Online banks compete intensively for new customers, by offering some of the highest interest rates for savings accounts. They do this in part because some banks are Internet-only banks, without physical locations and the thousands of employees needed to staff the branches of traditional brick-and-mortar banks. They pass on these savings to the customers in the form of very competitive interest rates, and better than normal loan rates, like mortgages and home equity loans. They can be completely paperless, and send you your monthly statements by email.