Banks

I had an online ING account, but ended up switching to HSBC because they had a higher interest rate for their online savings account. Don't know what the exact rates are at this point, but HSBC has usually been slightly above ING.  ING has a friendlier feel to it, but I think that is totally based on their website design and not anything relating to the actual function of the bank.  I've been very happy with HSBC for the past two years.

Try ING direct.  The rate is currently 3.0% without any minimum balance.

Cheers,

 Tina

if you go to ingdirect.com you can set up either a savings or savings/checking... it's completely online, but i have a savings set up to a checking at another bank and it's easy to transfer money between the two... and the savings offers a 3% interest rate... much higher than my .40% at BofA and .5% at Banknorth

For those searching for Savings, Checking, MMA, etc, I'd encourage you to check out: http://www.bankrate.com/ 

Without having to enter personal information, it will provide you interest rates (both the introductory or post-intro) for local banks (specifically for savings go to: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/chk_sav_home.asp).  I've used bankrate to search quite a few things (and they have some good articles, calculators,etc.).  I chose to go w/ ING Direct for my savings acct. and have had a good experience so far (well, when I opened the acct. the interest was 4.10% and has dropped to about 3.0%, but that is more a product of the market than the bank I believe).

joshua.wilson@duke.edu

Perhpas I've got this wrong, but 4% definitely intrigued me, and so I went to the BB&T esavings website...and they are only offering 1.75%. I guess the fed interest rate finally caught up with them.

Ashley

I've also got an ING account and love it too.  However, their rates are floating around 3.00% or so now.  I'd go with that BB&T account that you mentioned if it's convenient and doesn't have too many restrictions.  I think it might be hard to get much better than 4% with how federal rates currently are.

I keep my savings account at ING Direct (http://www.ingdirect.com), which offers high interest rates and very minimal restrictions.  I have a local brick and mortar checking account attached to it, and it's quite easy to make transfers.  They have excellent customer service and take good care of security.  I can certainly see the advantage of having a brick and mortar bank to deal with your savings account, but I've been very happy with ING Direct.

Dimitri,
As a BB&T employee for 2 years and a customer for ~15 years, I highly recommend the BB&T account.  Make sure you understand and are comfortable with the restrictions of the account.  I'm not sure what they are, but probably along the lines of a limited number of withdrawals and a minimum balance.  BB&T doesn't have the sophisticated website features that Wachovia and BofA have, but you will never be dissatisfied with the service quality or concerned about the security of your account.

I have many Nordstrom-esque customer service stories from my experience as a BB&T customer, but all you really need to know is that BB&T's president is a Fuqua grad and Wachovia's is a Babcock grad!

Good luck,
Bobby Richmond