What to look for in a new bank

[Underfoot]

Board, your collective wisdom is required! I am a pretty recent college grad and have thus far only done banking through my teeny tiny hometown's bank. This had been fine until I moved out of state and cannot find a fee-less ATM for the life of me. 

I am now looking for a new bank, but don't know what to look for at all. The main things I'm concerned about are: 

1. Having a brick and mortar store in my current city so I can pick up quarters without having to cajole the teller because I don't have an account

2. Widespread availability -- I would like to travel to far off places and continue to not have to pay ATM fees because my bank has one available. I also am not sure where I'm going to be living in a year and half, and would prefer not to have to change banks again. 

3. I guess...decent interest rates on savings accounts and other investment options?! (money management is hard!)

I can get into a major credit union because of my employee, which has good savings interest rates (1%) and tons of ATM availability, but no local branch. I've considered Chase bank or one of the big national branches because that just seems convenient. 

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions? Is there anything I should be wary of or that I may not have considered in my quest for a new bank? Bestow your collective knowledge upon me!

***Important note: I am in the US and currently live in Michigan, if that makes a difference

[Swordfish]

Good to consider whether they have a functional app as well.  I do almost all my banking by phone app these days, and it makes things really convenient.

If you want portability, you're obviously gonna have to go to one of the big players.  At least for traveling.  If you move, you can always change banks.  it's not that hard.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

Just pick a large, national bank with name recognition and a physical presence where you spend most of your time. It's pretty much that simple. The days of having good interest rates on your checking and savings accounts are gone, and the extra tenth of a percentage point you get from the from the hassle of shuffling your money through an online bank like Ally just isn't worth it. If you acquire money that you want to leverage into some decent rate of return, you're not going to get that from leaving your money in your checking account. 

[Dr. Pepper]

Use the credit union you have access to with your employer.  I'm a member of three credit unions and each of them offer me the ability to use other CU's when I absolutely need to visit a brick and mortar for some bizarre or random reason.  Like, I guess needing quarters (wtf???) might be bizarre and random as I'm guessing you need them in such large quantity that you can't just get them in the usual places.  My credit unions also reimburse ATM fees, but I can't even remember the last time I used an ATM (or a teller) as I just use cash back option when checking out at the grocery store or pharmacy or whatever.

Honestly, I don't know why you'd want to use one of the big banks if you have access to a credit union.  There aren't many reasons these days to actually need to visit a brick and mortar, credit unions often provide their customers with access to other CU's, and interest rates on checking and savings barely exists.  

 

[Iskaral Pust]

I still have my main account at Key Bank, even though I haven't seen a branch in 9 years.  But I also have Chase account for ATMs and occasional in-branch banking.  I'd consolidate but it's such a hassle to update all the direct payments and other electronic links. 

Interest on the savings account is not worth considering these days.  Minimizing fees for maximum services you actually need is the goal. 

[Kalbear]

I'd strongly recommend credit unions. They tend  to be highly customer-focused, have a great range of services and give really good discounts to members for all sorts of things. 

If for whatever reason you can't do that or don't want to, pick a bank with as many no-fee ATMs as you can. 

ETA: this might help.

[sologdin]

you'll want to avoid the banks that are fronts for transdimensional telepathic reptilians.

[Inigima]

- Not being Wells Fargo

- Not being Bank of America

- No fee for having the account (if the fee is waived for having direct deposit or a minimum balance, that's fine as long as you're 100% sure you'll meet the requirement)

- Decent web banking with bill pay

Those are the main ones for me. I'm not joking about WF or BoA.

EDIT: Some credit unions will pay ATM fees for other organizations' ATMs.

[Tempra]

16 hours ago, NestorMakhnosLovechild said:

Just pick a large, national bank with name recognition and a physical presence where you spend most of your time. It's pretty much that simple. The days of having good interest rates on your checking and savings accounts are gone, and the extra tenth of a percentage point you get from the from the hassle of shuffling your money through an online bank like Ally just isn't worth it. If you acquire money that you want to leverage into some decent rate of return, you're not going to get that from leaving your money in your checking account. 

This.  

I would also keep my bank account at a separate bank from one with which I have a credit relationship.

[Martell Spy]

Be careful of free money offers. It usually means there will be strict requirements on the account, such as deposit requirements and/or direct deposit needed. Also, it'll go on your taxes. It's decent if you need a quick, small loan fast though.

Key Bank is pretty good. I've had it over 20 years. They have free checking and they seem to be all over here in Washington state. They also have great customer Service. Chase was okay, but I quit them after my experiment in getting free money went bad. 

I've got a couple credit unions as well. They're pretty good for loaning money. However, there may be limitations in service. Usually there's some kind of amount of money you must keep in your accounts or be charged a fee. It's small though. Like 10 to 25$. Their physical branches are usually pretty limited. I have one where their atm at their actual physical branch won't accept deposits, so I have to physically go inside, which is annoying. I rarely use that account now.

I found another credit union and went to sign up, but discovered they didn't have an actual parking lot at their physical location. So, I didn't sign up there. 

