Who do you banked with, and your experiences?

[VietNamNSX]

My family and a couple of old friends used to bank with Bank of America until we were tired of their screwed up. Their services are so-so, but they charged fees (account fee, monthly fee, overdraft fee, and when they screwed up fee) for the most ridiculous reasons. Nothing is their fault until you can prove it. We had to prove it to them twice that they f... up. As a result, my buddy and I switched bank and went with Washington Mutual. They have free accounts if you want; and if one ever makes a mistake of overdraft, they will charge much less or freed it.

BoA is running by greedy and ignorant people. There was a discussion about their practices not so long ago on TV. (They never once considered the amount of money that I have used to open accounts and CD's with.)

Who do you banked with?

 

[The Kid]

Im with Bank of America since 1996, since it was Fleet. I never had 1 single issue ever. My Mom used to work there, good company.:wink: Shocked you have/had such a poor experience.

 

[Briank]

I have never banked with BoA but I have stories of things that have made me unhappy with banks over the years. I would guess everyone has had some kind of issue. Banking is a very structured business and the people have very little latitude in what they can and can not do so saying they are greedy and ignorant is unfair. What is nice it you have lots of choices so just move on and be happy.

 

[VietNamNSX]

Im with Bank of America since 1996, since it was Fleet. I never had 1 single issue ever. My Mom used to work there, good company.:wink: Shocked you have/had such a poor experience.

I am happy that you haven't had any problems with them, but not only me, but my friend and my mom have had problems as well. My first cousin managed one branch but that made absolutely no difference, in the way that BoA does its business, or getting the manager to listen to you.

 

[scorp965]

I have banked with...
1. Bank of America - closed after too many fees, this was 10+ years ago.
2. Washington Mutual - still my primary bank
3. Netbank - great rates, best 'internet bank', something of a hassle to wait 3 days for deposits to show
4. ING direct - similar to netbank, slightly better rates, but no paper checks
5. E-Trade - buggy online system, I only banked with them for ~1 month
6. HSBC - Good Rates, Bad online system, zero branches after I moved.

At the moment I have some funds at Washington Mutual for deposits, and the bulk of my funds at ING - with their new 'electric orange' checking account I earn the same rate as HSBC (over $50k = 5.05% APY) on my full balance, but with better access to the funds (check card), and a better online system.

Washington Mutual is a great 'local bank', although now they charge ATM fees if you use a different bank's card. Before this it was great to use their ATM's for transferring funds, with no service charges, to various online accounts.

 

[nsxsupra]

You need to shop around. I haved use BOA, Sumitomo, Citibank, Etrade, Washington Mutral, HSBC, United Commerical Bank. BOA is good in some areas and not so great in others. You don't have to bank with them if you are not satisfied with the service. There are so many other that want your business.

Banks offer different rates. BOA offer the worst rate, you buy convenience.


These are good bang for the buck without locking up the funds:
HSBC is offering 6% APY promotional rate right now then 5.05% APY after promotional period.

United Commerical Bank used to offer spectacular rates, but the rates recently is not very good at all.

E-trade
Complete Savings 5.05% APY
Max-Rate Checking 3.25% APY
Money Market 4.20% APY
6 Month CD 5.15% APY

Citi Bank:
Ultimate Savings Account 4.65%
Citibank® e-Savings 4.75%
6-month CD 5.00%

 

[steveny]

I bank with several banks including BOA M&T Scottrade.
If you guys are looking for good interest rates on loans...Visions credit union loans out money at 3.7% for USED cars. I think their new car rates are even less.

 

[djdrock]

My family and a couple of old friends used to bank with Bank of America until we were tired of their screwed up. Their services are so-so, but they charged fees (account fee, monthly fee, overdraft fee, and when they screwed up fee) for the most ridiculous reasons. Nothing is their fault until you can prove it. We had to prove it to them twice that they f... up. As a result, my buddy and I switched bank and went with Washington Mutual. They have free accounts if you want; and if one ever makes a mistake of overdraft, they will charge much less or freed it.

BoA is running by greedy and ignorant people. There was a discussion about their practices not so long ago on TV. (They never once considered the amount of money that I have used to open accounts and CD's with.)

Who do you banked with?

This hits close to home, as I am a banker by trade. I love these topics. Almost every day, I hear the same thing in my branch. A customer is mad at us, or, mad at their bank looking to make a switch. 99.99% of the time, it is the customers fault; they just refuse to face the music. The banking industry, as a whole, is about the same no matter where you go. The problems that customers have at one bank will almost certainly follow them to their next bank and so on. Banks do not charge overdraft/nsf fees without cause. And again, the cause is almost guaranteed to be the customers fauld, and their inability to balance a checkbook correctly.

