ShoreBank Direct is the online banking piece of ShoreBank, a commercial bank formed about thirty-five years ago by four friends. It has over $2.2 billion in assets and is the first environmental bank in the United States. It has a pretty serious mission statement on community development and conservation lending. Conservation loans finance preserving natural resources while their community development loans help in communities that are below the Chicago median levels. They now have two banks held by the ShoreBank Corporation – one which is in the communities of Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit and the other – ShoreBank Pacific – in the Washington and Oregon areas.

ShoreBank Direct has online access, $1 to open, direct deposit, and 3.5% APY. To open an account with ShoreBank you need to be 18 years or older, have a U.S. bank account, social security number, driver’s license or state ID, and information on loans and other ways to further identify you.

Now, this is only available to individuals so businesses cannot apply. They also list that ShoreBank Direct is able to keep their rates high due to the “online” piece which allows banking to be handled 24/7. Once you are approved, you will get an email telling you about the trial deposits that have been placed in your funding account. You need to check with your funding bank and verify those amounts to ShoreBank Direct online, like with most online banks. Your first transaction needs to be with your U.S chartered bank and the funding transaction could take three to five business days.

Statements on the online account follow the ecological footsteps of its mission statement and are available online and you will receive notice about it via email. You can always ask for a paper copy or just print it from your screen.

Now for some of the stipulations on having a ShoreBank Direct online account and getting good rates. You need to save! Which means more than six transactions a month and you will be charged a fee for each excess transaction. You do this too many times and ShoreBank will close your account. They are serious about this and the charge is hefty – $15 per each excess transaction. Most of you who read my blog know I believe savings accounts are for growing money – especially in a wobbling economy. Save it, don’t raze it! Anyways, this bank will charge you for this. You have been warned.

Another downside to the bank is if you do need to take money out for an emergency, there is no ATM card. You need to transfer from ShoreBank Direct to your funding bank and that could take some time, a few days.

All in all, I like this bank. They are no-nonsense, give you good rates, make it not too easy to blow through your savings, and are very environmentally as well as community oriented. I am all for saving!

FNBO Direct is the online savings piece of the First National Bank of Omaha. FNBO has been around for over 150 years; pretty impressive for a bank. Benefits offered by FNBO Direct are no monthly fees, no minimum balance and you can open your online savings account with $1. Not bad so far. Currently they are offering a 3.50% APY and is accurate up to September 27, 2008. That’s all good, too.

To open an account with FNBO Direct, you need the usual suspects: social security, driver’s license or state id, current bank account, and you need to be at least eighteen. Unusual, however, is that they also want information on any loans or mortgages you have to help them confirm you are who you say you are. When you first begin placing funds into this account, you will be subjected to a two to four day hold while transfers clear.

On the plus side, FNBO Direct does offer you an ATM card so you can get money out of your savings account as needed.

Most people need to remember that a savings account is just that…savings. Many of the complaints that were filed for FNBO Direct were because they could not access more than six transactions a month without a fee. Well, yeah! If you will be using your savings account as a checking account just leave the money in checking. You’ll save on the fees.

The pluses on this account are the facts you only need a dollar to open the account and there is no minimum balance. The current rate of 3.5% is good for all the savings account amounts, not just for accounts over a certain amount. Also, you will have access via an ATM card so you have access to your account anytime. You can apply for both an individual account as well as a joint account and bill pay.

Minuses are the fees on the ATM if the ATM is not attached to a FNBO bank. It is currently $2.50. There is no overdraft protection on BillPay. You may need additional proof of identity when you open an account. This is due diligence on account of the bank and are protecting you as well as themselves in case of fraud but it can be a pain.

All in all it is a good little bank and has been around for a long time. They are branching out into other areas such as online banking. However, due to the need for additional identification, you may want to look at others. It is a good deal but I believe there are better.

Venture Bank Direct begins their website with some really cool animation of an owl (wise old owl) and their online savings account beginning at 3.75 APR as of August 25, 2008.

