ecommerceman,
<<Does anyone know 1) whether they accept direct deposit of checks, or 2) whether they automatically pay bills? I saw there was a bill-paying "button," but couldn't make it work, alas...>>
1) Yes, they do accept direct deposits. My paycheck and my wife's are both set up for direct deposit into our same Etrade bank checking account. We did it by taking our checks to work and filling out the proper forms (routing #, account, etc.)
2) Yes, you can do automatic bill paying. All of my bills are paid that way. You can either a) set up a recurring monthly payment for the same amount, which I do for my mortgage payments, or b) set up a payee with the address, account number, etc., then insert the payment and date every time a bill comes due and it will get sent to where it needs to go. I don't have the website open now, but I think you need to go into the Payees section, then click on Add a New Payee and follow the instructions.
I think the service is excellent and gave up all of my accounts at First Union and now have a joint checking, joint savings, and joint money market account and regularly move money between my bank accounts and broker accounts, all within Etrade.
Hope this helps.
Evan |
