Best online bank?

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 by Dave Winer.

A couple of years ago when I started using my bank's online system to pay bills, I was in awe. How much easier and faster it was than paying bills by hand. What used to be a chore that I put off and as a result paid late fees, and my credit rating suffered, had become a pleasure. My queue of unpaid bills was never very deep or very old. 

Now the thrill is wearing off, I'm a homeowner with a mortgage, and a business owner, which means I have two checking accounts and all of a sudden my bank's online system isn't working so well. Things that would be easy if the software were designed by Google or Yahoo isn't so easy. For example, I have to use two browsers, one set up to pay bills from my personal account and the other to pay from my business account. I haven't been able to figure out how to choose an account any other way. I've tried repeatedly to convince the bank that I don't live in Massachusetts, but there are all these replicated copies of my address in their system, and they keep presenting the wrong address as the default. 

So I decided to check out Consumer Reports on this subject (you must be a member for that link to work) and they don't yet rate banks based on their websites. I suspect this will change soon. 

Anyway, I thought I'd ask you to share your experiences. You don't have to name the bank if you'd rather not for security purposes (as I am) or you can use a fake name so you can name the bank without risk. I'm just interested in getting an idea if my experience is bad or typical or good, for 2007.