[mcbigski]

I'd also look at the regional banks in your area.  I still have my credit union account my parents opened for me in the 70s.  And have an ATM card with a wide fee free network that I can get at the cash in my brokerage sweep account with, but I also opened an account in a regional bank with maybe 50 branches or so.  They are continuing to expand, so they are very competitive on fees and service and refund something like 4 foreign atm fees per month.  (Liberty Bank, in CT).  I expect them to continue to be a great place to bank until eventually they get bought out and acquired by a bigger bank. 

[As has happened to me with Bristol Savings Bank (great) which got bought out by Wester Bank (still pretty good), which became part of Fleet which I think is part of BoA now?  And my next bank account also went through about 4 acquisitions and is part of TD Bank now, though I left after the third change.  TD might be a decent choice among the bigger banks, not sure they have the national footprint of BoA or WF, but if they're in your area (and you are reasonably close to Canada, so probably)..]

[Maya Mia]

I love my credit union, there is a minimum balance - $5.00.  As for ATM fees, they have some type of agreement with both Publix and Walgreens, so if you use an ATM at either of those places, there is no fee. While Publix is local to the SE, Walgreens are pretty much everywhere.

My credit union is full service, everything from loans to IRAs.  Left banks for my accounts about 10 years ago, and haven't missed them one bit.  But with all that, I do have my mortgage and car loan through traditional banks.  One through WF (horrible horrible horrible) and the other through BBT.  BBT sucks also.  For example, it won't remember any non BBT account when I go to pay my bill each month.  So I have to type in my routing number and checking account number each month.  Minor inconvenience, but no one else doesn't allow you to build a checking account number for online bill pay.

[Xray the Enforcer]

I read the title of this thread as "what to look for in a new TANK" and I thought we had a resurgence of the Dear Tenalpia threads.

[DireWolfSpirit]

If your young and just starting your career and expect to be moving a few times over the next few years I would get a checking/debit acct from a nationwide branch like Chase or Wells Fargo. Also if you have an opportunity to become a member at that credit union you should probably open a minimal saving acct with them, the credit union may prove to be a valuable place to establish your credit and access affordable credit in the future.

p.s. I used to make up excuses to go to my Chase branch out West, they served this wonderful Seattles Best coffee that was better than anything in the neighborhood!

[oberonus]

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If someone could delete all the spoiler tags at the top of this post that would be great, for whateve reason I can't get rid of it

 

 

 

 

anyways I have banked at credit unions and major banks, but more importantly, I have been a branch manager of a major bank and a  major credit union.

 

 

First off, pretty much every major credit union will have almost all the same products and services of a major bank. Most credit unions also have easier ways of keeping your acounts completely free compared to a bank, but the typical one for both is having a direct deposit go into your account or using your direct deposit a certain amount of times a month for purchases.

for credit related products ( auto loans, credit cards, personal loans and mortgages), credit unions tend to be better than major banks, as since they are not for profit, they are able to offer lower rates. for example, with a good credit score at one of the credit unions i managed you could get a rewards credit card at an APR of 8.9%, or you could get an auto loan for as low as 1.49% APR, compared to a bank where the lowest APR for auto loan is 3.5% or so.  

Another MAJOR benefit with Credit Unions compared to major banks when it comes to credit is there pre approved offers they have. With major banks you will get tons of offers saying you are pre qualified for a credit product with them, however that offer is not guaranteed. they still run your credit and ask for income verification and you can still be declined. With a credit union their pre approved offers are firm offers where they don't run your credit and they don't ask for income verification. this is a huge help to certain people. 

 

For ATM's: the way the fee structure for that works is such: there will be 2 fee's associated with going to an out of network atm (regardless of bank or credit union). The bank/credit Union will charge you and the ATM will charge you.  So if you bank at Wells Fargo and use your wells fargo atm at a chas bank for example, you will get hit with 2 fee's, (anywhere from 2.50 to 3 for each fee).  With Credit Union's it works the same way, however a lot of credit unions have offers where they will will not charge you for using an out of network atm, but the atm may charge you. they may also reimburse a certain amount of atm fees as well depending on the credit union policy.  Credit Union atm's are also part of the CO-OP network, so you can actually use any credit union atm and not get charged on either end. 

 

i personally highly recommend Credit Union over Bank. 

 

Now there is another choice and that is Charles Scwhaab. They will reimburse any and all atm's fees but they have almost no physical presence and are predomintly online. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ummester]

On 06/08/2016 at 9:03 PM, sologdin said:

you'll want to avoid the banks that are fronts for transdimensional telepathic reptilians.

Apart from the Chinese government ones. Communists aren't reptilians, only Neoliberals. Communists, are, however, mostly farm animals like pigs and shit.

As a side note did you know that one constant in all human mythology (except Scientology, where it's opposite) is the idea of a serpent as something evil? Did you also know that the guy who wrote Watchmen prays to a serpent god? Do you think that guy might be a proto-Scientologist?

 

As to the OP and the thread - it is best to choose a bank that you have faith will be solvent in more than a decade - for this reason I would shy away from the US banks and perhaps pick one of those Chinese government ones. See, the serpent men are relevant.

[Underfoot]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I have decided to go with the time traveling serpentine overlords credit union, and I'm pretty happy about the decision. Good to know to stay away from WF and BoA because I was sort of considering one of the two haha

thanks again!