Full disclosure--this is stuff I buy, and many of the links below involve referral fees (i.e., commissions) for me. That said, I'm not including these links primarily to make money, just to refer things I buy anyhow. I don't really keep this page carefully up to date, so some links may not work, some stuff may be older editions, etc.
Here's stuff I've bought from here.
This is so cool...
I am very happy with my two banks. One is my credit union, which has free checking, rebates all the ATM charges you get dinged with by other banks, and lets you deposit checks online with no 'float' (i.e., the cash is available instantly). Did I mention free bill-pay and Quicken downloads? It's the PSECU, Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (not to be confused with the Penn State Federal Credit Union, associated with Penn State University, which has less good deals.) If you use this referral code I get a kickback: 6817779027785. http://www.gobranchless.com/. They will do basically everything remotely with great efficiency--they'll even send you traveler's checks via certified mail if you want.
The other bank I use and like is ING Direct which specializes in high savings rates. They do this by making you automate everything--they work very hard not to have a lot of staff. Until recently they didn't offer checking and you had to have a checking account elsewhere to open with them, although this has now changed. However, and this is interesting, their checking account is checkless! You can have _them_ mail paper checks via some kind of online billpay website, but their bread and butter is savings accounts that you transfer money in and out of electronically. There are two usability things with them that are nice (besides the high interest rates for fed. insured accounts): first, you can make as many accounts as you want and set them up with good names and automatic transfers. Want to make a Christmas account? Save up for property taxes? Open an account for each of your kids? All trivial. And the paperwork doesn't multiply by having these multiple accounts. Their Quicken downloads are okay (webconnect, not direct connect) but the transfers and accounts are great. The second thing they do right is, and what a surprise, they make all their terms and conditions simple and in PLAIN ENGLISH. Legally binding and precise, yes, but also human readable. No more trifold brochures from the bank with 7 point times small print on them. Hurray! Their mortgages are pretty cheap too. If you know me, email me, and I can give you a referral good for $25 for you, $10 for me, when you open an account there.