How2Day: The Best Consumer Banks

Some consumer banks are safer then others. Tooga/Digital Vision/Getty Images
Near the end of 2010, many banks had failed or were struggling to survive as the economy made little progress in recovering from a long recession. However, a few big banks with strong balance sheets and good customer service reputations remain available for helping you handle your money, according to a variety of credible sources. These consumer banks vary based on the sources ranking them, for a number of different reasons.

According to Global Finance Magazine, HSBC is the best consumer bank in the world in 2010. It has more than 41 million customers in more than 8,000 offices spread across 87 different countries. It is Europe's largest bank and the third largest in the world by assets, with earnings which nearly doubled to $6.8 billion by the end of June or the middle of 2010. It is one of the few U.K.-based banks which did not require a government bail out and the North American division of the bank swung a profit in 2010 for the first time in ten years.

Wells Fargo Bank was named the best consumer bank for online banking in the U.S. by Global Finance in 2010. They have been doing online banking at wells Fargo for 15 years and are one of the pioneers of the online banking industry, which may explain why Wells Fargo is one of the best at it. In 2010 they broke new ground with mobile phone banking through secure mobile device applications. They were awarded for having things like excellent, self-explanatory website design for their customers to monitor their bank accounts as well as making it even easier for customers to pay bills online.

ING Direct received the top marks from Consumer Reports as having the best online banking options for consumers, based upon interest rate percentages, fees for balance transfers and money market percentages. The saving percentages are some of the highest of any online bank at 1.5 percent, though the money market percentage is one of the lowest at .25 percent. There is no fee for a low balance, nor is there a fee for having the minimum balance or a bill pay cost per month system set up on the account.

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