So here I was, an about-to-go-to-college student, and determined to stay away from having my parents cosign my loans. I went looking for private loans (I already maxed out my department of edu loans) and sallie mae seemed like a good choice. My first loan was the Signature Student Loan, and for my first year of school everything went smoothly. I didn't have to pay any interest and my payments were deferred until 6 months after I graduated. My second year, I felt so confident in the sallie mae loan i had taken out, I decided to return. Unfortunately they threw out the Signature Student loan, and now had the Smart Option Student Loan, which required me to pay interest while I was in school. This deterred me a bit, so I called up Sallie Mae and a really nice woman told me it would only be about $25 a month, so in the end I thought it wouldn't be so bad. I took out the loan. Keep in mind I was a young student who read the disclosure agreement, but didn't fully understand it, and how could i? I wouldn't expect anyone under the age of 25 to understand those things. Months down the road, my interest payments started ballooning. $25, $50, $75, $100, $150... until I was crying every time I had to pay the bill. I called Sallie Mae many, many times, explaining to them I was a college student, I was told it would be low interest in college?! They proceeded to explain how each time my loan disbursed, my new interest was on that new number. I felt like an idiot. If I had known that, I would have taken out my loan with my bank instead (which is what I did for my last year in school).

I found a way to pay and deal with it, then a few months later, I see on Sallie Mae's website they have this new loan that has LOCKED $25 interest payments while you're in school. So again I called them, and begged to get into whatever program that was. They said no. I will never take a loan out with them again.

Sallie Mae Bank has remained competitive as interest rates continue to dwindle. Their online experience isn't great, but it's pretty good. Pretty easy to open multiple accounts for multiple savings goals. ACH in/out seems reasonably fast.

I just "partially" opened a Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings account and the preliminary part took about 5 minutes (maybe 10). It was very easy and straight forward! Now I am awaiting the test deposits to show up (which SM bank claims to take 2-3 business days). I shall write a second review depending on how the test deposit portion of the process turns out.

To help others make their decision for an online savings account... the reason I chose Sallie Mae is not actually because of the higher than average (currently 1.30%) APY, but more so because of their reputation in the student loan industry (90% of my ~$60,000 student loan debt is through Sallie Mae). I know they are new to the online banking community, so I wanted to give them a shot since I am more than pleased with my student loans through them (though, I do understand that not everyone has as good of luck with their student loans as I have). My second choice for online savings is HSBC, but that is because I find their online interface very professional and their APY competitive (at least for my puny $400 a month savings). I still might open an account the HSBC, but not just yet...

PS: I am giving them a 4 on customer service, but keep in mind that I have only dealt with their student loan customer service... if I encounter their banking customer service and am unsatisfied, then I will follow-up with a second review.

I opened a savings account and deposited several thousand dollars. When I applied for one of their credit cards months later I was turned down. I'm now moving my savings to another bank.

I'm a big fan of Sallie Mae, they really help me to get through my college years and I would recommend it to everyone!

The rates are highly competitive (currently 1.5% on a money market account), and there are no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. This bank is especially great for college students and the accounts can easily be linked to Upromise college savings accounts.