I read an article about the guy that founded ING Direct, the company that started the whole Online Savings Account thing, and it was really interesting. He wanted to start a new kind of account because he felt that fees for banking were kind of ridiculous. And if you have it online there's so little overhead that you can offer a really good interest rate. So he started ING Direct. While they don't have the highest savings account interest rate (Emigrant Direct and HSBC have higher rates), I like the founder's commitment to no fees.
And last March they started the first online checking account, the Electric Orange. We just switched over to it this week. We'll get 4% on everything in our checking account; a debit card that's also an ATM card linked to the largest national network of no fee ATMs in the country; free paper checks that ING sends to whomever we want; and free online bill pay. We're new to it, but we're excited!
If you want to learn more about short term saving and online savings accounts, you can check out a recent article in FUNDamentals, the ezine I help out with at work.
Speaking of FUNDamentals, we're in production of the Green Issue, all about environmental sustainability, what Baha'is are doing individually and as a community, with interviews, stories, and a photo essay by Liza, which I'm very excited about. Stay tuned!
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