After opening my Capital One Interest Checking account yesterday, I realized that I now have 3 4 checking accounts. Add that to the 4 savings, 3 brokerage, 6 credit, and 2 Paypal accounts I have, and I’d say that I’m an official account whore. What can I say – one of each just ain’t enough.

5 of these accounts are located at ING Direct – the king of “sub-accounts”. Not sure why they everyone calls them sub-accounts though. Each account gets its own number and everything. The part that’s awesome is that ING keeps EVERY account you open attached to the same log in. Makes checking balances and transferring money much easier. ING makes online banking so easy that sometimes it kicks my OCD into overdrive and I think about creating dozens of savings account for every possible scenario. Then I pop a Zoloft and step away from the keyboard.

But like I said yesterday, ING Direct isn’t the best international travel companion. So I turned to Capital One for their very cool “no fee on foreign transactions & we reimburse you for ATM fees”* checking account. *Not what they actually call it. The rest of my accounts are spread across a half dozen other banks and companies:

Brokerage: One (or two?) E*Trade account(s) where I hold my company stock and the remains of a Roth IRA I haven’t transferred yet. My other Roth IRA is at Vanguard, currently dropping in value like crazy. Finally, one Treasury Direct account where I hold a few savings bonds.

Credit: Rocking the Chase Amazon, Chase British Airways, Citi AAdvantage, Discover More, AMEX Blue, & Old Navy Visa cards.

PayPal: One for personal stuff like eBay and buying stuff online. Another for my “small business” AKA this website. Every few months, an advertiser will offer me some easy cash and I have them send it here.

According to my math, that makes a total of 19 accounts. How many accounts do you have? What do you use your separate accounts for?

I hate paying fees just for using my own money. That means any dollar paid to a bank or ATM is a dollar too much. When I was 15, I paid $72 in overdraft charges. I’ve learned since then. I’ve used my ING Direct checking account for the past few years and have never paid a dime. In fact, I’ve been paid by the bank just by holding my cash there. Every once in a while, I’ll pay $2 or $3 to withdraw money at an ATM, but other than that, I refuse to pay money to access my own.

Free checking and access to cash are easy when I’m in the United States. But I’m 23 days away from living in a foreign country. Or 23 days away before I have to start paying MasterCard 2% of every transaction, not including the fee they charge for the currency conversion. Getting cash at ATMs is a similar story – I could easily wind up paying $5 0r more just to withdraw a few bucks.

I need a new checking account that I can use in Italy without getting bent over to do so. I love you ING Direct, but I can’t take you overseas with me. I’m paying plenty as it is and every dollar I spend getting money is a dollar I can’t use to buy beer when we go to Oktoberfest.

I need an account that has: no monthly fee, free international ATM access, and convenient online access. I think I’ve found it: Capital One’s Interest Online Checking Account (not an affiliate link). It has no usage fees or minimum balance requirement and I earn 1% on my money sitting there. Capital One eats any currency conversion fees when making a debit card purchase or withdraw and will even reimburse me for some ATMs outside the United States – up to $25 per month.

Opening it online took about 10 minutes. Just had to enter my name, address, social security number, and a million other pieces of information. I was surprised when I found that I had to enter my driver’s license # – I don’t remember ING Direct ever asking for it. I was even more surprised when the application asked me to enter my height & eye color according to my license. I didn’t realize banks had access to BMV records. Creepy.

Now comes the waiting game. In a day or 2 I have to verify two deposits Capital One is making in my existing savings account so they know that it’s really my account. (I wish there was a quicker method…it is 2011 after all.) Then the initial funding can come through and I should be ready to make withdraws by the time I head to Italy.

Last week I was nerding out and reading the business section of MSNBC.com. One story was crazier than all the others – a Wall Street executive found an ATM receipt showing a savings account balance of $99,864,731.94. That balance was after the account owner withdrew $400 and paid Capital One $2.75 for the privilege.

The MSNBC article says that the account is earning almost nothing in interest. I’m not great at math, but I know even half a percent of 99 million dollars is $495,000. That’s not “nothing” in my book – considering there’s no real risk with a savings account. But yeah, he/she could be making a lot more if they didn’t have all that cash sitting in savings.

Now I’m thinking about what I consider a “normal” amount to keep in a checking/savings account. For checking, I try to keep at least a $500 buffer most of the time and $1,000 when I can. If I was out on my own with real bills and everything, I’d probably aim for 10 or 20 percent over my monthly expenses. Safety net against overdraft and/or any possible minimum balance requirements = good thing.

For savings, the sky’s the limit! I don’t see what’s so bad about having lots of money in savings as long as you’re also investing/saving for retirement/paying off debt/reaching your goals. Money in savings is liquid – you can access it almost anywhere in the world with an ATM card and that’s awesome. It also provides that warm fuzzy feeling – knowing you have X amount money and nothing bad is going to happen to it. An investment account could lose 20% of its value in one day – not good if you’re a worrier.

What do you think of keeping a ton of money in savings? How much do you personally keep in your everyday accounts?

