Disturbing feedback from FNBO

[m3racer]

I found some interesting feedback about FNBO's online savings account. Has anyone else had similar experiences.



Problems Withdrawing from FNBO?

By Best Bank Rates | October 5, 2007

A few readers have written in about their experiences with FNBO Direct. I just thought i’d post them for reference.

Rene says:

After cutting the offered interest rate on their Savings account by about 16% last week FNBO Direct seems to have problems paying out deposits. Even after imposing tighter limits on how much customers can withdraw from their deposit accounts - 6 times a month up to 100k daily - confirmed transfer requests that adhere to the new restrictions get just canceled. Over the phone customer service supervisor Lisa (ex4947) tried to weasel around about “technical difficulties” and after consulting FNBO Direct manager Theresa Murthy claimed “Daily Limit” does not really mean “Daily” but a period of 3 to 6 business days. I’m sure NetBank and Savings & Loans customers recognize this familiar talk track. I wonder how long after the media breaks the story the Federal Reserve will step in?

Mak says:

I will not go so far as to call FNBO a scam, but I will say that my own experiences have left me with a feeling of no confidence, and I have closed my account with FNBO. I too tried to withdraw some of my money after the end of the 6% rate, and was stymied by these undisclosed limitations, as well as technical snafus. When I realized that these undisclosed rules made it impossible to withdraw my money on demand, but rather would have taken me several weeks to get it all out, I decided to close the account entirely. It took FNBO three days to affect a wire transfer out (at a $15 charge), and only after I had called several times, speaking to no fewer than 5 people, did they finally wire me my money. In my opinion, this bank is either operationally incompetent, or unwilling or unable to satisfy its obligations to depositors. I would not recommend them based upon my own experiences.

What I think is a scam, and a highly deceptive practice — which is not limited to FNBO — is the advertisment of these accounts as “savings” accounts, without disclosing the complex transfer limitations which make it difficult to withdraw your money on demand. HSBC Direct plays this game as well.

Anyone have any positive experiences to report?

2 Responses to “Problems Withdrawing from FNBO?”

1. Lee Says:
October 5th, 2007 at 12:08 pm

I had a very negative experience with FNBO. I think that they are going to go the way of NetBank.

I called up customer service to ask a question about a fee that I incurred on the account and was met by a disturbing amount of resistance. I could not believe how rude they were. To top it all off, I asked to close my account, and the rep said, “Sure, I will get that taken care of for you,” and hung up! I was shocked.

I think we will see this portion of First National Bank of Omaha go away VERY soon. Poor interface, poor customer service….not much going for FNBO Direct after their teaser rate goes away.
2. Todd Says:
October 8th, 2007 at 3:11 pm

Indeed FNBO should be more like FNBOdirectRUNAROUND… . Just like It has been mentioned above, I have also been going thru their awful system and still waiting. What the heck with this needless re-verifying business? The whole process is begining to look like a joke—either they simply don’t have the man power or have chewed more than they can handle. I have never had this much trouble with anyone else. Very disappointed and sorry to have chosen them.—will be cancelling

[BTC]

I have the bulk of my savings with FNBO Direct. I've never had a problem with them, but I haven't really tried to get any money out of my account other than a ten dollar test withdrawal I conducted for someone who was having problems. That withdrawal worked without issue. I've also never had a negative experience with their customer service.

In reference to them cutting their rate by 16%, the 6.0% rate they were offereing was a promotional rate for a limited time, and that fact was clearly disclosed on their site.

I was also a NetBank customer and never experienced any issues with them, until they were shutdown by the FDIC. The transition from NetBank to ING Direct has gone pretty smoothly. Overall, I would give the handling of that situation a thumbs up.

[poundwise]

FNBO may, in fact, have poor customer service; I personally do not know, however...

These comments sounds like a lot of sour grapes to me. The first complaint is invalid. The second refers to "undisclosed" information that is, in fact, disclosed to any who bother to read terms. The third speculates that FNBO is going to go under, basing that, apparently, on little, except a rude customer service rep and a "poor interface."

I'm not sure why people are mad that the 6% "teaser" (aka promo) rate went away. That's the idea behind a promo. It ends.

Also, it should be noted that FNBO does not "impose" the limit of six withdrawals per month. Under federal regulations, you are allowed up to six-pre-authorized withdrawals per monthly statement cycle; this is true no matter which savings account or institution you choose. Of course, in my view, if you need multiple withdrawals per month from your savings account, you likely have cash-flow management issues anyway.

