Need a bank!

September 20, 2007 8:30 AM

I'm fed up with my bank. I want a new one. The other choices in my podunk town aren't appealing. What now?

A while back my debit card was stolen, and as you would suspect the thief bought quite a few things throughout Texas before I could have the card canceled. Long story short, my small town bank told me that I could shove my fraud report, because I was sure as heck going to pay those fraudulent charges. Supposedly, after a lot of whining on my part, they were going to "look into the matter," but that was nearly six months ago and no one there will even talk to me about it now.

So, like any good consumer, I'm taking my vast fortune (by which I mean paltry earnings) to another bank. Trouble is, every bank here is a small-town operation. The only large bank here is Bank of America, which I trust about as far as I can throw them (their building is too big for much distance). So what are my options? All I want is a checking account with no fees, so I should be able to find one pretty easily, but is it a good idea to join up with a bank that has no nearby physical location?

posted by Willie0248 to Work & Money (21 answers total)

Not sure why you don't trust Bank of America (BoA,) but I'll assume you have your reasons.

I'll also say that I have been amazingly pleased with them.
posted by MrHappyGoLucky at 8:42 AM on September 20, 2007

ING Electric Orange account sounds interesting.

I use ING for savings only, but this seems pretty reasonable.
posted by nitsuj at 8:46 AM on September 20, 2007

Assuming your employer pays you by direct deposit such that depositing paychecks promptly and easily is not an issue, what about an online account that charged no ATM fees?

This account from E-trade seems to offer interest on checking, unlimited ATM fee refunds (so you can use local ATMs penalty-free), some free initial checks, online bill pay, etc. The account is no-monthly-fee if you are paid by direct deposit.

Here are some comments on what appears to be the same account, from Consumerist.com.

I'm with you on Bank of America.
posted by bunnycup at 8:48 AM on September 20, 2007

Yea, not sure why you hate on Bank of America. All the big banks have good stories and bad stories.

You could always get a Citi savings/checking account. They have locations in TX so you have TX checks, and they have ATMs at every 7-11. I think these locations also have Check depositing facilities, but I'm not too sure on that one.

As for me, I just have a Bank of America checking account, with no fees, as long as I make one monthly transfer to a stupid free savings account. I transfer $5 a month to an account that gets some terrible 0.5% interest rate, and BofA is happy.

I keep an online savings account as a "real" savings account. I also having a free checking account with them (HSBC), but they're not TX checks (they're NY) so it's not as useful.
posted by unexpected at 8:49 AM on September 20, 2007

ING Electric Orange account sounds interesting.

I have an Electric Orange account and I've been happy with it. As long as a) there are some convenient Allpoint ATMs near you, b) you don't mind depositing checks by snail mail and c) you are comfortable with "paperless checking" it's a good deal. Totally free, no minimum balance, and you get interest too boot.
posted by puffin at 8:59 AM on September 20, 2007

BoA is just fine. Their online banking is great and free. My personal account is with BoA (started as BankBoston to Fleet to BoA), and BoA is much better to deal with than Fleet ever was.

My my married joint account is with Cute Little Community Bank, and they suck. Fees for online banking. I had to call customer service for something once and I had to leave a message and get a call back. I should have known better, but I wanted to Help the Community and now I'm too lazy to move the account.

So we learned the same lesson about small banks. But I think BoA is just fine.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:06 AM on September 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

I have a local account with a credit union, so I have a place where I can write a "local" check, walk in and get $100 bills, or a cashier's check, or whatever else I need from a brick-and-mortar bank.

But my primary account is with E*Trade Bank. It's not the maxrate linked above, but it does have the "ATM-Rebate" feature -- so when I use an ATM somewhere, and that bank charges me $2, E*Trade refunds the $2 -- so every ATM is free, everywhere in the world.

The accounts are linked, so I can electronically transfer money between them online for free or through an automated phone system. It takes about 24 hours for the funds to clear.

95% of my banking is done through E*Trade, but when I do need the services of a local bank, I have one. Consequently, I haven't had to pay a banking fee in many years.

