Banks

[Keladry84]

Those are a lot of the reasons I dumped my credit union. Crazy fees and stupid rules that nobody else had. I was trying to set up a joint account with my daughter when we was going to the UK for a year on a study abroad program. Since my daughter had no credit history, they wouldn't let her on any account. Mind you, this is an account, not a credit card. No issues with my big bank, they have special student accounts, and a special program for study abroad. They didn't care about her credit history.

Seems like it depends on the credit union/bank. I’ve never had problems from the unions I’ve been in (now 4 different ones).

 

[tvguy]

Seems like it depends on the credit union/bank. I’ve never had problems from the unions I’ve been in (now 4 different ones).

I dumped the credit union I mentioned. Actually, I never opened an account with them, they bought up a tiny (as in one branch) credit union I had an account with.
I got dumped by another credit union, they closed out my account because they said it had been inactive for 3 years and they sent the money to the Secretary of State. When I called and they looked at the account history, they admitted they had been a mistake because they clearly saw multiple deposits in just the six months before they closed the account. But since the money had already been sent to the state, they couldn't reverse the closure.
The Credit Union I have now has a small account with I inherited from my mom. That account is my "emergency home repairs buy a new car down payment" account. It was much larger until I pulled out $13,000 to replace my HVAC system.

 

[leebee]

Those are a lot of the reasons I dumped my credit union. Crazy fees and stupid rules that nobody else had. I was trying to set up a joint account with my daughter when we was going to the UK for a year on a study abroad program. Since my daughter had no credit history, they wouldn't let her on any account. Mind you, this is an account, not a credit card. No issues with my big bank, they have special student accounts, and a special program for study abroad. They didn't care about her credit history.

We, too, had issues with the credit union here. Deposited checks over $500 were being held for a week (c'mon, the check is from the largest employer in the area- the University- AND you are the University Credit Union- REALLY?), required minimum balances, ATM/debit fee for over 5 transactions a month, fees for using the credit union in-person (so you are dinged for going TO the credit union, dinged for NOT going and instead using the ATM/debit card), accounts closed if inactive for a year. They were just a pain. Glad we dropped them and went with the local/regional bank.

 

[tcufrog]

We are at a huge multinational bank because our banker there provides us with amazing service. Going to the physical office is a pain but they rebate any fees charged by other banks for ATM withdrawals and allow us to deposit checks online so that's not a problem. This summer when we were in Kenya on safari our banker went above and beyond to help us. We were having some repair work done on our house that would be hard to do with us at home while we were gone and our contractor's banks were refusing to deposit a check from us so he could pay the subs. Our contractor found a way to execute a wire transfer so that our work wasn't stalled.

 

[amcnj]

I tended to use local banks. Then they would be purchased by other banks and become regional banks. My main bank now is still one of those, and it was convenient that they had branches where I worked, lived and even in other states I went to most often. But with direct deposit and mobile deposit I hardly ever go to bank branches any more.

With the rise of internet banks I found they often had better interest rates. And one of them also has a branch in an adjacent town, though I only needed to go in person twice over the years.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Our big bank closed our local branch. We kept that account (for online banking and travel advantages) but also opened one at a smaller, local bank. I like being able to stop by and see a real person sometimes.

 

[EACarlson]

I use two national credit unions and one local for a few things. I have Navy Federal for my everyday banking. Pentagon Federal for a couple credit cards and higher interest savings. And a local credit union for depositing cash. I don't use traditional banks for anything other than collecting account bonuses. Too many issues with all of the major banks over the years except Chase, and Chase just didn't work when I tried them.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I use local/regional banks. Since I work for one, I kind of HAVE to have an account there. I like that they waive fees for certain things. I think fees for minimum balances are very annoying (thankfully they waive that), and add free checks.

I have a couple other accounts at local/regional type banks, one is for like keeping up with car insurance etc, and another is for "fun" money.

I used to have an account at a local credit union, however that ended up getting closed because I could not use mobile deposit. That was an absolute dealbreaker for me. Their app had the feature, but they told me to "unlock it" so to speak, I had to have some kind of direct deposit already linked to my account. Oh well, bye Felicia.

 

[china mom]

1 National credit union
1 State credit union
1 national bank
credit cards through another financial institution

The credit unions have higher interest on savings and low interest loans and an extremely easy loan process. They even sent a mobile notary to my house to close on a mortgage. And when I did a home equity loan, i just called them and told them how much I wanted. I didn't even have to fil out an application, it was just a few questions over the phone.

But, they are both very inconvenient location wise. 30-40 minute drive and no local ATM (not that I use cash nowadays anyway).

 

[barkley]

as a child i never heard the term 'bank account' in our home, it was always 'savings account'. did'nt understand until i was a young adult it was b/c my dad was a young man during the depression and as far as he was concerned banks were prone to failing and took away people's homes/farms so for the remainder of his life he only used savings and loans institutions.

