Three Problems With an Online Savings Account

Do you remember the traditional bank down the street that you put your savings into for years? The women behind the customer service desk wore dark blue skirts and jackets and the men had on gray flannel suits. Behind them was a counter with tellers who would take your deposits and hand you your withdrawals. And everything was done with a smile.

That bank with its solid oak doors was as solid as a rock. Your deposits cleared into your account the very next business day.

Then one day in 2009, you were on the Internet and you saw something called, “Online Savings Accounts.” All you had to do was have your paycheck directly deposited into a virtual bank and everything would be taken care of. Your account statement appeared instantly on your monitor with a click of your mouse.

Better yet, that online savings account offered you interest that you couldn’t find at your bank down the corner; sometimes the rates were as high as 2.5 % for this online savings account, and you could actually do your banking in your pajamas and slippers. It all seemed so simple and efficient.

But problems began to occur. As you started to put money into your online savings account and take money out, things you never thought of happened. This online account was not as wonderful as it seemed.

For one, there was no customer service when you had a question. If there was a toll free number listed on the website, it was shown way down at the bottom of the page, as if this online bank were trying to hide it from you. That sent you a bad message to begin with.

When you dialed the number there was only an automated menu and maybe a number to hit to get to a real live human being. If a choice was given for person to person service, it was the last choice on the menu and most of the time an automated voice told you there was a fifteen minute wait or the system was overloaded and asked you to call back. When a voice did pick up on the other end, they couldn’t access your account without a pin number that you lost a long time ago.

You had checks to deposit other then payroll checks. There were days when you wondered what happened to the check that you mailed in for deposit into your online savings account. Why was it taking so long to clear? The FAQ’s section on the online bank’s website did mention that checks had to be received in a mail room, processed, deposited into your account and then it took a day if deposited before two in the afternoon for money to be cleared through the Federal Reserve Clearing House. Who was getting the interest on that money while you waited to see if it showed up on your online statement?

Sometimes, you needed to pull money out of your savings account and you were set up with a checking account that also worked online. But once again, the high-yield online savings account reviews took another two to three days to make the transfer from your savings account to your checking account. In the meantime, your mother had advanced you the money until you had access. This was not good every time an emergency arose.

One day your PC pulled the online savings account website up, and the biggest problem of all occurred. The screen told you that the webpage could not be accessed and one of the reasons noted was that the site was having technical difficulties and was down. There was no mention of when it would come back up.It appeared that getting your hands on your money was not so easy at times.

This online bank was sure saving a lot of money by not having a real office with real people. And the extra point or two in interest amounted to very little because you weren’t Donald Trump and your account was not earning interest on a whole lot of money to begin with. Then there was the time the realtor would only take a cashier’s check. How were you supposed to get a cashier’s check delivered into your dining room over the Internet? Bill Gates hadn’t figured that out yet.

Everyday the three big problems seemed to outweigh the advantages. You missed those oak doors and those people with papers and pens, didn’t you?

Well, if not, then check out my article about finding the best online savings account. =p