There are several pluses to begin an account with Venture Bank Direct. One is, as mentioned above, their 3.75% interest rate for opening an account and you can begin for as little as $1. You have to enjoy that.

Now let’s take a look at Venture Bank Direct. According to their website, it was originally founded in 1979 by a few local business owners. They have steadily grown and it appears worked together to look at the future of banking. However, it was hard to find any complaints or problems currently since they are so very new.

They are based in Washington State and currently have about $1.2 billion in assets. Like most online banks, it is FDIC secured up to $100,000 per depositor.

Now, how do you open a savings account at Venture Bank Direct? You just apply online with their application and fund the account with your linked bank account from your funding bank. The usual applies – 18 years old, valid social, legal US address, valid driver’s license, state ID or military ID, and a personal bank account in a U.S. bank. Once you finish that up, you will receive an email with you application number and then another email when your account is open and ready to go. Your account number is only available online via instructions from the email that is sent to you.

Deposits and withdrawals are done through your online banking accounts and are linked via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) and it takes about two to four business days. Verification to linked account is done by Venture Bank depositing two small deposits in your account and then you log into your Venture Bank account to tell them what the deposit amounts were in your linked account.

New deposits are available after verification of those deposits and future deposits can be withdrawn after five business days.The interest is compounded monthly and paid monthly on daily collected balances.

You can get a joint account and add a beneficiary to your account as well. Accounts can be checked on line.

The only down part of venture Bank Direct Online Savings is the inability to access via an ATM. However, they will be getting an online checking account soon so this may change.

After looking over Venture Bank it seems like it would be a good savings account to begin online. It has a good opening rate, no minimum balance, and the ability to export to MS Money, Quicken, QuickBooks, and other accounting software. Impressive little down home bank!

VirtualBank is a totally online banking account which handles mortgages, CD’s, Money Market, and of course, online savings. They no longer offer online checking. Unfortunately, there really is not too much to recommend when it comes to online savings with this bank at this time.

To apply, you will need to do the normal when it comes to opening an online account, need driver’s license, social, date of birth, but they also ask for employer and employer address. They also do not allow cell phones as their phone numbers. Hmmmm, wonder what that means as many consumers no longer have home phones having opted for cell phone use only.

They do offer you an ATM card. They also have your own personal banker when you call. Initial deposits can be mailed or transferred from your linked funding bank. You can directly deposit to your savings account regularly via your linked bank or by direct deposit from payroll or pension or by check.

To retrieve your money out of the account, you can withdraw from any ATM – with a VirtualBank ATM card – or request cash back from a POS sale. It is FDIC secured for individual. VirtualBank does not offer business accounts at this time and you need to be a U.S. citizen or resident alien with a valid social security card to open an account.

They market their savings account as a good starter account for children, not great, just good. Their website also goes on to tell you that there is no minimum balance or monthly service charge for children.

Well, I’m an adult and as of September 2008, 1.34% is not enough to get me to move my children’s account here. Also, not too pleased with the $1000 minimum balance I would need to begin the account. As you read the disclosures, there are some other issues. You can only make six transfers from your account each four week period, either by automatic withdrawal back to your funding checking account, telephone agreement, order, or instruction. However, only three per month can be made by check, draft, debit card, or similar (like POS transactions). If you do not keep $1000 in your account you will be charged a fee of $10 a month. If you close out within the first ninety (90) days you will be charged $50.

If you want the 3% rate with VirtualBank, you will need to get a Premium Money Market account with a minimum deposit of $5,000 and have a balance of $95,000. That’s a bit steep for me.

However, playing the devil’s advocate here, VirtualBank did have a good service and rate record up to 2007. Their customer service was unsurpassed at that time. It appears they invested too much into their mortgages, had some ARM problems, and because of that they seemed to have lost customers and have had a suit against them in California regarding not disclosing terms when it comes to ARM loans.

All in all, currently I would stay away from VirtualBank until they straighten out their issues and get their online savings account on track with some of the other online banks out there.