 

[Deltron Zero]

I have never had a problem with Wells Fargo. 4.x% on a savings account aint bad. Not sure if you have them where you are.

 

[DocL]

The problems that customers have at one bank will almost certainly follow them to their next bank and so on. Banks do not charge overdraft/nsf fees without cause. And again, the cause is almost guaranteed to be the customers fauld...

I couldn't agree more with what you mentioned.

These same people probably have difficulty at the supermarket, resturants, auto service stations, and doctors offices. When someone tells me that every doctor they've gone to hasn't yet solved their problem, I'm not going to be the next one the list. I politely tell them that I can't service their needs and give them the number for a specialist. Maybe banks should start doing the same thing. :biggrin:

Personally I've never had a problem with BoA that wasn't resolved to my satisfaction. Just recently a teller made a mistake on a deposit of mine, they left off two zero's at the end , and when I called the branch they corrected it immediately. I guess it helps that I run a lot of money through my branch. At the end of day they do whatever it takes to make me happy, and BoA's customer service has been excellent for me. Another bank, Regions, has also served me very well. I haven't tried any of the online banks because, frankly, I want to be able to walk into a building and talk with the manager if I need too. I guess I'm still a little old fashioned and if I need to take all of my money and run for hills, I can do so easily. :smile:

 

[djdrock]

Maybe banks should start doing the same thing. :biggrin:

I have. When a customer comes in and wants to open an account, many bankers just get them in and out. For me, if the conversation starts out that "xyz bank did this and when I was at abc bank, and they stole my money etc..." I give them my usual speech, that past behavior predicts future behavior better than anything else, and that being reactive to problems instead of being proactive is where the problem is. Their eyes about shoot out of their heads. Often, I still open the account, and notate heavily the conversations that took place. When they come in later wanting OD charges refunded, I reference my notes. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. The longer I do it, the less tollerance I have to people who want to blame this, and blame that, blame the wife, blame the husband etc...

 

[Da Hapa]

I'm in commercial banking, not retail banking so take my comments with a grain of salt.

One of the biggest problems facing this industry is that very few banks are actually "value added" financial partners anymore. It used to be that banks could and would truly help folks build personal and corporate wealth by being actively involved in their business and customizing financial solutions for individual or corporate needs.

In today's world of crushing regulation (you wouldn't believe how bad it's gotten since 9-11) and with upcoming requirements (Basel II), it's only going to get worse.

Moreover, shareholder value trumps customer relationships and often times, doing what makes sense to improve the bank's bottom line takes precedence over doing what's right for the customer.

In many ways, I wish I was in banking 50 years ago and not today.

 

[djdrock]

I'm in commercial banking, not retail banking so take my comments with a grain of salt.

One of the biggest problems facing this industry is that very few banks are actually "value added" financial partners anymore. It used to be that banks could and would truly help folks build personal and corporate wealth by being actively involved in their business and customizing financial solutions for individual or corporate needs.

In today's world of crushing regulation (you wouldn't believe how bad it's gotten since 9-11) and with upcoming requirements (Basel II), it's only going to get worse.

Moreover, shareholder value trumps customer relationships and often times, doing what makes sense to improve the bank's bottom line takes precedence over doing what's right for the customer.

In many ways, I wish I was in banking 50 years ago and not today.

Well said, and I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[MLmotorsport]

I've been with BoA since I moved down here in Oct and have nothing but high praise for their services thus far. I don't know what the cash requirements are but for the relatively small amount I have with BoA they made me a "Premier" member. No charge for anything! I keep a zero balance in checking and they automatically move amounts over from my money market a few times each mo to cover my checks. The investments mgr they gave me is also very good. The day I met w/ him to set up my investments account I was in his office for 6 hours just chatting about anything and everything. It was a little odd but now that I see how they do business it seems about right. I receive a call from the assist vp and my investments mgr about once a month to see if I'm happy, how things are going w/ me & the business etc. Their online banking is also very nice.
I've been w/ Suntrust and a couple small-town banks when I lived in the Midwest and none came close to the small-town feeling I get w/ BoA. I have another account with a supposedly small-town bank here (United Heritage) but am not too happy w/ the fees and services. Nice people but I think I'll be pulling out of that one.
Just thought I'd share. They've been very good to me.

 

[BATMANs]

FCU, ING and Country Wide

 

[sahtt]

I switch around based on what fits my needs or interests me the most at the time. I've recently moved some funds over to Everbank simply because they have the most competitive rates, banks generally treat you based on your own actions/wealth fairly similarly.