NetBank Online Banking www.NetBank.com

I was a Netbank customer since 2001 and used it purely for checking and money market accounts. The online bill pay was very good and I was generally happy with everything. Then my wife and I started saving money for a new kitchen, so I put it in CDs. They never asked if I wanted the CDs to roll forward, or go to my checking account once the term ended. As it turns out, they automatically roll forward and there is no way to change that. Despite being an internet based bank, they said there was no way to make the CDs go to my account automatically. I had to send an e-mail ten days before or 10 days after the CD matured. I pushed and pushed and eventually they admitted it was possible to set this up automatically, but they would not do it.

I didn't have time to keep such careful track of when my CDs were maturing, but apparently I to. Eventually I caved and when a CD was getting ready to mature (I had created about 6) I sent the e-mail. Some of them terminated as soon as I sent the e-mail, even though the CD had not matured yet. In other words, they took 5 or 6 days of high interest from me. They also sent the money to my checking account, not the money market account as I requested. In other words, they once again I lost some interest. I sent e-mails complaining, some of which were never responded to. I called and was told it would be resolved. It was not. Finally I spoke to a supervisor. She said I would be credited for all the lost interest and she would give me a higher money market rate for 3 months. Did not happen.

I finally called in and said I have one more CD with you. It terminates in 3 months. Close it now with no penalty and I will go away. I don't want to do business with you any more. They refused. So that brought me here, sharing my experince with you.

I was very happy at Netbank for almost 6 years. I did not want to find a new bank, but I cannot do business with them ever again. I hope you do not either.

I have been a customer since 2001 and have had a great experience working with NetBank www.netbank.com.

I've been a customer of theirs since 1999 - well ahead of the popularity of internet-only banking. The reasons why I decided to open up an account at NetBank were because of the following:

-High yield money market account

-Very low minimum balance ($250) to earn the high-yield rate

-Choice of paper or electronic statements at no additional fee

-No ATM fees

-Free checks

-Telephone banking with a real person didn't have much of a wait time

-Ease of deposits; QuickPost (free overnight deposits) via UPS

Since then, I've watched some of the nice perks go away:

-Paper statements with a fee

-No more free checks

-The one high-yield money market account turned into 3 accounts, 1 basic, and 2 "NetConnect", which both earn higher yields depending on other services/products you have with NetBank. Of course, the basic one defaulted to the lowest yielding

-Telephone banking has significant wait times

-QuickPost (free overnight deposits) was discontinued

-"Added Security" questions at logon... the questions are dumb but mostly annoying. They should let you pick your own questions/answers like EmigrantDirect. How can I remember who my favourite singer is when that changes on a monthly basis?!?!

-The minimum deposit to avoid a fee on the money market account went from $250 to $500

Today is the straw that broke the camel's back. I got an email from NetBank saying that a "New Program" was being implemented... a tiered money market account will replace all existing money market accounts (yields paid depending on your balance). So now there IS a minimum deposit to earn the higher yields! The ease and benefits of remaining with NetBank are no longer there, considering my alternate options with ING Direct or EmigrantDirect and Washington Mutual, (who also has a free checking account, which has no domestic or international ATM fees, free checks, 1 courtesy fee-reversal per year and everything else that NetBank offers).

So, I've decided to end my relationship with NetBank. Needless to say, I can no longer recommend NetBank to anyone; it seems they're catering to the older generation that keeps >$10,000 in liquid demand accounts, which doesn't fit with the kind of financial institution that I need/want. Yes, I have a buffer of additional cash in a bank account, but that's just for a buffer. Anything over that I have in a brokerage account. It's too bad NetBank is changing direction in who their target customer is.

With that said, I have already isolated all of my automatic payments and plan to have them re-routed to my Washington Mutual account by the end of March. For those of you that don't know, WaMu has a savings account that currently earns 5.00% APY with no minimum deposit and no monthly fees. It can only be opened online in combination with opening a free checking account (also no minimum and no monthly fees). So I am also passing on ING and EmigrantDirect, because having all accounts at WaMu makes the transfer of funds easy and immediate. WaMu's internet banking interface is also far superior than NetBank's. NetBank's online interface has not changed since 1999 when I first opened the account.

