
The best bank in the US - pw
http://banksimple.net/blog/2010/03/the-best-bank-in-the-us/
======
Artifex
USAA is _amazing_. I cannot say this enough. They were one of the first banks
to make available check scanning so you could deposit checks over the internet
and they've just been consistently improving their service. They are actually
a joy to deal with. Can you say that about your bank?

Technically they are a credit union, but the result is the same for the end
user - truly, and I hate to use this cliche, they are the "killer app" of
banking.

~~~
rue
My bank(ing system) has not used cheques day-to-day for about 30 years now.
The U.S. banking system is still literally and figuratively in the 80's. So,
no, I do not think you can talk about a "killer app" quite yet.

USAA is the Mac OS 1.0 of banking, perhaps?

~~~
Artifex
Don't get me wrong - I know checks are pretty much non-existent in other
countries - but to say we're stuck in the 80's? That's a bit over the top.
Clearly, until you do banking here and deal with a company like USAA, I'm not
sure you're qualified to comment.

~~~
rue
For 7 years, I did. And I am glad that, temporarily, I need not.

 _Edit: Conversely, if you do not have experience of more modern banking
systems, I am not sure you can appreciate the appalling state of the U.S.
one._

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rgrove
I've been a USAA customer for my entire adult life, and other banks just can't
even compare. Their customer service is beyond excellent.

If you qualify for insurance through USAA (by being a current/former member of
the US military or a child of a USAA military member), I highly recommend that
as well.

------
jhancock
I worked as an IT consultant to USAA in '95. During the 90s, I had worked as a
consultant to many large companies. USAA and one other large private company
were the only two I would have considered full-time employment, with USAA
coming out ahead.

My work with USAA consisted of 2 weeks there per month for a year. They worked
4 days a week, 38 hour schedule. I think somewhere around 80%++ of the company
were there only Monday to Thursday. Their pay scale for IT jobs was very good.
I worked as a troubleshooter for the various Smalltalk projects so I saw many
different projects in different parts of the company: new banking stuff (they
were just getting into it), customer service apps, insurance policy management
and risk exposure analysis, marketing and sales pipeline management, etc.. all
in all, I was impressed. Sounds like 15 years later, they still have this
reputation.

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jrockway
I like ING Direct. No fees, high interest rates on savings + checking, and a
nice web interface. (And if I recall correctly, some regular HN contributers
worked on that web interface.)

~~~
Xichekolas
I'm also a huge fan of ING Direct (have been with them since 2002) and would
gladly send out invites to anyone that wants them (disclosure: you get $25 and
I get $10 if you use my invite to open your account).

~~~
Xichekolas
Oh, and I forgot to mention that part of the reason I'm such a huge fan of ING
Direct is because they have Sharebuilder, which I think is the best platform
I've ever experienced for managing my Roth IRA (and stocks in general).

~~~
jrockway
Sharebuilder is indeed nice. I had to close my account because my employer has
to pre-approve all market trades, and Sharebuilder does not integrate with
their system for that. (The joys of working for an investment bank...)

------
mdasen
USAA has a great reputation and is a wonderful institution, but I wouldn't
simply say "best". I'm a member of Alliant Credit Union and receive 1.75%
interest checking and 2% interest on savings. It's a credit union so they
aren't trying to hit me with fees or teasing me with intro-rates. Heck, they
even give me a FREE credit score without a hard pull every 3 months! I can
deposit checks by scanning them (just like USAA), but there's no cool iPhone
app. I get free ACH transfers to other institutions. The one thing missing is
ATM reimbursement, but for the interest rate I can deal with going to one of
the co-op network ATMs (or other free ATMs).

USAA does have an excellent reputation and they are an excellent institution.
But "best" really depends on what you need. The most convenient ATMs for me
are all free with Alliant and I get higher interest. You might prefer the ATM
reimbursements and might have no qualms about getting no interest on balances
under $1,000.

There are often better options than Citibank, Bank of America and Chase. There
are even for-profit banks that offer really good terms such as SalemFive
(<http://www.salemfivedirect.com/>) of which I'm also a customer.

This isn't my website, but a fellow HN reader is responsible for it so I'll
plug it: <http://www.bankfox.com/>. It tracks interest rates, features, even
bank health and it has a wonderful, clean interface.

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i2pi
Hi all. I'm Josh, one of the team behind Banksimple. If you have any
questions, feel free to ask us anything.

Of course, with the recent outbreak of spring weather here in NYC, I've been
out and about instead of checking HN. But I'll follow this thread for any
questions or comments that you may have.

------
kungfooey
I had someone demonstrate to me just how great USAA's mobile banking features
were, and immediately I determined that I would get an account with this
fantastic bank. Alas, this fellow failed to inform me that the bank was only
available to military members. Very disappointing.

~~~
pw
From the end of the article:

"Don’t be discouraged by the questions on your non-existent military
background – their banking services are available to all. Select no on all the
military questions, hit submit, and you will be banking with the best bank in
the US (for now)."

And that's corroborated by the USAA website. However, I'm not sure if non-
military members can deposit checks by scanner/iPhone/Android. The USAA site
says you must be eligible for USAA property insurance, which is military-only,
to qualify for their remote check depositing services (called Deposit@Home and
Deposit@Mobile).

