannot expect a service-oriented Web interface regarding my Bank :(

07 Dec 2004 | Brenda said...

I've been with Citibank for the past 20 years (opened my first account in 1984), and have stuck with them because they've always been one step ahead of all the other banks in terms of customer service and online systems.

I'm not crazy about their call center outsourcing (would probably be more tolerant if they didn't insist their operators use made-up American names), but their online banking has always been usable and reliable. Not necessarily flashy, but it has some great features. And they've never charged for this option, not even back in the mid-90s when they started offering it.

You might want to consider staying with them. Grass is always greener, yadda yadda.

07 Dec 2004 | tiffany said...

eh, i'm partial to wachovia. but then, i haven't used any other online banking services. they are a heck of a lot better, however, than most of the credit card co. interfaces i've used if that means anything.

07 Dec 2004 | Zach said...

A number of the businesses I know in the Chicagoland area use Harris Bank, including Hickory Farms, to name one. May be worth a shot, though I haven't used their online banking interface.

08 Dec 2004 | Bryan Haggerty said...

I've long been a Fleet customer and the recent buy out by Bank of America seems to be only beneficial.

What I am curious about though is what will happen to FleetHomeLink which was designed by the creative men and women at Molecular. The UI is probably one of the easiest I have used for any kind of online banking.

How does Bank of America's current online banking compare to Fleet's?

08 Dec 2004 | Chris from Scottsdale said...

Has anyone used Northern Trust Bank? Top notch! Based in Chicago. I use them down here in Phoenix.

08 Dec 2004 | Lite Rocker said...

Bank of America.

Good functionality PLUS they are a Vignette site, so a standards-baed, secure site.

jam on it.

09 Dec 2004 | Neil Drumm said...

Washington Mutual hasn't worked on FireFox lately.

09 Dec 2004 | Bryan Veloso said...

I must vouch for Bank of America as well, for the same reasons as the Bryan above me has said. I agree that Homelink was a great service and very easy to use in its many incarnations during my term as a customer there.

My family is over in California, and they do use BoA's services online and I find them to be just as easy if not more informational than the current HomeLink incarnation. I haven't worked that in depth with it, but I was able to find where I wanted to go very quickly when my dad needed some help with it (even though I had never used it before).

12 Dec 2004 | Jeff Foster said...

DCU is the shit.

DCU.org

13 Dec 2004 | Jason Tucker said...

I'm a BofA customer for many years and have watched there online stuff through the years and they have constantly upgraded the site with more and more stuff. I used to use Yodlee for managing all my accounts in one central location but now BofA has licensed the service from them with there new My Portfolio service. You can check out Yodlee's free service (OnCenter Suite) here: http://www.demosondemand.com/clients/yodlee/001/page/index.asp for an idea of what BofA now offers.

14 Dec 2004 | Josh Lavin said...

I'm happy with NetBank for checking and GMAC for MMKT. Bankrate.com is a good place to start.