 

[_19disnA]

Used to bank with Chase and found them annoying. EVERYTIME I would go to the bank they were always trying to upsell me on some other credit card. Finally told them to make a note on my account that I am NOT interested and I don't want to have to listen to a sales pitch with every transaction. Then they were always trying to get me to talk to one of their 'financial advisors' who mostly looked like someone who had just graduated from college and on their first job..........umm no thanks. When I moved to another state where Chase has NO banks, I closed the account and started working with a different large bank that has worked out well. There are zero ATM machine fees regardless of where I use my debit card.

Prefer to use one of the large/established banks and have never used any of those online places. Occasionally I need to talk with a real person at a bank for something like getting a document notarized so this is way more convenient and larger banks will likely still be here tomorrow compared to some online place that might suddenly fold up and disappear.

 

[soccerdad72]

The majority of our cash is with our brokerage firm in a high yield checking account. They don't have ATMs of their own, so they credit back any fees we may be charged at other banks' ATMs.

 

[bennifer]

I use a local credit union. I worked for a couple years at a large national bank and then many years at a local bank. I would rather deal with the differences at the credit union than to ever have to have any dealings with a bank.

 

[kdonnel]

I bank with a big bank.

It has been both positive and negative.

Let's start with the negative.

Soon after my son was born we opened a savings account for him. A couple days later I logged in to pay some bills and no longer had access to any of my accounts. It turns out that when the account was opened for my son his profile became primary on all accounts. I was told he would need to come into the bank and sign to give me access to my accounts as it had always been this way. I asked how a 6 month old would sign and the bank employee then realized perhaps something had changed by mistake.

Nineteen years later I was at the bank with my son helping him open a checking account. I joked with the employee to make sure she does not give all my accounts to my son as it had happened once. She explained that would never happen now. As she finished I checked if I could login and see my accounts. They were once again gone. I laughed and told her to please undo whatever she had done. She was embarrassed.

Then the positive.

Many years ago I got the monthly statement from my mortgage company at the time and it showed I had failed to make a payment the month prior. I checked Quicken and I had recorded a payment but saw no trace of the payment on the bank bill payment site. I called the bank and they were able to replay all the payments I had made the day I thought I had paid the mortgage. The water bill, the power bill, etc. but no trace of the mortgage. The bank employee said no problem. I will tell the mortgage company that it was the banks error. When I pulled my credit report a few months later instead of there being a missed payment listed there was just a hole in the reporting data for that month. Not a positive but not a negative. My credit was saved.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I always preferred in person banking. Going in the bank, they see me, I see them. Building that relationship. That's the way it used to be. Now, when going inside a bank, it's usually people I haven't seen before (turnover of employees) and if you need to sit down with a banker, no one is there and an appointment is needed. In my area recently there has been a lot of banks closing. First the drive thru's are closed and then the entire bank is closed. That has been the pattern where I live.

 

[MillauFr]

I closed my bank account 15 years ago and haven't needed it since. I just have all of my money at Fidelity. Works for me. I like keeping it simple by having everything in one place.

 

[Nick6300]

I'm a banker who always has my main checking account for direct deposit and bills through wherever bank I work for, plus 4 online only high yield savings accounts to shop rate/CDs, plus 2 zero fee ATM accounts (Schwab and Fidelity) that has no foreign atm fees for traveling.

I typically use local credit union (if more competitive for rates) for car/home loans, being more adverse to holding loans where I work. You never know/lesson learned.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Canada has 5 chartered banks. I use one of them.

 

[tvguy]

I like that they waive fees for certain things. I think fees for minimum balances are very annoying (thankfully they waive that), and add free checks.
.

Any fee for anything would be a red flag for me. But I'm old enough to have had my first "bank" account as a kid at a Savings and Loan, but when Savings and Loans were not allowed to offer checking accounts. So when I needed a checking account, I opened that at a local bank that offered free checking. When that bank announced they were going to start charging for checking, Savings and Loans had just been allowed to offer checking, and they didn't charge, so I switched my checking account to my Savings and Loan.
A friend was on the board of directors of that Savings and Loan and he said I was right in their target market. I was in my 20's, starting to be an adult and needing a mortgage and car loans, and starting an IRA, the type of person they were looking to have as a life long customer. Like I posted above they got sold, and then the bank that bought them got sold to one of the top 5 banks. But I still have that first savings account, I got an email thanking me for having that account for 60 years.

 

[jimmymc]

I've used Schwab for years and love it. It makes it easy for me to also have an IRA and investment account within the same app, they rebate all ATM fees (even crazy expensive ones in tourist areas), and zero fees for foreign transactions or ATMs.

I got my car loan through a local credit union. They had the best rates by far and were easy to set up autopay with.