I just stubmbled on this website, so this happened a few months ago. I opened an account and had trouble accessing for a few weeks. After a few months, FNBO sent out an e-mail stating that my account funds had been frozen until I provided them with additional personal information. I called them and said “What is going?!” They said that was a computer error and that those letters shouldn’t have been sent out. I told them this was not the climate to tell customers that they can’t access their own money. Closed the next day.

After 4 months with the bank they are asking me to again verify my identity and provide proof of account ownership before transfer. And they want me to FAX it? How does this make me more secure? There are better options out there.

Rates have dropped 4 times in 5 months which makes me very unhappy. Seems to me they give you a high interest rate up front to get you in and then start dropping the rates. I am looking for a more stable rate or I will close my acct.

Bank transfer took 4 business days. There is no feature on FNBO that shows the current daily interest you’ve accumulated. When I joined FNBO the interest rate was 5.1, now it’s 3.85.. I’m going back to ING since their rates are nearly as low, and service there is much better.

For my initial transfer, they removed the funds from my other bank account and DID NOT credit it to my FNBO account until the transfer was complete! This bank to bank transfer took 5 days because it ran over to include the weekend too. So if you do a large account opening deposit, you could lose alot of interest money over 5 days!

Good bank used them for a while, but just wanted to point out the rate drop today.

ole’ FNBO’z hangin’ in ther! 5.05,YEA

They froze my account by accident thereby locking up over $65,000 of my money. I closed my account immediately as soon as their mistake was corrected.

This is the online version of my local bank. Never a problem.

I erroneously put in the wrong amt to transfer out of my acct and was charged $30 NSF. Then despite my account being suspended I got charged another $30 which is continuing & no answers from supervisors. I admit the first $30 was my fault but the rest is b.s. Never use them. Be warned

I liked them fine until they dropped to 5.05%. Theres better now.

I got it from an email too. Its dropping to 5.05% after 5/28.

Note–promo rate is over!! As of 9/29 it drops to 5.05%!

Great rate. Good and fast customer service. Just no atms of their own. Hope they keep it 5.3% APY or else Ill move my money to another one.

I easily opened an account about 6 months ago. The process was easy and I have nothing but praise to give them for their service and best interest rate available!

I was denied an account and they didnt give any reason. I was looking forward to depositing $15k!

Open Account only works with IE, wont work with Firefox.

Great online bank…I love the rate. Hopefully they keep it high after 9/28. Not sure why some people have difficulty opening an account…I have three accounts with FNBO and all were easy to open and link together. Maybe the people who had trouble just dont know how to use a computer?

I have to echo all the negative comments. Great rate, but the hassle required just to open an account is truly not worth it! Terrible online experience, terrible communication. Wrong emails. Threats about freezing accounts, unrealistic information request. I cant believe it;s so hard to give a bank my money! Soon as promo rate expires, Im pulling out. If you havent opened an account yet, its not worth it!

Promo rate is good but transfer times are slow compared to many competitors and repeated threats to freeze accounts (over employment info or if you want to enroll a new transfer account) are nerve-wracking. These security features are overdone compared to the competition. Unless theyre paying a lot more or you have a lot of money that you dont care about accessing quickly, its not worth it.

This is, without a doubt, the most difficult process I have ever been put through. And my money is frozen for a period of time. Way too much red tape. Never again!

Rate is BEST IN CLASS!!! I had no problems with phone or online support, which I had to use to get my account approved. And why all these complaints about the 28 Sep rate change? Any bank can change their rate at ANYTIME unless theyve promised it will hold until a specified date. Dont think your 5.25% account cant have its rate lowered. FNBO states, We strive to always maintain a very competitive rate, and plan to do so when our promotion ends in September 28, 2007. Our rate prior to 5/01/2007 was 5.25% APY. Not too shabby. Im in for 6%. If the rates fall significantly, Ill just move my cash to the best at the time. And to all you complaining about the 3 day lag on transfers, get a life. All these eBanks take 3 days, its the nature of the business. ——– And as for the Patriot Act, I received a followup email indicating the hold was in error. Thats also posted on their website.

I had the same experience regarding previous employer information. I think its outrageous. Im considering closing the account (after the hold has been released) and filing a complaint with the ACLU for using the Patriot Act as an excuse for extortion.

careful, the offer ends on september 21 and then the interest rate changes

Opened my account on 5/31 and got the pleasant surprise that even my $5000 opening deposit earned 80 cents on the statement that closed the same day. Seems they pay for even the day the account is opened. Complaints about 3 day transfers need a dose of reality. Almost all transfers between banks take that long but usually there is almost no delay within a bank. You can either sit on your 5.36% account or give up 3 days interest and gain back the difference in about 26 days by using the higher interest rate. After September 1 there would be almost no reason to change to FNBO Direct because the pay back for the 3 days would be wiped by the time remaining to recover the transfer loss of 3 days. There are calculators available on line to figure your cost of making a transfer but I found it relatively easy to set up my own using Excel. The account has some features that are not universally available. One such is on line statements. Yes I would expect any internet banking site to have on line statements but my AMTrust doesnt. My query to them was answered with a statement that they are looking at setting up on line statements in the future. Every bank site seems to have their own version of what makes easy navigation. My own observation is that once you learn your way around a particular banks site, they all function reasonably well.

Why do people complain when they did not read the rules up front. Fees are easily avoided, the rate is one of the highest around and their history would indicate they will remain one of the highest even after the introductory rate ends late September. The website could be improved but so can this one. Overall I feel their rates overcome the minor hassles people are complaining about.

website sucks, buttons are misplaced. Nothing compared to eloan website. Rates are the best, rest is too nosy. They want to send void checks for linking accounts. They want your ID, password if you want to give. Nobody picks up the phone and it disconnects without waiting. Its a big big hassle for the intro rates they are offering. Need a lot of improvement in navigation and service!!!

Most of these online high interest account TAKE 3 DAYS for transfers. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Good yield but takes 3 business days to transfer money.

do an inter
institutional
transfer its FREE!

Even though the 6% is good till the end of September, the non promo rate will be 5.25% (the rate before the 6% promotion) assuming the fed keeps rates the same.

This 6% rate is only good until 9/28/07.

big break for savers!

Great tool, would love to refer and lovely navigation

i think its got a good APY and best part is its min. deposit is so low that anyone can deposit here.

just checked my account today. funding was pretty fast and painless.

killer interest rate too!

Low Minimum deposit, great APY % offered( till september 2007) i.e

Well i have decided to go ahead and open an account there with 1$ being there minimum deposit

how long does it take to fund their account/

awesome deal!!

This Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is offered until September 28, 2007. The interest rate and APY may change after the account is opened, but will not be changed until September 28, 2007.