best online bank?

January 25, 2020 8:57 AM

it's time for me to cut ties with usaa...

i'm leaving usaa, but i really love the online banking experience, etc. i did google, and ally seems to be the most recommended bank, but i was hoping to hear from actual people. thank you!!

posted by megan_magnolia to Work & Money (11 answers total)

I've been using Ally for years just for savings and I've never had any issues. I can't compare with USAA though as I've never used them. Ally does have a good mobile app and I've had good luck with depositing checks etc.
posted by selfnoise at 9:13 AM on January 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

I have both USAA and Ally. I use USAA for my day to day checking because the mobile app is really great. I use Ally for savings because USAA's savings rates are not great.

The Ally app is good and does most things just fine. You can pay bills, deposit checks, transfer money between Ally accounts and to your accounts at other banks. But sometimes the details are not a good as USAA's app. For example, you can't add payees to the bill pay in the Ally app; you have to do that on your computer. It's not the end of the world, but it is little bits of friction where there doesn't need to be.

On the whole I've been happy with Ally, and when I have had to interact with customer service the experience has been good.

I have had a variety of experiences with USAA, including a difficult house short sale several years ago during the financial crisis and some stuff related to auto insurance and a fatal car crash that was handled poorly. So I think USAA is ok as insurance companies/banks go, but I'm not a super mega booster. I do really love their mobile app tho.
posted by jeoc at 1:41 PM on January 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Couple comments deleted; OP is switching banks, so let's please stick to suggestions/info about other banks. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:00 PM on January 25, 2020

I am one of those assholes who opens bank accounts to get the signup bonus, so I have used A LOT of banks, but I always go back to CapitalOne360, who I’ve been with since they were ING Direct. They are just so easy to use! I don’t think I’ve ever paid a fee in 10+ years, except maybe a wire transfer fee for my house down payment, and the online experience is very good.

I’ve recently found Citibank very frustrating and would not recommend them as an online bank (it seems like they might work better if you have a branch nearby). I just opened a Chase account and it has been very smooth so far.

Ally rejected my application (and this was back before my account-bonus shenanigans!) so I’ve never tried them.
posted by mskyle at 2:50 PM on January 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

I can recommend Ally as well, good mobile app and website and great customer service on the phone. I had a major fraud issue a couple years ago which required closing my account completely & getting a new one set up, and they were really helpful in dealing with that.
posted by zdravo at 3:01 PM on January 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been happy with Schwab, but you are required to have a brokerage account to open a bank account with them. Interest rates are not awesome, but i deal with that by having a Marcus savings account.
posted by needled at 3:57 PM on January 25, 2020

I thoroughly recommend Ally. Been with them for a long time now after truly awful experiences with all of the other top banks (that are left).
posted by General Malaise at 6:35 PM on January 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

I have also been with CapitalOne 360 since they were ING (I can't find my little "saver since... year" thing right now on their website, but it's like 2003 or something wild), and I love them. Free checking, free checks if you still have to write checks, really great mobile app, everything just works, you can open savings accounts quickly and easily. I've needed to deal with customer service once the whole time I've been with them (and that was my fault, I deposited the same check to both my Cap One and my BOA account), that's how well everything works. I highly highly recommend. (I only have BOA too because my wife does so it's faster to move money back and forth that way).

I had Ally for awhile and at the time didn't find their website and app as good as Cap One's, but they were also just fine and really great, friendly customer service. Our best friend has Ally and has been happy.
posted by joycehealy at 6:39 PM on January 25, 2020

I use Charles Schwab bank and Alliant Credit Union. Both are great.
posted by medusa at 8:11 PM on January 25, 2020

Response by poster: you guys are rad. thank you so much for the input! (and, yes, it's a voluntary departure)
posted by megan_magnolia at 9:36 PM on January 25, 2020

Synchrony for any sort of a savings account. The customer service isn't great, but it gets really great rates. It's definitely a place to park money and forget it. While it has an easy interface online to transfer money out, it takes a few days. Still, I love it for this reason.
posted by KMoney at 10:25 AM on January 26, 2020