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I bank with both Bank of America and USAA. USAA is for military personnel and their families so since my grandfather was in the Navy I am able to use it. It is a great bank because there are no fees, great customer service, good to get loans through, etc. I use BOA because my husband used to work there and we had it on our college campus so it was convenient and we have just stuck with it. I dont particularly like BOA - Ive experienced bad customer service, unnecessary charges, their website takes forever to post charges, etc...but we will continue to use this account for the time being.
Just read your post and if you are worried about stuff like that happening I honestly wouldnt use BOA. They never inform you of when your balance is low and they will allow your card to be charged even when you dont have the money. You can set up overdraft protection where it links to your credit card, but I personally do not think a card should be accepted if there is not enough money in the account. Also, BOA always posts things weirdly like that.
I've used Huntington Bank since I was like, seven? Anyway, they have text banking which is really important to me, and they've halfed my overdraft fees several times more than they 'should' have. They're all very nice people and I've had zero reason to complain about them. They've saved me several times :).
I use Bank of America for our personal and my husbands business accounts. I haven't had many problems with them and I like the way their bill pay system works. Also it is convenient and works if we are traveling domestically or internationally.
i use citibank plus a local bank in maryland (where i grew up). although i really like patronizing a local bank, my fees there are higher and it's obviously not convenient since i've moved out of state.....ten years ago (yeah, i'm a procrastinator....i've been planning on switching those accounts for about a decade now). i don't really have an opinion of citibank....i like it, don't love it, don't hate it. just a bank. my friend that uses TD bank (used to be commerce) really loves it and is always telling me to switch there.
I bank at PNC which I wouldn't call local... but I think is only in midwest? Not sure.
I bank (and work) at a smaller bank, but that is slightly bigger than a typical community bank. What I like about it is that we provide personal customer service. I know my customers and they're never just a number to me. If they need customer service, they know that they don't have to get pawned off to an 800 number.
As far as your feature where you can't spend money you don't have - the government has stepped in and allowed the customer to have that choice. You can "opt out" - meaning that if you don't have the money in your account, you will be declined at the point of purchase or at the ATM.
We don't offer texting, but that' s a really cool feature! Our website is pretty quick with the updates. However, do know that that can be the merchant, not the bank. Some merchants, especially gas stations, can take forever to post their transactions.
If you have any banking questions, feel free to PM me!
PS - I also used to have BOA and I was not impressed.
@CorgiTales: we have PNC bank here, in Virginia and I know its in Maryland too!
We split between two banks. We use Bank of America and a smaller, localized bank.
Bank of America is for bills only. We deposit exactly enough to cover our bills every month, with a little cushion. We do this because FI works out of state 6 months a year with no direct deposit option, so this allows him to deposit his work checks into a large, national, easier to find bank. I withdraw the excess and deposit it into the smaller account if needed.
The smaller account is a local Missouri bank. We are very happy with them, and use them for both our savings accounts and spending money.
@PitBulLover: That's actually not true anymore. They just changed their policy to not allowing overdrafts anymore. You have to physically opt in to allow overdrafts. Now, your debit card will be rejected in stead of overdrafted.
I've actually had only great experiences with BoA, but maybe i'm lucky. The one time I had fraudulent charges, they gave me back the money immediately, no questions asked. And since I do everything electronically, I don't ever deal with tellers. As for things taking forever to post - I go out to lunch, and by the time I get back, my account already reflects the charge. It's super fast. I check my account every single day online, and have never had any issues with that.
That said, you will usually get better loan and CC rates at a credit union. However, I find them to be too small and limiting for my hectic travel-filled lifestyle!
I have opted out of the overdraft so I dont understand why I got the overdraft fee either and they really couldnt tell me why.
I do all my banking online or thru the atm. The only times I've gone into the bank was to get bank checks for my 2 houses.
I'm not worried about loan rates because I like mortgage brokers better than local banks for the rates and don't ever plan on taking out a loan for a car.
