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I've been meaning to look into online checking accounts, since I've already got quite a few online savings accounts and know the benefits of online bill pay.
So what just landed in my inbox? A new checking account program from the folks at ING Direct (open a savings account and get $25 free now) called Electric Orange.
It's here!
The new account from ING DIRECT that delivers the access and convenience of checking with the earning power of savings.
As an ING DIRECT Customer, you believe in saving and know we try to make it easy for you to save more?without hidden fees and catches. Many of you have asked when we would do for checking what we did for savings. We have an answer! It's called Electric Orange and it's exclusively for you. It's America's first paperless checking account and you can be one of the first to have it.
Electric Orange is everything you'd expect from ING DIRECT and more:
* It pays high interest
o 5.30% APY on every dollar for balances of $100,000 or more
o 5.05% APY on balances between $50,000 and $100,000
o 3.00% APY for balances up to $50,000
* A MasterCard
Hello,
I have just stumbled across your wonderful blog.
One question: I am not seeing the comment area on this page. Have people replied to your questions?
Thanks!
Danielle
Coulee Bank ( http://www.couleebank.net ) offers an incredible 6.01% APY with their Rewards Checking account. The rate is easy to earn. All you have to do is make 10 check card transactions a month, use e-statements, and do 1 automatic payment a month (they call it ACH). Coulee Bank pays 6.01% on the first $25,000 and 1.01% on anything above that. The best thing about this account besides the rate is it is FREE, you can apply online, and it is from a great bank with real people that answer the phone. And as they like to say, Banking Green has its Rewards. The Rewards Checking account saves paper and preserves our natural resources. No wonder I feel good about recommending this to everyone I know. Check it out. I guarantee you will love it.
The landscape has really changed here. Checking accounts are now paying interest, almost as high as Certificates of Deposits in some cases. Schwab, Etrade and ING have some pretty good offers.
I've found a few http://www.topcheckingaccounts.com and at http://www.bankrate.com but that Bankrate has become a bit of mess.
The only downside to these accounts, is that none of these banks/brokerages have local or nationwide branches. So you'll probably have to have one of these online checking accounts in conjuntion with a local/nationwide bank. Once it's open though you can setup direct deposit and start earning interest and have cash readily available.
-Sam