I have been researching checking account all day and I am learning but still confused. I have had a traditional checking account with a brick and mortar bank for years and I am thinking about closing the account for a better one. I'm looking at Fidelity, Salem Five Direct, ING Direct and Washington Mutual. I was looking at all of these interest bearing checking accounts and that caught my eye since they are free and loaded with benefits. My question is they all appear to be tied in with a savings account and it looks like you must move the money from the savings to the checking all the time and it can take days for the transfer to happen. Can anyone comment on this? My current account is worry free my pay check is deposited twice a month and I write checks on it and us my debit card. I like the idea of free interest bearing checking but I believe it could become a headache having to transfer money from savings to checking all the time. Are these interest bearing fee checking account legit or a pain to deal with? Thanks.

I'm not sure about other banks, but I can tell you that the Online Payment Account through HSBC is a high-interest checking account that operates like most other accounts minus the ability to write checks.
You aren't required to have a savings account with the bank to have the Online checking account, but transfers between banks do take 3 to 4 business days (typically three, but we quote three to four in case the receiving bank holds the funds for any reason). This timeframe is pretty much standard if the transfers are going through the ACH system, which most do. But if you have your checking and savings account both with HSBC, then transfers are instant.
You have ATM/Debit MasterCard access to the account. Can transfer funds through an ATM, Online, or by phone.
The Bank started as a brick and mortar bank, is global and does have branches in number of states... but the Online accounts cannot be accessed through the branch. This is to basically cut costs so they can continue to offer high interest on the Online accounts. Makes sense, but that's one thing that sometimes turns people off.
Overall, I don't notice a huge difference between my regular branch checking acct and my online one. I can pay bills online for free. And if I need to write a check, then I can instantly transfer money to my regular branch checking acct with HSBC and be able to write it from there.
Any other questions, let me know- hope this helps!