The only options where I drive regularly are a small local savings bank or Key, BOA & TD. I have 1 job that doesn't offer direct deposit so I have to be able to get to the bank :( My dad said to go with the Savings Bank when I told him I was thinking about BOA but I only liked them for the rounding up your transactions feature!
@crayfish: Maybe its only with new accounts...I have had my BOA account for over 6 years and I have never had the option to "allow" overdraft fees! I have inquired about a thousand times about this but the only thing they have ever told me is the overdraft protection. Even when my husband worked at BOA (2 years ago) there was no way that they could reject your card when you had no money in your account. THis must be a brand new thing.
@mishelleez: A lot of banks offer the "rounding up feature". Wachovia does Way to Save, where they pull a dollar from your checking and put it in your savings. My bank does "Free Money" where we give you a dollar of our money for every transaction ove $25. I still round up after using BOA. It's easier to do the math, and it gives me a built in cushion in my account!
I use the credit union from my old job in Congress - they had a great auto loan refinance rate and they're really nice. However, I'm marrying a Marine and as a DoD civilian, I opened a Navy Fed account - we'll link our own accounts to a shared account. Navy Fed is much better than Congressional for bigger banking needs (investing, etc). He has a pretty good credit card through Navy Fed, too, and every month they automatically pay off the balance which is SUPER helpful for him (it costs like $1 a month).
However, if you can - everyone at work LOVES USAA. Insurance, you can take a picture of your check, no ATM fees (they pay you back whatever fee you'd pay). I haven't switched just because I personally like a bank that I can visit and in the military, we can still use USAA for insurance without having a bank account there.
I also have an ING savings account which I have - until now when interest rates are zero - made some good interest off of. It's a great place to put money for planning since I can't use it easily.
I have my mortgage through Citi - TERRIBLE company. I don't support big banks who just want to make money off me. Credit Unions are the way to go!
I used to bank w/ PNC, and they did the same thing to me! So I closed all of my accounts and switched to TD Bank. I love them! Their customer service is pretty awesome. They're always extremely helpful.
I've just never had any issues with TD Bank - I'm pretty sure they will send you alerts when your balance gets low (though it might be an email rather than a text message) if you have that set up. I'd highly recommend them though!
Oh! 2Peas makes a point - TD bank is pretty awesome. Very convenient. We go there to cash in our change, get the dog a treat, and leave. I would definitely open an account with them if we needed a commercial bank. They're always friendly at all the ones I've been to.
I bank through a local credit union that has my university's name in it so I'm not going to say what exactly it is. It's pretty nice and very convenient. I can use other credit unions to do banking if I'm not near any local branches.
I actually joined them when they were Commerce. My husband had an account there, so when we got married, I just switched over since I hated PNC so much. Since they were acquired by TD, I feel like they only got better. And their hours are pretty convenient too. I think their drive thru is open until 8pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and of course you have the ATM deposit option as well.
I used to bank with my father's credit union (US Steel) but I got tired of the attitude they gave me every single time I came in, and their hours are 9-5 no weekends (I have a 9-5 job so it doesn't work out).
I joined PNC I think it's only in the north-eastern states. I really like it, I have never had a problem with PNC.
My mom has TD bank b/c of the buy-out of Commerce, too!
I had PNC in college (Pittsburgh National!) and they were pretty horrible - they charged for everything. In college I had many banks that were all bad - National City, Mellon, PNC. All charged for checking accounts or made you have "college checking" which expired when you were no longer in college.
My main bank is a local credit union, which I use because there are no fees, the staffmembers are very nice, and I like knowing my money is in a local business, vs. a big corporate bank. It's kind of a pain, because they don't have many ATM's, but I mostly use my debit card anyway.
However, I also use ING direct for a few online savings accounts (they have a decent interest rate and a good, easy to use website) and I have a joint account with my husband at Chase. I hate Chase but he already had an account there, and it is convenient, since there are locations everywhere! But we've already had problems with the fees they charge us.
