Many of you are aware of the fact that my wallet was stolen in early December. Needless to say it’s a horrible feeling to know that someone out there decided to steal your stuff and then try and run up your credit cards, impersonate you at a bank and put your entire identity in danger.

It’s times like these that really put your bank to the test. Having been very disappointed with Bank of America these past few weeks (How the hell do you let someone make a deposit with a stolen check into an account that has fraud alerts all over it? Did you not check I.D.? Did you not compare signatures? Do you have an inside man working at the bank?) I have decided to finally leave it for good.

I’d been meaning to leave for a while (ridiculous fees, hubris, horrible customer service, taking money from my account and putting it only God knows where being only a few of my reasons) but didn’t do it out of sheer laziness or lack of convenience. Now that they have made it practically impossible to close my account and pay off the credit card I have with them (which by the way I’ve apparently done twice now), not to mention the sheer irresponsibility on their part for cashing a stolen check against my account, they’ve really left me no choice. Clearly my money isn’t safe with them.

And so I finally opened an Electric Orange Checking Account with ING DIrect. I’ve had several savings accounts open with them since March, however I was hesitant about having my checking at an online bank. Something about not actually having a branch freaked me out. However, now that I’ve actually tried them I’m never going back to a big bank again.

Reasons I Love ING

No Fees

When ING says no fees, they really mean no fees. No ATM fees. They mail your paper checks for you. There isn’t even a minimum balance that you have to keep.

Great Customer Service

When I went to go close my account in person at Bank of America it was my experience that they even transfer their own employees from department to department when they are trying to get something done. This in addition to what must have accumulated to hours worth of hold time on the phone in order to a)make claims at 4 different departments b) talk to a fraud analyst who only gave me vague answers and c) yell at them for not doing what they were supposed to do.

At ING I was on hold for about 30 seconds and directed to a person who actually had some brain cells and could answer my questions thoroughly. Oh, and there wasn’t a crazy web of automated menus.

Higher Interest for Your Money

ING Direct doesn’t have as many bills as Bank of America. They also don’t have to pay corporate lawyers to sue the crap out of everyone they wrongly approved for a mortgage. As a result, they can get away with giving their customers more bang for their buck.

With Bank of America you’d get 0.05% in a regular savings. With ING you get 0.85%. Do the math. It’s a no brainer.

Having To Mail In a Check Isn’t That Bad

One of the reasons I was so hesitant to open an ING checking account was that I don’t have direct deposit at work. Meaning I would have to mail in every check I get and wait a couple of extra days to actually get my money.

I decided to give it a shot anyway, after all what’s $3.00 in Certified Mail (my personal choice, you don’t have to use Certified Mail) here and there in comparison to a boat load of ridiculous fees? The end result was that my checks were deposited the day they arrived and I didn’t die from waiting an extra couple of days.

35,000 Free ATMS

Turns out I now have a surcharge-free ATM much closer to work and my house than I did before. If I happen to use one that isn’t surcharge-free I’m refunded. Pretty sweet deal, right?

$50 Bonus for Using Electric Orange

Who wouldn’t want an extra 50 bucks these days? Use your Electric Orange Debit Card 3 times and get an extra $50 on the 50th day of having opened your account. Uh…yes, please!

Refer Your Friends, Make Extra Money.

If you refer friends you get an extra $10 from ING as a Thank You. If you open an account with $250 or more because of a referral then you get $25. In other words, want to make an extra $25? Shoot me an email!

All in all I am very satisfied with using ING for all of my banking needs. It’s nice to know that I actually get to keep the money I work my butt off to earn.

Amanda Abella

Amanda Abella is a Gen Y blogger, freelance writer and recruiter in training based out of Miami, FL. She is also the author of Grad Meets World: The First Year Out of College and can be found writing for Brazen Careerist, SheNow and more.