E*Trade

E*Trade Bank has only a few brick-and-mortar branches in 17 states, but it offers unlimited reimbursement of ATM fees nationwide for its Max-Rate checking accounts. Another advantage to E*Trade Bank is its convenient transfers among three types of accounts: brokerage, savings and checking. The yield on savings is reasonable by current standards. You can avoid the monthly fee on a checking account (*Est. $15) by setting up a monthly direct deposit or keeping at least $5,000 in the account. You also need to keep a similar balance to earn interest on checking. For free checking with no minimum balance, consider Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking, which also reimburses ATM use for withdrawals.

Most comparison reviews based on large-scale surveys of customer satisfaction cover just the biggest banks. However, the recent ratings at Keynote Systems, Inc., do include E*Trade Bank, comparing it with 25 others, including several other Internet banks. Reviews of online banks published in 2007 at CNNMoney.com and at Kiplinger.com also cover E*Trade Bank, as does an older review at Forbes.com. Two blogs also review E*Trade Bank: GetRichSlowly.org and Bargaineering.com.