@jindc: I agree USAA is honestly the best!! However, only certain people can USAA so its not an option for everyone. If you are able to use USAA for anything I definitely would!
FI and I bank with Bank of America...I've been with them since I can remember; my parents were Baybankers back in the day and have been with them since, and when I opened my first account a million years ago, it was linked with my parents' account. I've just stayed with them. Convenient and pretty good customer service, and they take good care of you when stuff goes wrong. At least that's my experience so far--FI had a little trouble when he first set up his account but it's all working now, and we can transfer funds between our accounts freely which is really nice.
Interest rate on savings is practically non-existent, though. Sigh.
I use HSBC, I love it and have never had a problem. I'm not sure if it is available outside New York state though.
@PitBulLover: It's a new Federal law that you have to opt in to overdraft coverage for any financial institution to pay your electronic debits. This includes debit card transactions and one-time electronic debits.
The change is part of Regulation E (which governs all electronic funds transfers). All banks, CUs, etc were required this summer to start sending out opt-in/opt-out notices to all customers. It probably came in a bank statement or electronically if you get statements by email. If you didn't respond you are automatically opted out and they will not pay your overdrafts. The regulation does not affect the way paper items are paid. If you opt out of OD coverage under Reg E, you will still overdraw your account if you are out writing checks willy nilly.
This doesn't mean you will never incur a fee for debit/ATM--you can still get an insufficient item charge/fee if you have a one-time debit come in. This could be if you authorize your gym to take funds out of your account on the 15th of the month. If the funds aren't there, the item is NSF and you are charged. The bank returns the item unpaid. You don't get the overdraft fee and your account isn't necessarily overdrawn (unless the NSF fee throws you in the red). NSF fees and OD fees are different, which is largely not understood by the average consumer.
My guess is you probably had an item returned unpaid and incurred an NSF fee, which is going to happen anywhere you bank. Read carefully through the bank's deposit account disclosure and that will help you understand when and why they charge fees and how much they cost. I don't have any experience with BoA personally but I know this stuff can be confusing anywhere. (Can you tell I'm a banker???)
Oh and if you are a bank dork like me, you can read more here: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20091112a.htm
what bank is TD? hubs and i have accounts at chase, bofa, and citibank. i hate citibank with passion but he's been banking there since he was a kid. ive been with chase since before all the mergers so i love it.
Been with my local credit union since I was 16 (17 years!). No fees, which is why I prefer credit unions over banks. Don't think I will ever switch!
Husband banks with Wachovia/Wells Fargo. He's happy with them.
@FutureMrsMorgan: I think TD Bank is only on the East coast, but you can check it out at www.tdbank.com.
I just got in with USAA because DH is a member. Love it! Their rates on insurance and loans are ridiculously low. I believe anyone can actually sign up for their banking services, but the property insurance (i.e. home, car) is only available to military personnel, don't quote me though.
@mishelleez: I have a wachovia banking account. I got that one since I started working my senior year of college it's still open but I use it no more like a savings account. I recently opened a chevy chase now capital account last year because I was tired of the overdraft fees with wachovia and there a lot more of them in the area. I also have a pentagon fedral credit union I got with my dad having an acct already. I used them to finanice my car. My car is paid off now but I still have it as a primary saving account for my isurance for my car. I also have a ing direct account and I use that for long term saving account.
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Since I was working 14 or so I have banked at Key Bank and today I am starting to close my accounts (2 checking, 1 savings, money market & credit card).
I have my accounts set up so I do no allow transactions to be completed if I don't have the $. I get text messages if my account is under $10 today I got one that said I had $4. WEIRD i haven't used my card in a week or so. I go online and see I got an overdraft fee. I call the lady because when I look online my account I haven't been below $30. even when I click on the overdraft thing it says my ending balance was $32!
So my question: What type of bank to you bank at and why?!