forget about WAMU... worst customer service ever
in the branch, they act nice... but they won't do anything they promised u to do...
three times that i stopped by a branch and asked them to send an email to the online department to credit my account for some mistaken charges... every time, the branch manager acts to be a warm helper when u r there... but they never sent the email...

online is worst... terrible attitudes... always trying to end your call... and same thing... they promised me to ask her manager to call me back within 1-2 days... but never got a call

just stay away from wamu

With HSBC Direct, dont even think about using a B&M teller. I had a few thousands to deposit and the teller told me to use the ATM. I ended up putting it in my checking and mailing a check in order to deposit into my savings.

Wasn't it HSBC that had a computer outage that lasted a week? A quick Google search for "HSBC Outage" shows that not only did they have a huge computer outage in August, but that this is not a new thing for them. I'm not putting any money in that bank.

E*Trade offers a 3.3% savings account without strings and a 2.9% checking account ($5k average balance, or $50k in accounts at E*Trade): http://etrade.com .

Bank iowa has a far better deal with 5.51% in a free online checking account. Couple of hoops to jumps through, but no big deal.

http://www.bankaltoona.com/rewardhecking.html

GMAC Bank has 3.0% APY. Not the highest but offers the following:

free checks; Debit/ATM Card; refunds ATM fees; no account fee with balance over $500 and good customer service.

I have my savings in HSBC and didn't even know they had a computer outage. I guess the point is to not rely on just one bank. Use the HSBC account for savings you don't need to touch right away.

I have ING Direct, HSB Direct and WaMu free checking. Never had a problem with any of them. I just direct deposit my paycheck into whoever is paying the higest interest.

I also have a 12-month CD with WaMu at 5% APR. I haven't seen anything close to that from any other bank.

I have a reward checking account in AZ (AZ B&T) at 6.01% guaranteed until next April. No minimum balance. Found out about it from a blog months ago. The guy maintains a webpage showing banks available in every state with reward checking accounts as well as ones available nationwide. http://www.highyieldcheckingdeals.com/

Most of those High Yield Checkings aren't FDIC insured...