Least-Horrible Bank

[tropicsgoddess]

Bank of America or Citizen's Bank , the hours and locations are convenient.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Count me in for another vote for credit unions! Here is what they did for me:

-If a check I deposit is going to bounce (one of my tenants gave me a bad rent check once, he made a error balancing his books), the credit union has actually held onto it and NOT charged me a fee. They will try to redeposit it some time later, and only if it bounces THEN do I receive a fee. Oh, and they also called me to warn me, too. AND they took the bounce-check fee out of my savings so it wouldn't effect my checking account!
-Their overdraw/bounce fee is only $15, as opposed to other banks' $30+.
-no checking account minimum, but this one does require $25 in savings.
-You have a choice as to whether or not to let your debit card overdraw (I don't, I would MUCH rather it decline). Other banks I was at would let every debit card purchase thru even if I was going negative, so like a cup of coffee would end up costing me $30 in overdraft fees! and it would charge me a separate fee for each small purchase until I realized I was actually negative. At Old Evil Bank, between my husband and I we ended up with almost $300 in fees alone one time!

Luckily, I don't overdraft anymore, but when I was younger, poorer and living paycheck to paycheck it would happen every now and again. And this credit union was a life saver. It seemed that the other banks were very eager to charge us fees and arranged transactions in such a way as to generate the fees.

On the non-overdraft side, they have a LOT of great deals and interest rates for every kind of loan you can imagine (provided your credit score is halfway decent ) And the credit union has been much friendlier in terms of service.

[Sapphire Silk]

I vastly prefer my credit union to my bank.

Credit unions are owned by their members. They are much more interested in good service than fleecing the customers.

I've had horrible experiences with BoA and will never, ever do business with them again.

Chase has been bleh. I loved WaMu (while it lasted).

[Lachrymose]

This has been my bank for eleven years.

I'm very happy with them.

First Internet Bank

[Kogarashi]

I have a basic checking account with them and I think they expect me to keep at least $500 in it (maybe more) or else they charge me something like $12.50 a month. -snip-

Ah, that might be it then. I also asked Hubby about it (since he's the one who currently manages our finances and would've been the first to notice extra fees), and he said that since our two accounts are linked (sort of), and since the joint account meets the necessary minimums, my personal account (which frequently drops to near-zero) doesn't incur the monthly service fees. Which is good.

Though we're probably still going to end up switching banks once we move for his postdoc, because the nearest Chase branch is an hour away from where we'll be living.

[Giggle Goose]

The only downside is that there isn't a way to deposit cash into your account. I switched to USAA a few months ago (already had insurance with them) and I really wish I hadn't waited so long.

I looooove USAA!!! I have pretty much all of my accounts with them....credit card, checking, savings, insurance, etc.

I also love that I can withdraw from any ATM I want. I was in Maryland last weekend and saw a USAA ATM at a CVS I thought that was kinda strange, maybe they're starting to put a few of them up nationwide?

[kpzra]

If you don't use much cash, go with USAA. Their basic bank accounts are open to anyone. My accounts are fee free, my savings account has a decent interest rate, my checking account gives me interest and I get cash back on all my debit card purchases. They never charge me for using another company's ATM (since they have like 2 ATMs, both in San Antonio) and they also refund the fees other banks charge me for using their ATMs for the first 5ish withdrawals each month. In addition, customer service is super nice, goes out of their way to help you and isn't pushy about selling things. The only downside is that there isn't a way to deposit cash into your account. I switched to USAA a few months ago (already had insurance with them) and I really wish I hadn't waited so long.

Actually they have around 50 of their own ATM's, which take cash deposits.