i currently have a Comerica checking account that has a sad interest rate.

i've noticed some banks like IngDirect (4.5%) (http://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=OrangeSavingsAccount)and Citibank (4.75%) (http://direct.citibank.com/CBOL/06/esavings/portal/default.htm?Promo_ID=CS44&BT_X=1&BTData=402117E7160617F545C4243B7A6A1AFA2989D9B87F8 FDF2E3FACBCC4C5E151&BT_AS=8&BT_CON=1&ProspectID=580D36203D04481A84AA11B4338A9EAE) that are offering higher % checking/savings accounts.

anyone have experience with them?

I also have a comerica account, though we keep most of our money in the savings and tranfer to pay bills. I'm going to have to get a new account anyway since we'll be moving to Colorado soon (assuming our house sells).

If you find out something about the citibank one I'd like to know. I have a citibank CC so I wouldn't mind going with them for banking too. But do they have atm locations, that is key for me.

Try etrade. I personally don't use an online bank but I have money in etrade for mutual funds. Don't expect to get much for checking accounts.

Chris:
Why Colorado?

Chris:
Why Colorado?
Because in my job market (which is pretty specialized) there are 2-3 jobs posted a week in just the Denver area, while there are 2-3 posted in Michigan every 6 months. Much more opportunity to work there. Plus the climate is better (much like michigan, but 300+ days of sun and less frigid days), the scenery is great, the downtown is great too. I won't stop coming here or be a Detroit supporter though.

The one time I was ever in Colorado, it was absolutely horrible. I was cooped up in a Denver hotel for a few days when the McVeigh trials were happening. Apparently, my hotel had high-profile reporters in it because we were getting bomb threats called in (no actual bombs, mind you) and being evacuated in the middle of every fucking night. And flying in and out was just horrible. I know it was probably the absolute worst time to be there, but I've never felt keen on going back. Having said that, good luck in Colorado. :) Enjoy the AI-Melo show. BTW, what is it that you do where Denver in particular has so much more employment than most other cities? I don't think of Denver as being dominated by any one or two industries...

Moxy:
Denver is dominated by the fake turd industry. A guy can get a job at any one of thirty four plants that manufacture artificial shit. My cousin, Jort Himbletoot makes about 77K a year as the Operations Manager at "Phony Pheces", located on the corner of Colfax Ave and Ogden Street. Not many people know about Denver being the Fake Turd Capital of the World, but that's because if it leaked, many millions would be moving there, and it would create something of a housing shortage, as Denver just doesn't have the room for all those people.

By the way, what kind of interest rate can I get if I spend all my money on hookers?

BTW, as of the most recent thing I shredded, E*Trade's interest rate is 5.05%.

Enjoy the AI-Melo show. BTW, what is it that you do where Denver in particular has so much more employment than most other cities? I don't think of Denver as being dominated by any one or two industries...

I will enjoy booing them and rooting for my Detroit teams. I'll probably root for Cutler and the boys since the Lions will still be in the crapper when I have grand kids.

My industry is GIS (computer mapping). It's not very big here because a GIS system cost a lot of money. You need PC's, the software runs 15k+, the data is expensive (either you purchase data for thousands of dollars or pay people to collect the data). Only Troy and Waterford have GIS systems in Oakland County (along with the county of course). Detroit, Ann Arbor, etc do as well. Most cities do not, nor even townships.

The reason why it is so big in Denver has a lot to do with natural resources. Parks and Recreation departments use them, mining companies, fishing and wildlilfe, city planning (there is more growth there, so more mapping needs). Also, a large portion of the nation wide data is collected there. There are several sattelite mapping companies there, and the software company (ESRI) has a training center there too. Our regional one here is in Minneapolis. There are 3 major centers for GIS jobs in the US. One is Colorado (probably the 3rd biggest). The two biggest are DC (tons of government applications) and California (where the software is made).

Yup, makes perfect sense. I was gonna speculate that it'd be something like NOAA (where the GIS angle fits right in), but I discounted that as more "Boulder" than "Denver". (Boulder is to Denver as Ann Arbor is to Detroit, so I was told the one time I was ever there.) Good luck!