A 'bricks-and-clicks' account online
may not even save you a dime
By Karen Christie • Bankrate.com

If you're looking to open a checking account online with hopes of better rates and fees, you probably want to avoid the Web sites of larger banks with roots in the physical world.

While a number of the largest banks have gone to the Web to attract new customers and allow existing consumers to manage accounts online, not much else has changed, according to Bankrate.com's fifth semiannual Checking Account Pricing Study.

The study shows that these so-called "bricks-and-clicks" consider Internet access an added service, not an added value. These banks price accounts opened online based on customer residence. Customers receive the same pricing as the local markets.

If you open your account online and live in Atlanta, you get Atlanta-based fees and interest rates, while a customer living in California gets California-based fees and rates. That's why these banks ask customers where they live in one form or another.

What to expect
So, what can you expect if you decide to open a new checking account online with one of these larger institutions, such as Bank One, Bank of America, Citibank, First Union, Fleet, Chase Manhattan, Wachovia and Wells Fargo?

When you contact one of these institutions, one of the main questions the bank will ask is where you're from. Bank One and First Union, for example, will ask for your ZIP code.

You'll then be given the same rates that you would receive if you'd walked into your hometown branch of the same institution. And the rates and fees for checking accounts in different states -- and sometimes, different counties within a state-- are often quite different. In addition, some institutions, such as Bank One and Bank of America, don't offer all of their accounts in all markets.

The Web has been able to reduce the geographical influence on available bank rates and fees, but the best place to find this new world of uniform rates and fees is with the online-only banks.

--Posted: Oct. 2, 2000