I do miss the larger yearly dividend checks when the insurance pool was smaller but c’est la vie.

my credit union started the envelope-less ATMs and its awesome. I’ve been able to stick a thick pile of 20s in there with no problems. i get a photo of the check on my reciept too.

online banking rocks. personally i think its not worth saving your money right now unless your interest rate is above 1.2%, (CDs are crap right now) for a few thousand bucks, you get a couple bucks back a month. you would do better just cutting back on the lattes and paying off some credit card bills. However, the benefit of having a savings account that can be accessed anywhere you have internet (and not an ATM card you carry around every day) is much larger than any interest yeild you will get. financial security is really what its all about too. what if you lost your job? how will you pay your rent? you cant pay rent with a credit card.

But, if you want the best interest rates, be sure and look at money market accounts too. These are among highest yeilds and most liquid savings right now.

http://www.money-rates.com/savings.htm (beware of the advertisements)
http://www.bankaholic.com/money-market/

UNFORTUNATELY, it’s also a bit light on the information. Basically, the Deposit@Home feature pretty much sold me on the account. Once I signed up for an account, however, I was told that I wasn’t eligible for Deposit@Home. I called and a helpful representative told me that I also need to either have a loan or a credit card open with USAA in addition to a checking or savings account. Okay, no biggy: I opened a credit card account in seconds and I was good to go, right?

Nope. Still ineligible for Deposit@Home. Confused, I called again. This time, I’m told that in addition to the credit card account and checking/savings account, I also need to have insurance through USAA! Oh, and guess what: Only active military.

So that’s all well and good, but why open up your doors to everyone only to gimp the service? ESPECIALLY the Deposit@Home service? I mean, you’ve got one branch in San Antonio (about 2000 miles away from me), so unless you can use a feature like Deposit@Home, the bank is pretty much useless. So now I’m stuck with a bank account I don’t want and a paycheck I can’t cash.

In any case, be VERY wary of signing up with USAA if you’re not military. They may take you, but you might not like what they have to offer anymore.

I have a business checking account, business savings, check card, 2nd account, plus home joint account, savings and CDS. But recently, they’ve added a ton of fees to EVERYTHING! My Advantage account was set up as a fee-free account. The account manager said there are no fees and NEVER WILL BE. NO MINIMUM REQUIRED and THAT WON’T CHANGE (his words…emphasis added by me).

This year I have been recovering from a very serious illness and have not had the time to read every little thing that comes in the mail, nor look at my online banking closely. Around June, BoA went NUTS and added fees to just about everything; out of country transactions, $5 ATM fees, and now a $30 a month “maintenance” fee to my account if it drops below a minimum of $15,000.00. I’m small business. It says so right on the account: Small Business Account. I rarely have had 15 grand just to keep in an account to avoid fees. I’m just back in the country and this week will march down to BoA and have a calm talk with the bank. If they don’t waive all fees and return things to normal, with refunds (non of that is likely to happen since I’ve already been through this with online customer service…what a joke), then I will pull all 8 of my accounts out of the bank. Goodbye from a longtime loyal customer. My friends and associates all left a long time before me. I’m the last hold out of my circle.

That said, we will need a new bank that actually sees it’s customers as people, and not as a cash cow through greedy eyes. Any such bank out there? I’m reading and searching!