Wikipedia says that NetBank "is one of the pioneers of the Internet banking industry." While that once was true, they have seriously dropped the ball on what was supposed to be their niche market. What sets NetBank apart from other banks?... right now? Absolutely nothing sets them apart.

I am sorely disappointed in what NetBank has evolved into, and I feel a breath of fresh air as I say goodbye.

NetBank by far has the worst customer service of any bank that I have used or worked for, and banks are generally known for poor customer service. NetBank agents may as well be outsourced call center representatives who have no idea what is going on in their company. This from a bank that touts being completely online and thus passing on the savings to their customers. Perhaps they should spend a bit more on hiring better employees and retaining their customers.

I closed all my accounts on Sept 12, 2006 because of several customer service interactions that left me enraged. Because of the interest rate offered, I had been transferring money every month into the NetBank savings account, but the little more that I could save was not worth the hell of dealing with such a bank. So upon closing this account, one would assume that all transfers would also cease. However, only 2 weeks later, on Sept. 30, 2006, the automatic transfer pulled money from my main account at Bank of America (BofA). Dreading the outcome, I made the call to customer service. The CSR said that I had initiated the transfer, even after reading the email that NetBank had sent stating that my account was closed and all transfers stopped:

==============================================================

Please include the following line in any e-mail correspondence

regarding this issue: Contact number: Netbank

==============================================================

Dear xxxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting NetBank.

Please be advised that account ***** has been closed. Also, all transfers to this account have been stopped. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, we and appreciate your patience in this matter.

If further assistance is needed, please feel free to contact us by telephone or via Bank Mail.

Thank you for choosing NetBank.

Sincerely,

******

Customer Banking Specialist

======================================================

The CSR then said that they could only wire the funds back, and that there was no way to transfer the funds because the account had been closed and there were no transfers in place. My question: HOW DID THE ORIGINAL FUNDS GET TRANSFERED THEN? They told me that I would need to send them BofA's routing information to complete the wire, a process they had now been initiating for almost 2 years. Upon receiving the funds back into my BofA account, there was a $10 wire acceptance fee. I called back. They said they could not take care of the fee because it was BofA who were initiating the transfer. But didn't I just send them my BofA info for them to send the wire to correct an error that NetBank had made, namely, funds transfers being executed on a CLOSED account? BofA researched the routing of the EFT, and it turns out it was definitely initiated by NetBank. I called yet again, only to be told that BofA were wrong. I sent an email, only to be responded to with a canned letter stating verbatim what the agent had told me over the phone. I requested that I receive in writing that my account was closed. They sent an email typed by the previously mentioned agent. At this point, the hassle was not worth the $10 fee. I spent a few weeks forgetting the ordeal, only to be reminded on Oct. 30, 2006 when the automatic transfer pulled yet again from my BofA account. The same debacle ensued with the same results. Again, it was BofA that were mysteriously transferring funds out of a closed NetBank account, and the fees were not NetBank's fault. This time the fiasco lingers on for two weeks of battling. I'm assured again that the account is closed and no transfers will take place. Well, come November 30, it happens yet again. (This is sounding like some preposterous joke, I know!)

This time I get a fairly helpful Customer Service Manager who advises me that he does see the automatic transfer still active on the account, and that NetBank has this little glitch when you add your external accounts for funds transfers that they can continue even after the account is closed. For an online bank, they are completely unprepared for savvy online banking customers who are used to banks being smarter and more tech-savvy than this. Account is closed, all activity associated with said account should stop: sounds pretty elementary to me. Even the most asinine code writer would understand that sort of logic to have built it in -- unless an online bank would hire chimps to write their code for them. So this helpful CSM says that he will cancel the pending transfer and all subsequent transfers, and that the myriad of agents prior to him probably just missed it.

