where do you do your primary banking?

[nageov3t]

I've been feeling like I should switch banks for awhile now... I've been with the same bank since I was 18, and their primary selling point back then was that I didn't have a car and they were the only bank in walking distance of my parents' house. hah.

but I get no real perks, their online banking sucks, and more and more, I feel like they're nickle and dime'ing me to death. the latest and most egregious is the $12 surcharge I saw on my statement today. no clue what it's from; the only other activity it coincides with is a direct deposit on that same day. I'm going to call tomorrow and find out wtf the deal is, but this is probably going to be the straw that breaks the camels back unless they've got a really good explanation for it.

so, any suggestions?

I usually only write 1 check/month (rent) and have to physically deposit maybe 3-4 checks/year (Christmas/birthday gifts from older relatives). my average balance in my checking account is usually in the $1,000-$1,500 range, with another $3-4K in savings.

I've heard great things about credit unions in general, but have no clue how to find one... I've also heard good things about Charles Schwab, PNC, and BoA (though I've also heard plenty of terrible things about BoA too).

so, where does ATOT do its banking, and are you satisfied with them?

 

[TridenT]

Just look up local credit unions in Google? Or Credit Unions in NJ...

Not that hard bro...

My bank is only on the west coast. So, it's of no use to you.

Also, I don't get charged ANY fees. I got charged an outrageous fee once when I accidentally overdrew from my bank account (Something that was supposed to be charged on my account wasn't and so I had a misleading balance), but that was taken care of... and now that can never happen again because I cannot overdraw. It will just decline instead.

 

[nageov3t]

Just look up local credit unions in Google? Or Credit Unions in NJ...

Not that hard bro...

sure, but I'm interested in actual people's experiences more than bank website marketing info, bro

 

[polarmystery]

I highly recommend USAA if you have any relatives that can get you in. Been with them for years and I've had the best customer service with them.

 

[Jeff7]

PNC.

My banking life with them hasn't been terribly eventful.
Paychecks get direct-deposited there, bills get paid from there...that's about it.

For the rare times when I need to venture into a branch office, they have Saturday teller hours, which is nice.

The only extra charges I've seen are from dealing internationally (Skype is based outside the US), and with non-PNC ATMs.
I'll likely be getting a car loan from them sometime in January, either indirectly or through a dealership. That's about all that's out of the ordinary though.

 

[jlee]

I like small local credit unions.

 

[MotF Bane]

I have a job with direct deposit four months out of the year. My primary credit card is a Discover. Both of these things are connected to an ING Savings accounts, which is my primary account.

My other job pays by check eight months out of the year. That goes in through a Bank of America, because they have tons of ATM locations. I keep no more than $200 in that account, as a way to access cash if I need it. My new secondary CC requires checking payment, so I'll be using the BOA to handle that as well. Anything over $200 gets transferred to the ING account, as it pays some interest.

Finally, a Sovereign checking account, which only exists for PayPal usage.

 

[Angry Irishman]

I highly recommend USAA if you have any relatives that can get you in. Been with them for years and I've had the best customer service with them.

A second for USAA....best insurance and bank I ever had. I'm retired military so I'm eligible but all that is needed is a family member who is serving or has served.

 

[BoomerD]

https://oefcu.org/

 

[guyver01]

When i lived in NYC i banked with Chase... they weren't that bad.
My mom is a VP for Capital One... she's in charge of about a half dozen branches on LI... and i know the people who work her branch are nice.

 

[Squisher]

Presidential Bank online, but I also have an account at PNC. You need a local bank to allow you cash large checks and It's just about impossible to get large amounts of cash in a hurry if you need it with only an online bank.

 

[hclarkjr]

PNC.

My banking life with them hasn't been terribly eventful.
Paychecks get direct-deposited there, bills get paid from there...that's about it.

For the rare times when I need to venture into a branch office, they have Saturday teller hours, which is nice.

The only extra charges I've seen are from dealing internationally (Skype is based outside the US), and with non-PNC ATMs.
I'll likely be getting a car loan from them sometime in January, either indirectly or through a dealership. That's about all that's out of the ordinary though.

+1 for PNC. been with them for over 20 years and have had 0 bad experiences with them. i have a checking account with debit card that i pay 99% of my bills with online at no charge. i even have their credit card also.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Under the bed banking

 

[Imp]

ING and two Canadian banks for "banking" banking.

One of the Canadian banks my mom started me with as a teen. I no longer use it except to have an open account with a LARGE bank with worldwide support and many "home" ATMs. Otherwise, I do all my real with ING, and they've been great.

My other big bank is for trading; I could close my other BIG account and move here, but I like that there's virtually no way to directly withdraw money from my trading accounts. If I did open a chequing/savings account, the regular and trading accounts would be linked.

 

[jlee]

Under the bed banking

Are the interest rates good enough to help pay for additional homeowner's insurance?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Are the interest rates good enough to help pay for additional homeowner's insurance?

Im not joking. Just charging my phone then ill show my under the bed banking

 

[Jeff7]

Are the interest rates good enough to help pay for additional homeowner's insurance?

It's just about as good as the interest on a lot of savings accounts, unless you've got >$100k in there. And even then, at the end of the year you might be able to buy a whole bottle of soda from a vending machine with the interest.

(Though if you've got >$100k that can just sit around, I'd guess that it should be invested somewhere, not just left to sit in a savings account.)

 

[Engineer]

Main checking/savings: PNC (was National City for nearly 20 years until they were bought out). Have many other accounts thrown around as I was chasing deals over the last 10 years.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Coastal Federal Union

making big money

got over 10K in there

 

[rcpratt]

USAA. Love it.

 

[tboo]

USAA as well

 

[mmntech]

Long time Bank of Nova Scotia customer. Always get good service in there. They don't dick you around too much.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

 

[Oil]

From what I've been told on ATOT, banks and credit cards are bad for society. I avoid them like the plague now.

But seriously, I use Chase and have had 0 complaints about them. Really like that I can do pretty much anything with their iOS app

 

[RockinZ28]

I use BofA. Some free student checking account, and they've never changed anything even though I haven't been to school for years. Always given me excellent customer service. Transfers to other accounts are usually same or next day. They are on every corner, here at least. $700 atm limit per day.

I pretty much only use the account to write checks for rent, pay bills that don't allow credit cards, and direct deposit. Have never been charged a fee, except when I was younger and went broke. Emptied out what little I had left in there, figuring auto pay shit would just get declined. Instead they allowed my balance to go to like -$200, plus a $15 fee or some shit per $25.

Went into the bank and told them I didn't want those charges to go through, and they removed everything and reversed the fees.

I also have Chase checking and Cap One online savings. Biggest gripe about them is it takes 3+ business days to make an external transfer.