Data breaches seem to be the new normal, affecting everyone including my husband and me. Last year, my debit card got hacked due to the Target breach, and my husband’s was impacted by the Home Depot breach. Because of this, our bank canceled our cards with almost no warning, which was especially tough since we didn’t have a credit card at the time.
Then, we got a letter from the bank saying our online bill pay account was suspended due to four months of inactivity. What’s confusing is that we had just signed up for that service recently!
Fed up with the bank’s poor customer service, we started looking for a better option. After some research, we realized that an online-only bank might be a good fit for us. Here’s why:
EASY TRANSFERS
My husband and I met in college, and got married during my final semester. When I got a great job offer, we moved to a new state, which meant closing our local bank accounts and joining my employer’s credit union. They offered great benefits like high-interest rates and free checks. But after two years, we moved again for another job. Once more, we joined my new employer’s credit union. However, by our third move, there were no more employer credit unions available, so we settled for a local bank. In hindsight, this was a bad decision.
We realized we needed a national bank to avoid the hassle of constantly changing banks. The repeated process of closing and reopening accounts became a major headache. With online-only banking, having a physical branch nearby is irrelevant. The bank is always accessible and ready to help.
HIGHER INTEREST RATES
One of the best things about online-only banks is their interest rates. The rates for both savings and checking accounts are much higher than what traditional banks offer. You can even earn interest on your checking account.
Online banks can offer these great rates because they save on the high costs that traditional banks have.
GREAT PERKS
We did worry initially about ATM fees with online banking. Even though we don’t withdraw cash often, my husband’s job involves a lot of travel, so he might need cash on the go. Leading online banks tackle this by either refunding ATM fees or offering a large network of fee-free ATMs.
Additionally, our chosen online bank provides free checks (which we do use a few times a month), offers daily compounded interest, and doesn’t charge a monthly maintenance fee – benefits that our former local banks didn’t offer.