EmigrantDirect has a long history of serving clients. This is the online branch of Emigrant Bank ,which began back in 1850 when it first opened as a mutual savings bank by Irish emigrants. In 1920, it was the largest savings bank in the nation. Though they tout high interest rates, it is currently only 3.0% significantly below both ING Direct and HSBC Direct, as of September 2008.

Under the fun names category, EmigrantDirect has an American Dream Savings Account. It has the pretty standard requirements of eighteen years of age, valid tax identification number, legal U.S. address, and a personal checking account in a U.S. bank.

I have not actually applied for an account with Emigrant Direct but after researching it on line, I found only a few complaints and it was dealing with customer service. Several had a language barrier problem and others did not feel their needs were addressed. However, many people had their accounts there for a number of years and enjoyed it.

To open an account, you will need to submit an online application and you should receive a confirmation page with instructions on how to proceed. If they need more information, they will contact you within two or three business days. Your account can be funded by a check, for your first deposit only. After your first deposit, you will need to link to your U.S. checking account via an external transfer function with your secure account information. It will link to your checking account and EmigrantDirect via the Automated Clearing House and takes about two to four business days to process.

Accessing your account is relatively easy and you can transfer your funds directly back to your bank and it will take about the same amount of time, two to four business days.

They do have a relatively long hold on the time you deposit money to when you can withdraw it. It is a five day hold and initial deposits will take ten business days.

On the plus side, interest is calculated daily and credited monthly. Direct deposits can be linked as well to go from your linked funding company to your American Dream account.

Overall, I think there are better accounts out there currently. Unlike other online savings accounts, you cannot access by ATM – only by checking account – and you can only link up to two accounts to your American Dream account. Understandably, this is to be a savings account and not an extended checking account, however, if there is a significant emergency two to four business days seems like a long time to wait for your money.

AmTrustDirect itself isn’t a bank, but is rather an online division of Ohio Savings Bank, much in the matter that Grand Yield Direct is a division of The Apple Bank. Ohio Savings Bank was founded in 1889 and has nearly $16 billion in assets. Its one of the 20 largest mortgage lenders in the Untied States and offers a wide variety of financial services. The bank has about twenty branches in Ohio and is given a very strong rating of four out of five stars by BankRate.com.

AmTrust Direct’s savings product, their E Money Market Savings, offers one of the best rates in the industry, coming in at 4.00% APY. If you’re chasing the best interest rate on for your savings, this is the place to go.

There’s a minimum opening amount of $1,000. There are no monthly maintenance fees or balance requirements. There is however, an inactivity fee after 12 months, which is a $20/year charge. This shouldn’t be a problem assuming you put money in your savings account ever so often.

Transferring money to and from your AmTrust Direct e Money Market Savings is also a very easy process. You can link your saving account with them to six different checking or savings accounts. You can also do the sign-up process for external transfers online, so you won’t have to fax or mail in any forms to be able to move money back and forth. There are no fees for ACH / electronic transfers, but there is a limit of $100,000 per day and $2,500,000 per month in ACH transfers.

Money in your Money Market Savings can be used to fund an AmTrust Direct Certificate of Deposit. You can also move money from a closed CD back to your AmTrust Direct Money Market Savings.

There are a couple of down sides that account openers should be aware of. There’s no ATM card available and check-writing privileges are unavailable. If you might need to get at your money fast, you might want to use an online-savings account which offers check-writing privileges. There’s also a $1000 initial deposit required, which is a bit steep, and there’s no sign up bonus for a new account.

Another downside is that some users have reported that the bank may do a hard-credit pull. This means that when you sign up for an account, your credit score might decrease slightly for about six months. If you’re going to buy a new house or make another very major loan, you might want to wait until you make it before signing up for this account.

Overall AmTrust Direct is offering a very solid product with their high-yield savings account. They offer one of the best interest rates on the market, and have very good customer service. If you can handle the minor down-sides, AmTrust Direct would be a great place to open an online-savings account.