Credit & Money Management

Top ten E-Banks

Ease of use. More features. Better security. And most have branches, too.

By Jeff Bertolucci, Contributing Writer

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, November 2005

Why are check images important? Let's say you forget to record check #1454 in your register. You go to your bank's site and read your account summary, which lists only the check number and the amount. Who's the payee? To find out, view the check's image.

And a good site also archives several months' worth of account statements and check images. Archives vary considerably. For instance, Bank of America archives 18 months of statements but only 60 business days (about three months) of check images. EverBank, on the other hand, provides 15 months of statements and 13 months of images.

Fund transfers. Transferring money to your accounts at other banks and brokerages is a big convenience. Some banks let you set up automatic deductions to make regular payments to, say, an IRA at a mutual fund company.

Account aggregation. This is the ability to manage multiple accounts, including those from other banks, at your bank's Web site. Of the top ten online banks, Citibank and Wells Fargo have this feature.

E-mail alerts and reminders. You'll want to be notified if there's excessive activity on your credit card, if someone tries to access your account with an incorrect password or even when you're low on checks.

Budgeting. Wells Fargo's "My Spending Report" organizes your expenditures into categories, including groceries, restaurants and lodging. It's a great way to see how and where you spend your money. Citibank and Bank of America have similar features.

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