I'm a pretty easy-going consumer, and this sudden helpfulness eases my irritation enough to let him assure me yet again that everything is taken care of. Shame on me! The funds are debited from my BofA account, and it generates yet another call. And this CSM states that she doesn't know what's going on, even after reading the notes, and says that it's BofA causing me this grief. I ask for the first helpful CSM, who comes on the line and sounds as frustrated as I do. He said he is going to escalate the situation and attempt to get my $30 (for 3 wire transfers) refunded as well, but he can only make the request and doesn't have the ability, much less the authority to do more than that -- very apologetic the whole time. Now I can see why NetBank agents are so surly and unhelpful; they aren't empowered to help their customers at all, but only to thwart any form service that can be provided for customers. I hang-up, still very uneasy. After a week (5 business days), nothing transpires: no phone call, no email, no wire transfers, and no reversal of fees. I call back. (I guess I'm a slow learner, and if it was a small amount I would have just let it go). I finally manage to get another CSM on the line, who flat out says this time that she is unable to do anything: can't give the money back, can't figure out what went wrong, can't give me a status on the process. I ask for the first helpful CSM I worked with. Turns out, he is no longer working for the company. Perhaps he had too much integrity and character for the likes of NetBank.

Anyway, as of now, the funds are still sitting in a closed savings account at NetBank, and the CSM is sending yet another email to the "right" department to get a resolution. I doubt that are ANY "right" departments there.

NetBank touts that they can assist any time because they're online, and don't have to keep banking hours. But, Monday at some nebulous time, I might get some assistance according to this CSM. I'm tempted to write off the transfer, but really, it's too much money. At this point, this may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory, but nonetheless, I will be the victor.

DECEMBER 18, 2006

No phone call, no contact and a supposed Manager kept insisting that she was researching. Still no resolution; money is still sitting in a 'closed' NetBank account. I called the corporate offices and got transferred to a voicemail that states that the person I need to speak to will be out of the office until 12/26. How does this bank stay in business?

The only reason I am with NetBank is because it has a good policy about using foreign currency. But other than that, I cannot recommend them.

I liked them for about the first year we had them. Then things have gone downhill with their service, problems with their joint accounts, and debit cards getting deactivated (a problem when there is no bank to go into to deal with the issue). Most recently, finding out that NetBank had taken > 100 out of my son's savings account in feed with no notices was the last straw.

Time to move on. NetBank might have been an early player, but they are not the only one. I would recommend looking elsewhere, especially if you need a joint account (spousal or otherwise). Also remember that having a brick and mortar place to walk into is an option you don't have with them. This isn't a problem until you have one you need to be resolved.

I have only been with NetBank for a short time, but I'm very impressed with them so far. It's displaying of information on non-NetBank accounts is more than I had hoped for. My only complaint to date is the seeming inability of using Bank to Bank money transfer. I'm speaking of transferring money from my home bank into NetBank, but I'd give NetBank an A+ rating at this point.

Paying bills online with NetBank is really convenient, especially the automatic payment for appropriate bills. There is plenty of lead time when these automated payments pop up, so you can modify or remove them if necessary.

You can link your credit cards, mortgages, and other bank accounts, so you can see them all in one place.

Direct deposit removes the hassle of waiting for ground mail to make a deposit, although this is only a problem for those who are living on the edge of their cash flow.

There are no fees for any regular activities. There are charges for checks and wire transfers, but you can avoid checks by using the debit card.

Getting cash costs money in most cash machines, so avoid this by getting cash back at your supermarket, including Wal-Mart and other places.

I live in a small town so there aren't local cash machines to make deposits. NetBank has a free service with UPS, but only at their UPS main stores, so there is nothing where I live.

I like the low cost (no cost really) of banking and the convenience of moving money among my NetBank accounts. I use two checking and one Money Market account. The interface is really not that slow. There is a bit of a hitch when going from the main account page to the bill paying page, but it really is tolerable. I also move money from NetBank to ING and back. The NetBank Money Market rate is decent, but the ING is better.

I am disappointed with the service Netbank provides, and I will remove my funds out of there as soon as my CD matures. The interest rate paid is too low also, and it is not a good place to do business when there are so many other online choices.

I've been with NetBank since 1998. I think it's the way of the future, and I don't believe in the waste of redundancy.

I'm still waiting for them to get past the growing pains. I seldom have a request that goes through without a mistake.