There are so many online banks offerings in the marketplace these days that it’s difficult to pick the right one for your situation. A good place to start is to take a close look at the following.
If the online bank is online, then the whole process should not take more than 15 minutes (even if you type slow). If it’s offline, your banker should handle pretty much everything. Don’t spend too much time on the bank if the process takes too long.
The online bank you end up opening will determine how much hassle you have to go through later. Make sure you pick a reputable financial institution or else you are in for a really fun time.
It is a no-brainer to find a savings account with FDIC insurance. With up to $250,000 per individual insured, it is the safest investment one can make on the planet.
Accessing the account should be trivial. If you need to jump through hoops (or if they don’t even offer an online option), it’s too hard and it’s time to find another one.
With online accounts, you have to deal with hackers. Make sure your bank is very secure and offers ways for you to increase that. Your password should be changed often.
You might not call them too much but you don’t want to wait forever while it connects you to India if you ever want to call support. Try them out at the beginning before disasters happen.
Yield is very important obviously. The higher, the better and some people will even chase high yield rates. You may not think it’s as important so open one that seem to be among the top.
Termination fees suck but sometimes it’s necessary if you want to close the account. Just be comfortable with what the consequences are before you take action.
Make sure you have the minimum balance ready before account opening. You don’t want to open an account with a savings account that needs $1,000 as the minimum balance when you only want to keep $500 in there.
Easier user interface also means less chances of mistakes. While it’s sometimes hard to figure out which banks have the easiest to use interface, you can always check the bank review sites.
Do not pay account fees. Anything recurring fees need to be waived for you to even consider. Got that? Good.
This is a godsend because you can actually do everything online (some savings account offers this too). Make sure you find one that charges no fees for this or else it’s not worth the effort.
Whether it’s integration with a brokerage account like etrade, a visa card, or a debit ATM card, learn what extra features each online savings account provide that will push you over the edge to open an savings with them.