I have no reason to defend FNBO and, among those I track on the Online Savings list here at SavingAdvice, I find several better options. However, a close look at these complaints doesn't show any real cause for a red flag, other than, potentially, the customer service issues involved. I'd take these comments with a grain a salt.

[BTC]

I have accounts with Emigrant Direct, E*Trade, FNBO Direct, HSBC & ING Direct, . My experience with FNBO Direct has been no better, or worse, than with any of the others. Their transfer times are similar to HSBC, which I would consider a negative. But, it appears that I can at least push funds to FNBO via my E*Trade account much faster than going through FNBO's web interface. I haven't attempted a pull via E*Trade, but I might initiate one just for the heck of it.

[sweeps]

BTC, which is your favorite bank?

[BTC]

I failed to mention that I also have an E-Loan Savings account. I forgot about that one.

Typically, as far as savings accounts go, I would say my favorite is whoever is offering the best rate. I do believe that Emigrant Direct offered the fastest transfers, and there is a lot to be said for that, imo. They usually seemed to be next business day if the transaction was submitted prior to their deadline. But it's been so long since I've had any activity with that account, I can't say for certain whether that's still the case.

HSBC has painfully slow transfers, and I really hate that. FNBO is also pretty slow, but I think they may actually be one business day faster than HSBC.

I've had a Savings Account with ING Direct for quite some time. I think most everyone knows their story by now. I also have a checking account with them now due to the shutdown of NetBank. It pays much higher interest than NetBank did, so that's a plus. ING does not issue paper checks to their customers. They will mail a paper check for you. I recently used this service to pay rent. I sent the check to myself just to see how long it would take, and it arrived within 2 business days. I'm sure this could take longer depending upon where you live. One caveat to this is that the funds are deducted from your account as soon as the check is issued/mailed, and not when it's actually cashed. So, they get free use of your money until the check is received and actually cashed. That pisses me off. Other than that, it seems like a pretty solid service. I've yet to use their free bill pay service.

I've had a brokerage account with E*Trade for several years. I've always thought they were good, but I have no experience with any other brokerage sites for comparison. I know they allow after hours trading, which may be norm these days. When I first opened my account with them, you could only trade from 9:30 to 4:00pm eastern. You also get real time quotes, real time trades etc. If you do a lot of trading, which I don't, there are reduced fees & commissions.

I recently opened Checking & Savings accounts with E*Trade. One thing I really like is that they seem to allow links to an unlimited number of external accounts. I have successfully pushed funds from my E*Trade Brokerage account into my FNBO Direct account, and pulled funds from my ING Checking account into my E*Trade savings account. In the case of FNBO, these transactions don't seem to take nearly as long as when initiated from their website. Another thing I like is that the movement of funds between your various E*Trade accounts is immediate. So, I could move money from my checking or savings accounts into my brokerage account, invest it and lose it within a matter of seconds.

E*Trade does issue paper checks to customers, so I plan to use that feature for any bills I would typically pay with a check, which is primarily rent. They don't offer an overdraft line of credit with their checking accounts. They offer something called Coverdraft, which is a linkage to your savings account. Everytime they have to move funds, they charge you 5 bucks. I'm not a big fan of that, but I don't intend to use it. They also refund any ATM fees.

This has gotten kind of long, so all in all, I think I'm going to really like E*Trade. It's nice to have so many services in one place. I'll like them even more if they avoid bankruptcy. ING Direct also offers a nice line of products. But for savings, it's all about the rate, and FDIC insurance, for me.

[m3racer]

great feedback...I too have yet to experience anything negative with FNBO. However, I have not tried their outbound transfer functions yet. Maybe we should set up a thread with feedback for the various online savings accounts. I think it would be a great service for all forum members.

[Aleta]

I too have FNBO and have not experienced any problem with them other than their slow transfer times which HSBC has the same problems. I have had to call their customer service and haven't had a problem I just recently got a couple of CD's with them. I received the certificate in the mail and the only thing that I didn't like was that it was compounded daily and added quarterly. There was also a boxed with an X marked CALLABLE. I wasn't happy about that and called to speak with a customer service person about it and she said that that wasn't odd and that banks do that for various reasons. (Sometimes to protect themselves from customers who withdraw money from the CD)

As far as the promtional rate of 6% went, it was understood that it was temporary and would end. Before that promotion, FNBO was paying either 5.25 or 5.35 on their savings. It is a bank that has been around for many many years. The only problem I have with them is the float time. They even send me a statement each month without me asking.