If you're looking toa checking account online or do free online banking in hopes of better rates and fees, believe it or not, you'll probably want to avoid free online banking with Web sites of larger conventional banks, with their roots in the physical world.
To find out why, please read the following "one minute" explanation on Free Online Banking. If you wish to skip the explanation and jump ahead and see the banks with the best rates and fees in the US, click Online Banking. Otherwise, take a few seconds to read the following information and decide for yourself.
Consider these valuable tips on Free Online Banking. While a number of the largest banks have gone to the Web and introduced free online banking to attract new customers and allow existing consumers to manage accounts online, not much else has changed, according to Bankrate.com's fifth semiannual Checking Account Pricing Study.
The study shows that these so-called "bricks-and-clicks" consider Internet access an added service, not an added value. These banks determine rates and fees for online accounts based on where you live.
For example, if youyour account online and live in Atlanta, you get Atlanta-based fees and interest rates, while a customer living in California gets California-based fees and rates. That's why these banks ask customers where they live in one form or another.
What to expect
So, what can you expect if you decide toa new checking account online with one of these larger institutions, such as Bank One, Bank of America, Citibank, First Union, Fleet, Chase Manhattan, Wachovia and Wells Fargo?
When you contact one of these institutions, one of the main questions the bank will ask is where you're from. Bank One and First Union, for example, will ask for your ZIP code.
You'll then be given the same rates that you would receive if you'd walked into your hometown branch of the same institution. And the rates and fees for checking accounts in different states -- and sometimes, different counties within a state-- are often quite different. In addition, some institutions, such as Bank One and Bank of America, don't offer all of their accounts in all markets.
