Post # 1
Member
3219 posts
Sugar bee
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?!
Post # 3
Member
7695 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
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.
Post # 4
Member
7695 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
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.
Post # 5
Member
6394 posts
Bee Keeper
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 :).
Post # 6
Member
5670 posts
Bee Keeper
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.
Post # 7
Member
1184 posts
Bumble bee
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.
Post # 8
Member
11325 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
I bank at PNC which I wouldn’t call local… but I think is only in midwest? Not sure.
Post # 9
Member
2226 posts
Buzzing bee
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.
Post # 10
Member
7695 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@CorgiTales: we have PNC bank here, in Virginia and I know its in Maryland too!
Post # 11
Member
5921 posts
Bee Keeper
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 Fiance 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.
Post # 12
Member
10366 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
@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!
Post # 13
Member
3219 posts
Sugar bee
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!
Post # 14
Member
7695 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@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.
Post # 15
Member
2226 posts
Buzzing bee
@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!
Post # 16
Member
659 posts
Busy bee
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!
