Tips for Choosing an Online Bank

Tips for Choosing an Online Bank

In the past, we have to go to the banks and join the long line to have our banking services there. But now, it seems that everything has changed. With the help of modern technologies and sciences, especially the technologies of internet, we can have online banking services with our online banking account and PIN passwords.

Today, if you are going to open an banking account in the United States, you are going to have banks that are online only, have online accounts, and you even have banks offering two totally different online bank subsidiaries (checking account and saving account). So, in this situation, do you have any idea of choosing one bank and open your banking account there?  How do you make your final decision to choose a bank and put your savings?

According to my personal experiences, here are several tips that I want to share with you and help you to find the best online banking service to you:

Tip 1: Are My Banking Accounts Safe?
if you want to make deposits for your money, you should firstly know whether is it safe for you to deposit your money there. Take myself as an example, I won't put my funds in a bank that does not offer me perfect and absolute security. If you want to know whether the bank can provide you safety services or not, you can confirm whether the online bank is FDIC insured. What you should do is just search for it in the FDIC's Bank Find tool and figure it out.

Tip 2: Will I Be Charged High Interest Rate?
when an online bank offer your banking services, they want to charge you interest rate in order to earn money for the bank. Some banks will charge you the high interest rate, while there are still other banks do not charge you high interest rate. If you can find a bank which charge you low interest rate, you probably should choose it. After all, you can save money in the future. Otherwise, you have to pay for more money to the banking service of the bank you will choose. So far as I know, the top rate is the Washington Mutual's checking & savings account, and they charge you 3.75% APY without consideration. That’s to say, you should choose other bank with charges you less.

Tip 3: Do I Need to Pay for the Fees? Should I Have Minimum Money in My Account?
just compare the banks you like best, and figure them out whether they have fees or minimums. If they do, then compare them with each other and choose the one offer you no fee and no minimums. It is easy to say, while in fact, it is implausible for you to choose the best one in a short time. But be sure to remember, fees and minimums are good lens for you to make your decision to open a bank account.

Tip 4: Locations and Convenience
If you want to open an account, you probably want to have their services as soon as possible. After all, people do not like to take a 3 hours bus and join a line waiting for their banking services. So you have to compare the banks and find whether they can offer you convenience. What you should do is to find whether they offer you locations as many as possible. If they can, that’s means that you are convenient to get your money and make deposits there. If so, it might be a good bank that can offer you excellent services.

Tip 5: Read Reviews and listen to the Suggestions of the Professional Experts
For ordinary people, they lack of professional banking knowledge and do not know which bank to choose. If so, you’d better read some reviews from some professional experts. They are knowledgeable and experienced in this field. If you follow their suggestions, I am sure that you can benefit a lot. At least, it is much better than you to choose an online bank. By reading all the online banking service reviews, you are going to get a better idea of which online bank is better for you.

It is always a good idea for us to save money and have better online banking services. But it is a real fact that not all of us can have the better services than the others. These are my personal tips of choosing a bank and saving money, I hope you will like it.