~~~
nnutter
This is correct, at least as of a couple months ago. The home deposit feature
requires the military-only insurance line.

I opened an account back around when the iPhone app first came out only to
discover creating my account. My short time with USAA I can say they had very
good customer service but the only thing that makes them better than Schwab,
Ally, etc. is the home deposit feature.

Now my credit union BECU has home deposit as well. ~6-7% interest on the first
$1000 and 0.5-0.75% for balance over $1000. BECU is only open to WA-state and
Boeing employees though. If you can open a BECU account I'd highly recommend
them. If you can't and don't need the home deposit feature Ally's website is
pretty top-notch and they have very competitive rates and features.

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brianm
I'll second this article, having for a lot of my life always opened an account
at a local bank and in recent years switched over wholly to USAA, they are
head and shoulders above anyone I have banked with. I have always had my
insurance through them, so cannot really compare them to anyone else, but I
have been so happy with them you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming away.

I feel bad that my children may not be able to use them for insurance as well
(me being the air force brat, not them).

~~~
c0riander
I'm pretty sure your children will be able to use it -- they'll be eligible
because they were a dependent of a member. (Just like your spouse would be
eligible as well, because they are the spouse of a member.) That's all it
takes, really.

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deltapoint
Reminds me of Matt Mullenwag's plan for starting a bank:
<http://ma.tt/2009/08/starting-a-bank/>

------
abc3
USAA is great for insurance. If you qualify, I think it's foolish to go with
anyone else. I've used USAA for 20+ years and evaluate its competition every
couple of years, but always end up using USAA.

For loans, I go with smaller, local banks. I've found the best rates and
service that way, plus it feels good to know my mortgage payments are being
put back into my community.

For banking, I use Schwab. I get 2% back on all purchases (I put everything I
can on my credit card and pay it off monthly), I get ATM fees refunded, I have
free online bill pay, plus Schwab has low fees on the few stock/mutual fund
trades I make each year. And it's nice to see all my cash and investments in a
single interface, and have access to Schwab's branch offices, a couple of
which are near where I live. Many of the advantages Schwab offers are
available through USAA, TDAmeritrade, ING, and Scottrade, but none of the
others offers everything I need.

------
MikeCapone
As a Canadian, it's the first I hear of them. Wish we had something like that
here (in the meantime, I use ING and TD Canada).

For others needing background: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA>

------
antidaily
Related: there's really something to that bank locally campaign. Everyone
should at least consider it, I think. The big banks are NOT looking out for
you. In fact, they're trying to hit you with as many fees as they can.

~~~
philwelch
The problem with local banks is, as much as I believe that "too big to fail"
is too big to continue existing, a bank that's too big to fail is also a safer
place to put your money. (I know about FDIC, but I would also rather not deal
with the inconvenience.) There's also the fact that Bank of Whitman only
exists in Whitman County, so if I move or travel it's less convenient.

ING has nearly no fees at all.

------
drinian
I use Etrade, which has not-great customer service, simply because they have a
0% foreign exchange fee policy, and reimburse for all ATM fees. (And I have a
Capital One credit card for the same reason). If this is important to you, you
should have a look at:

[http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Ca...](http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange)

The only thing I'm missing is a digital check deposit method. Etrade doesn't
like taking deposits very much.

------
thetable
I want a bank that feels like email. Set up subaccounts (folders), automatic
filtering and forwarding of wired payments, custom-defined alerts, some kind
of feed so I don't have to log into their site for everything. Y'know, exactly
the kind of thing you'd expect online banking to be.

But I don't know if that exists.

------
berrow
Also see <http://www.findabetterbank.com> This has "Up-to-date checking,
savings and money market account information for over 11,000 US cities and
towns and over 53,000 branch locations."

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pradocchia
I don't know, my local bank is pretty awesome. 2 branches, 4 ATMs, friendly
service, functional online banking, financially solvent w/ little if any
exposure to the sub-prime mess.

There's probably an awesome little local bank near you too.

~~~
chronomex
Yup! I'm a member of the state employees' credit union around here. Attending
public university makes me eligible to join. They have four or five ATMs in
the neighborhood around campus, and a branch that's right on my walk to and
from school. Plus, I can use any credit union ATM in the country. It's pretty
rad!

------
rdl
Indeed, USAA is great. They're also the least-bad insurance option.

Some of the other service-related credit unions (Navy Federal, Pentagon
Federal, Tower Federal (NSA)) are pretty decent too.

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Estragon
In the current climate, I care more about solvency than services.

~~~
rgrove
USAA has consistently received the highest possible credit ratings, even over
the last few years while other banks have been failing. They also haven't
taken any bailout money.

~~~
elblanco
A few mainstream banks (non-FCUs) did this as well. Smaller banks mostly, but
even BB&T made out okay through all the commotion.

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tlrobinson
USAA also returns profits to insurance policy holders. I think I got about $70
back last year (not much, but it help offset BofA gouging me on overdraft
fees...)

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erlanger
I still think that if you're mostly around a certain metro area, it's best to
go with the dominant bank for convenience. I do have auto insurance and a
credit card through USAA and they're great, but I like having many physical
branches around.

~~~
kingkool68
Why? What do you need a physical branch for?

