I’ve been a longtime user and advocate of ING Direct. They consistently have outstanding customer service, a very intuitive and easy to use website, and a well above average rate on their savings account (currently 4.5%). They do this with absolutely no minimum account balances or fees of any kind.

ING has always been primarily a savings-oriented bank. They’ve always offered savings accounts and CDs and have more recently introduced brokerage and IRA accounts and mortgages.

To my surprise the other day, I noticed they also are now offering a checking account, Electric Orange. It turns out they’re just testing it until mid-February or so, but I was lucky enough to get offered a chance to sign-up.

It’s an “electronic” checking account meaning they don’t have any paper checks which is fine with me since I’ve used about 6 checks in the last two years. They do offer free online bill pay, a debit card, 32,000 ATMs, $1000 in overdraft protection, oh , and a 3% yield with no minimums.

One drawback is that, like other ING accounts, the only way to deposit money is via direct deposit or through a linked checking account (although I expect that might change in the future). Not a huge hassle for me, but it will be something I’ll take into consideration as I test this out.