I've been a customer of U.S. Bank for seventeen years, but I'm only their customer by default. On my first day at Willamette, several banks had tables in the registration area. I chose U.S. Bank because they were giving away a free Frisbee. That was a foolish choice.
I've had many complaints with U.S. Bank over the years — I'm not going to rehash them here — but I've never bothered to leave. I could blame inertia, I guess. No matter how angry they made me, I was just too lazy to go elsewhere.
U.S. Bank just raised the monthly fee on my checking account from $5 to $7. You might think that it's silly to quibble over 6-1/2 cents a day, but that's the final straw. I'm outta there (if in slow motion).
I can't leave U.S. Bank completely because my home equity loan (also through them) deducts automatically from my checking account. (Wait — maybe I can just make it deduct from another account!) I've got 3-1/2 years left on the home equity loan.
What I can do is begin the transition to a new bank by putting half of my money in a new account. I'll deposit one paycheck each month at U.S. Bank, and one paycheck at the new bank.
What I'd like from you, my trusty readers, are recommendations on banks I should consider. I'd prefer a bank that: does not charge for checking, has free on-line real-time transaction information, has ample automatic teller machines, and, most importantly, does not act like a huge bureaucracy. (U.S. Bank exemplifies the worst in Big Business, in my opinion. They're customer service is a joke.)
My business account is through Wells Fargo, and I've been pleased with their customer service. They're a candidate for my business, but I'd like to hear the pros and cons of other institutions before I make a decision. What about Washington Mutual? What about First Interstate? (Does First Interstate still exist?) What about the local institutions?
Help, please!
On this day at foldedspace.org
2005 — The Rules of Catfight Club The first rule of Catfight Club is, you do not talk about Catfight Club.
2003 — The Hours It's not that I don't have anything to write about, it's just that I'm feeling unfocused. You know?
2002 — Making Prints From Digital Photos Digital photos are convenient for web-related tasks. They're less convenient when you want a physical print of the photograph.
I find Washington Mutual's (Wamu)freeonline transactions to be efficient and easy to use. They have premium services, but I don't need them nor want to pay for them. Their 24 hour phone customer service is friendly, but is bureaucractic. There are some services that only the bank manager of your "home" bank can provide. This isn't a problem, unless you no longer live in the same county as the "home" bank. I did find that the toll-free customer service can connect you to your "home" bank during business hours. That service saved me a long distance charge. Wamu doesn't charge you to use any atm machines. You will get charged by the host bank for the transaction, but Wamu is a large national chain so I don't have to utilize other banks often. They offer free checking and free checking with interest as long as you maintain a certain balance. My college roommates are managers of Wamu's, so that taints my testimonial because they provide some insight into the bureaucracy so that I can overcome it more easily. On the other hand I rarely run into that as a problem.
Maybe I should work for them. Hmmmm.....