NB: I used to work for E*Trade (and I still hold shares of ETFC), but I opened the bank account after my employment with them was over.
posted by toxic at 9:08 AM on September 20, 2007

2nd ING. I love my savings and checking accounts there, though paperless isn't for everyone. One neat feature is that you can deposit money directly into other people's accounts, regardless of bank, if they give you the routing # and account # from the bottom of a check. Faster and it doesn't waste paper!
posted by zennoshinjou at 9:13 AM on September 20, 2007

I also have an Etrade account. I have that max-rate checking account referred to above, a 5.05% savings acccount, and also my IRA. They rock. The ATM refunds is the reason I started with them in the first place, and it is truely specatular. They refund any charges placed by other banks instantly, they don't even make you wait until the end of the month like other banks. It really makes me happy. Mailing in checks is no problem either -- they mail you deposit slips and envelopes when you first open your account, and when you mail in checks they are posted really fast.

Switched from BoA -- HATED them. Oh man did I hate them.
posted by lohmannn at 9:31 AM on September 20, 2007

If you can tell us specifically why you dislike BoA, we can be more specific in recommending other banks that might avoid the problem you have with them. If it's just that you don't like big banks about which people have horror stories, you're going to have a problem, because any large business is going to have its detractors, and you're not going to be able to find a bank that doesn't have a significant number of complaints lodged against it for various grievances, some petty and some not so petty.

By the way, federal law requires your bank to limit your liability for the fraudulent charges made to your debit card so long as you reported it stolen within 60 days of receiving a bank statement with fraudulent charges on it. The limit varies depending on when you reported the card stolen (the limit is $50 if you reported it within 2 days of noticing the theft or unauthorized activity and $500 if you report it within 60 days), but they are required to return to you any money above those limits if you reported the theft to them. If they are failing to do so, they are in violation of federal law. They can delay returning the money for 2-3 weeks to conduct an investigation, but after that, they have to return the money. I suggest that you consult the police or an attorney if your bank is refusing to return money that you are rightfully owed.
posted by decathecting at 9:33 AM on September 20, 2007

I'm in with the "BoA sucks" crowd. Not only was their customer service a sisyphean hydra of branches and departments, but I had fraudulent transactions hit my business account, and they were about as helpful as a box of rocks. The money only got refunded by pressuring the merchant banks that were party to the fraud. BoA did close the account but they could not block any additional debits that might hit the account later. WTF? We have been with a regional bank now and haven't looked back.
posted by antipasta_explosion at 9:55 AM on September 20, 2007

(and leaving BoA it's nice to not constantly be asked if I'm a Georgia resident when trying to do the simplest things online)
posted by antipasta_explosion at 9:57 AM on September 20, 2007

If you or anybody in your immediately family is affiliated with any branches of the military or members of a bank called USAA, USAA is teh awesome. I LOVE USAA. See if you are eligible here.
posted by wonderwisdom at 10:11 AM on September 20, 2007

USAA! USAA! USAA! I've been with them for 20 years without a single problem.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:21 AM on September 20, 2007

USAA! USAA! USAA! Best customer service of all time. Incredibly convenient online banking and checking options. They pay ATM fees (first 10 a month). Did I mention the customer service? No kidding, it's the best.
posted by ewkpates at 10:29 AM on September 20, 2007

also, with usaa, they allow you to deposit checks electronically by scanning them, if you happen to have access to a scanner
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:02 PM on September 20, 2007

also, if anyone in your family worked for the Department of the Navy, the Navy Federal Credit Union has some pretty good rates (i'm with them), their service isn't quite as good as usaa, but it's still good.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:04 PM on September 20, 2007

Schwab and State Farm have the ATM rebate on their checking account too, and Schwab pays you a nice interest rate too (4.25% currently). Here's a blog post that links to a lot of good checking account deals, most available regardless of where you live.
posted by kindall at 12:40 PM on September 20, 2007

They pay ATM fees (first 10 a month).

It's $15, so that only gets you five from BoA ATMs.
posted by oaf at 12:56 PM on September 20, 2007

BoA has worked for me. Someone stole my debit card number and racked up a bunch of charges. The way I found out about was when BoA sent me an email about suspicious activity. I called them, they stopped my account, credited me for the charges from their own money, and all I had to do was sign an affidavit I didn't steal their money by reporting my own charges.

Literally took me 10 minutes to get it all sorted out. I even was able to withdraw money while my new debit card was being sent to me by going to a local BoA and showing some id.

So I know I sound like a shill, but damn, I'm impressed.

But of course, YMMV, and I've heard good stuff about Etrade too.
posted by jourman2 at 5:32 PM on September 20, 2007

USAA = best ever. All their services. Always helpful. Always.
posted by susanbeeswax at 12:01 AM on September 21, 2007