Well, it finally happened. ING Direct, the coolest online bank of ‘em all, has been sold to Capital One. As I’ve said many many times, I love me some ING Direct. Their website is slick and the combo of my savings and checking account is like a well crafted peanut butter and jelly sammich – DELICIOUS. Yeah, I know their interest rate kind of blows, but hey, every relationship has its flaws. Here’s the offical news, thanks to Reuters:

ING announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell ING Direct USA for a total consideration of USD 9.0 billion (EUR 6.3 billion at current exchange rates) to Capital One Financial Corporation, a leading US-based financial holding company. Under the terms of the agreement, ING will receive USD 6.2 billion in cash and USD 2.8 billion in the form of 55.9 million shares in Capital One.

I’m hoping this sale changes…nothing. ING’s customer service (the 3 times I’ve ever called) is amazing and I’d hate to see Capital One start messing stuff up. I’m willing to give Capital One a shot though. Fair is fair.  All I know about them is that they refuse to approve me for a credit card while still sending me offers. Every. Single. Week. Anybody with experience care to share?

The last time I went through this sort of thing was back when Cingular (remember them?) became AT&T Mobility. It went alright, mainly just a name change I think. I’ve heard of horror stories though when companies buy other companies and end up ruining everything. I actually don’t think Capital One is going to mess this up, but the idea of change makes me nervous. Plus I don’t want to deal with the (possible) hassle of having to get new account numbers or redo my online billpay setup.

What do you think of ING Direct’s sale? Are you already ready to switch banks or willing to give Cap One a chance?

Back in January, I decided I should open a business checking account to keep my Financial Student money separate from all my regular personal money. With separate accounts, I can keep track of expenses and make sure I’m paying taxes on the correct amount of income. Plus it’s priceless to walk into the bank at 18, say you want to open a business account, and have the teller say “Shouldn’t you be at home watching Wonder Pets or something?“. OK, that didn’t really happen, but I did get an odd look.

All was well with my fancy business account for the past few months. I maintained a balance of around $2,000, only withdrawing $10 a month to pay for website hosting. Then I checked my balance yesterday. There’s a $15 service charge! WTF. When I opened the account, I sat down with banker lady and answered a ton of questions so she could figure out the best account for me. I specifically said the account would have between $500 and $5,000. I didn’t need payroll services or any type of corporate services. So she picked an account and told me that there were minimal fees – just the usual overdraft fees and that sort of stuff.

Last time I checked, $15 a month for a checking account I barely use is NOT “minimal“. I’m wondering what the hell is going on, so I call customer service. To their credit, the woman I spoke to was nice and provided the answers I needed. It turns out that banker lady selected some BS account that charges $15 a month unless you keep a balance of $15,000. Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon. I also found out I can’t change my account to the free business checking (that I located on the bank’s website in approximately 3 seconds) without going to a branch.

When I do go in, probably tomorrow, cause it’s not like I’m trying to enjoy my spring break or anything, I better get that $15 fee refunded. In fact, I’ll be disappointed if they don’t suggest it first, since they’re the ones who tried to screw me over. I’m thinking about closing the account if they don’t, but then I’d have to find a new bank which means ordering new checks and getting a new debit card. Switching accounts is a PITA, one that I’d like to avoid. Regardless, I’m starting to trust banks less and less. Except ING Direct. I love them.

I hate going to the bank. I rarely ever receive cash or checks, but when I do, I have to make a special trip. Then I have to wait in line behind the person who doesn’t understand how overdraft protection works. Or I can make a deposit using the ATM. Except then I have to remember to take my ATM card with me. Probably not gonna happen.

Then I found out that PayPal lets you deposit checks right from your cellphone. Banks like Chase and USAA have had this feature for a while now, but I had no idea PayPal had implemented it until a couple of weeks ago. The process is pretty simple and it can save you a trip to the bank. You do need an iPhone currently (and a PayPal account obviously), but I’m guessing Android and BlackBerry users will receive updated apps at some point.

First, head to the App Store to download PayPal for iPhone.

Then launch the app:

Login with your email and password:

Then tap the down arrow to display the menu:

Tap “Add Money from Checks” and then “Add a Check”:

From there, you’ll take a picture of both the front and back of your check. Remember to sign the back!

Then you enter the amount:

Tap Process Check and you’re done!

Paypal does request that you hold onto your check for 15 days after capture in case there’s a problem. You also have to wait 5 days before the money shows up in your account. This isn’t the fastest way to actually get your hands on your money, but it does require absolutely no effort.

The transition from plain flip phones to sleek smartphones shows no intention of of slowing down. While the iPhone is great for a game of Angry Birds or Tetris, it can also help you manage your finances on the go. Below are a handful of apps that allow you to manage, track, and use your cash. Clicking either the app icon or bold app name will take you to iTunes where you can download the app.

Mint - This app is rich and detailed. You an do just about anything in the app that you can do on the website, making Mint for iPhone incredibly useful.

ING Direct - I’m obviously biased since I use ING Direct for my banking, but any customer will find this app useful. I was pretty hard on their app last year, but they’ve since improved it dramatically. You can easily check balances on all your accounts, pay bills, or transfer funds between accounts.

