Online Checking Accounts: Part 1 - BOFI's Freedom Checking

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

We welcome you to the first post of our series on Online Checking Accounts. Though online checking accounts have been around for quite a few years we still find that some of our friends are apprehensive about their trust worthiness and security. We have been using online checking accounts for the past 8 years. From personal experience we can vouch that they are trustworthy, secure and much more convenient than their brick and mortar counterparts. Honestly we cannot imagine life without them!

Today we analyze Bank of Internet's impressive online checking account named "Freedom". This product has been designed to be an online interest earning checking account. Freedom is a good product for those who maintain an average daily balance of $1000 or more.

It is offering an attractive 3.4% APY. We present a table for the various Freedom APYs for different tiers of principals.

Highlights

• Online Link: Deal & Details
  

• Interest earning checking, compounded daily, paid monthly
• Minimum opening balance is $100
  
• ATM fees you pay reimbursed up to $7 per month
• No monthly service charge with a $1,000 average daily balance, otherwise $4 per month
  
• Debit Check Card available
• FREE initial 50 pack check order
• Unlimited Bill Payments at no charge
  
• Free banking by mail using BOFI postage paid envelopes
  
• Overdraft Protection Line of Credit available to qualified applicants

Additional Features:

• FREE ATM or Debit Check Card
• Direct Deposit available
• Directly Re-order checks online
• View images of paid checks online the day they are paid
• Automated telephone account information is available
• Online account activity with real time account balance. Card transactions are reflected in your online activity as soon as the transaction is completed.
  
• Availability of account sweep to act as overdraft protection from your savings account to your checking

BOFI is FDIC insured and has a 4 star rating by Bankrate which means that it is a sound financial institution. If you wish, you may further check its credentials and performance using the steps listed here.

We are impressed with BOFI's Freedom Checking Account. In our opinion, feature-wise it is one of the best in its category. All things been equal, it is BOFI's customer service that will say how good it is with respect to the top players in this game. From our experience with BOFI, we feel that they have room for improvement in this area. Stayed tuned for the next part of this series.

Continued To:
OCA-Part 2: Electric Orange Checking From IngDirect

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