The battle for online savings deposits has another entrant, First National Bank of Omaha. The new effort, branded FNBO Direct, launched in January according to Wikipedia and other sources. It's the second new direct bank of the year, following Direct Huntington earlier this month (see post here).

Both banks offer virtually identical products. DH pays 5 basis points more, but that's only $5 more per year per $10,000. FNBO has a $1 minimum, while DH wants $1,000 to open. Both use the CashEdge instant account-opening suite, on which we've commented before (see here).

Although, FNBO Direct clearly discloses its parent bank, the new savings account is completely separate from other First National Bank of Omaha accounts. It cannot be opened in FNBO branches, nor can it be linked to FNBO online banking.

FNBO Direct is not currently advertising at Google, Yahoo or BankRate.

*Yet another direct bank