USAA – While I personally don’t bank with them, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the company. Their app has great reviews and lets you do practically any banking related service right from your phone. They also allow checks to be deposited just by snapping a quick picture.

PayPal - PayPal is arguably the quickest and easiest way to get money from one place to another. You’ll pay a fee to receive money, but sometimes convenience is worth the cost. PayPal also has a cool feature that some banks have yet to roll out (*cough*ING Direct*cough*). You can take a picture of a paper check and have the money show up in your PayPal account 6 days later. This feature alone might save me from ever going to the bank again!

Quicktip - Unlike the crappy Virgin Mobile phone I had a few years ago, the many times more expensive iPhone doesn’t include a tip calculator out of the box. Quicktip provides an extremely simple and cool interface to calculate how much tip to leave. The only feature missing is a way to split the check.

E*TRADE - A slick app that lets you see how your portfolio is performing. You can easily execute stock trades and research stocks before you purchase from within the app.

Pageonce - A Swiss army knife of financial apps. Pageonce keeps track of all your bank and other accounts similar to Mint. What sets it apart is that it adds tracking for frequent flier miles, along with cell phone minutes and text messages used. Another nice feature is bill due date reminders. As far as I know, Mint doesn’t offer this functionality.

What are your favorite apps for handling your finances?

After working the same job for 2 Christmas seasons, I finally made my paycheck completely paperless. While my paycheck has always been direct deposited, I would still always get a paystub. I don’t know what took me so long to make the change – all it took was a few mouse clicks! Now I can just login to my company’s website and view/print up to 12 months of paycheck information. Now there’s no chance my paystub will find its way into some creeper’s hands.

I’m now (almost) completely paperless when it comes to my finances. I use online banking like it’s my job and never write checks. The only time I go to the bank is to deposit cash, which I receive rarely. This makes managing my money way easier.

I don’t understand why some people still rely on paper checks and mail payments. My grandparents even pay everything online and they’re hardly on the cutting edge of new technology. I get some people like the “old way” of doing things…but is it really that hard to cut the analog cord?

In fact, I’d say in most cases that not using electronic payment methods is a stupid financial move. Checks cost money – and time to write them. Mailing a check costs another 44 cents – or has the price of a stamp increased again? My student loan interest rate will be reduced by .25% if I make electronic payments. Pretending like I’m stuck in 1965 does my bank account balance no good.

Am I missing something? Why do so many people still cling to their checkbooks like it’s an appendage?

I praise ING Direct all the time. With their great online savings and checking accounts, easy to use interface, and decent interest rate, it’s not hard to see why.

But I also like ING Direct because they’re always having kickass promotions. As part of the 4th of July festivities, ING Direct is pulling out all the stops with some great offers. What are the deals? Read on:

• Opening an Electric Orange checking account will net you a $76 bonus. This is an even better deal than when I opened mine and received $50.
• Need a mortagage? Receive $776 off closing costs!
• Want to start investing? Get started with a free $76 when you open a Sharebuilder account!
• Last but not least, receive $25 when you open an Orange Savings account and deposit at least $250. I’ll receive $17.76 for referring you. Use the text links below to open this account:

ING Direct Orange Savings Account!

ING Direct Orange Savings Account!

If you receive a message that says the link has already been used, send me a message using the this “Contact” link and I’ll get a link to you ASAP.

For the all the other offers, use this link: ING Direct Indepedence

Happy Saving!

]]> http://www.thefinancialstudent.com/2010/07/02/ing-direct-awesome-deals-for-independence-day/feed/ 0 http://www.thefinancialstudent.com/2010/06/23/hell-no-i-dont-want-your-crappy-overdraft-protection/ http://www.thefinancialstudent.com/2010/06/23/hell-no-i-dont-want-your-crappy-overdraft-protection/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:00:53 +0000 Ryan http://www.thefinancialstudent.com/?p=2362

Well, that took long enough. For years, banks have made billions of dollars thanks to overdraft fees. It looks like those days are over (maybe). The Fed passed some new laws regarding checking accounts last year. One of them requires that banks actually ask customers whether or not they want overdraft protection. What’s this? Giving consumers more choice? I’m interested…

If you opt in to overdraft protection, your purchases will still be processed at the point of sale. But, and this is a big but, if your account balance can’t cover the entire purchase amount you will be charged an overdraft fee. My local bank’s fee is something ridiculous like $35. Your bank is probably similar.

If you opt out of overdraft protection, any purchases that exceed your account balance will be declined. Yes, this could be potentially embarrassing. But is saving face worth $35? That, I suppose, is a decision that everyone must make for themselves.

For new checking accounts, July 1st is the date on which banks can no longer automatically opt you in to overdraft “protection”.

For those of us with existing accounts, banks have until August 15th to ask us whether or not we want “protected”.

My own bank emailed me a few days ago telling me I needed to make a decision:





My excellent Photoshop skillz displayed…

As you can see from the screenshot, I chose to opt out of overdraft protection. I don’t use this account for day to day purchases anyway. I also always know how much is in my checking account so overdrafts simply aren’t an option.

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