So, I happened to see an ad while on the Paypal / eBay site for a new project called “X.com,” which is briefly Paypal’s new payment mechanism that is in the works.
Once there was a day where X.com was actually something else (and get your mind out of the gutter). Back in 1998-2000, X.com was the very first online bank. They offered all of the same online banking services offered today (including a 1.25% interest rate on your checking account), but also reimbursed up to $30 in monthly ATM fees. They were great!
Then.. the bubble burst. X.com was bought up by Paypal and went under. I had to then open an account with US Trust, who then became Citizens, which I later swapped for Fleet who is now the behemoth Bank of America.
Where am I going with this story? Well, in short, I want to point out the closest thing to X.com today: The Charles Schwab High Interest Investor Checking account. I learned about this great account from the book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. The Schwab account offers ATM fee reimbursement and a high interest checking account.
While I’ve not hung up my B of A account just yet, I’m seriously considering this as a viable option once I get out of my 21st St Prison. In any event, this was purely intended as one of those “I-am-so-old-school-that-remember-when-x.com-was-actually-a-bank” posts and turned into a pitch for Schwab. Eh. Whatever. It’s the Diatribe. Things happen.
