Are there any banks left that are not utter crap?
 

Or is it like everything else. Had one, they are getting getting bought, transaction complete at end of month, already turning to crap

My Credit Union has been my bank for over 60 years now....never changed.

I won't use any big, national banks.
Small, local banks have always given better service.

With the big banks, nobody at the local branch can make decisions- Gotta go through "the committee", and we'll get an answer in a few weeks.

I've got a couple horror stories about big banks, and a couple "how did they pull that off" stories with small banks.

The local bank I've used for years just merged with another similarly sized bank. We'll see....
A few years ago I opened another account at a new small bank in case my #1 gets too big.
I may move everything over soon. We'll see....

I work for a large (one of the largest) bank.

I use a credit union and have almost exclusively since I was 15.

A credit union is a "bank" that is owned by the folks that have their money in the credit union so the credit union should do what's best for the members.

Banks should do well by their members, but they are in it to make a profit and for the "bottom line" for their investors.

If I was going to go with a bank, I would go with the one that I work for.

This one was working out fine for 20 years, now they are getting bought, and all of the sudden they can't find their AH with both hands and a funnel.

I have one or two local banks I like, will see how long they hold out

Credit Union only, worst bank I ever had was Wells Fargo, treated me like my money was owned by them and why would I want to access it?

+1 for the credit unions. Treat me great.

1. I agree. Big banks are soul sucking entities.
2. I have a local community bank with killer service.
3. My money is mostly in mega institutions because they provide better returns. I also assume they are safer. But, I don’t like it.
4. My grandfather founded a very successful community bank. He had a situation where he (figuratively) gave Wells the middle finger. Pretty cool. Gramps was amazing.

Credit union here, though not all are created equal

Credit union here too for the past fifty years. I read about the way big banks conduct themselves & treat customers & wonder why anybody would use them.

I have used all the big banks from B of A to Wells Fargo. All suck about the same. Wife went to college with the branch manager Bank Of the West so we got to know almost everyone in the bank. They have been bought out by the French so far so good. Unless I need to call their credit card dept. I like the smaller banks. No dumb question, no BS. When I withdrew all my money and closed out my BofA account years ago they kept asking why and what they can keep me. I discovered they don't hear very well.

Another long time CU member here.... easy choice.

I’ve had an account since 1970 at Burke and Herbert bank in Alexandria, VA, a family run bank.They had a bumper sticker that said “what’s the name of your bank today? Burke and Herbert in business since 1852!”

For my personal needs, I love my credit union.
For my business, the LAW is clear, no credit union allowed, I must use a bank. I picked a local family owned bank. They have fresh cookies on Friday so on the rare occasions I have to go inside the brick and mortar building, I try to go on Friday.

When we bought our company airplane it required multiple large bank transfers to the escrow company. The bank treated me like a long lost friend and did everything for me but sign my name. It was a far cry from the movies where a simple cell phone click transfers the money for Jason Borne like charterers.

My goal is to go for a decade and not have to go inside the building, same for my credit union. However, I have to use my credit union occasionally to get a document notarized.

That's good!

I use Huntington. I think they are the fourth name of the bank I had in the way back. Different owners, of course.

I get SS two days early. Monday mid-day vs Wednesday morning early.

They give me a 24 hour grace period with overdrafts to top up the account. Seldom occurs but way better than $35 a pop.

They allow access up to $500 cash from checks deposited that normally clear the next business day. Normally Friday night deposit means available Tuesday morning.

Very basic banking only though.

FWIW - I don't like banking laws on significant deposits/customer access but that's a different thread.

Glen, the laws vary by state .... my CU here in NC has business accounts too. I go inside a building about once in a blue never also ... and that's much too often ;).

Been with the same Key Bank, main use, one for a while.
Have a couple months living/lawyer cash with another one just in case. Don't keep all the eggs in one basket.
Gotten offers of up to $750 to open an account with others and didn't. Read that small print.
It's nice to see the same tellers at my branch but there has been some turnover this past decade and a half, usually for good reasons. They've generally given good advice over the years and competitive with market interest rates which were about zero until recently.

However I closed an account with their investment branch because it was bought by BNY. Those are the bastards that bought another bank holding all the $70k in stock grandpa left me which stayed untouched for thirty years. The single BNY letter said the assets were abandoned, it would be the only warning notice given, and the letter was sent to an address I hadn't lived at for several years. That's the kind of thing PayPal does. My very experienced broker said moving the account over to him was one of the most difficult things he'd done.

I won't even consider BOA, Wells Fargo, Chase. Read and heard too many bad things. BOA was charging $3.50 for using their local ATM monopoly in San Francisco plus another $1.50 from my bank. A buddy knew all that and thought he could outsmart them. They processed his mortgage late (electronically) and started racking up late fees. No tellers, no cust service yada.

Credit union. No contest.

Navy Federal CU and USAA for over 40 years.

They are both excellent for a number of different services.

Since most banks will not issues loans on farms, we went through Colonial Farm Credit for the farm loan , which has been satisfied for over a decade. Colonial Farm Credit is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, a financial cooperative owned by its member-borrowers since 1916.

I recommend them if you are seeking a rural property.

credit unions for sure.

Most recent fine imposed against USAA Fed Savings Bank:

WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced that it has assessed a $140 million civil money penalty against USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA FSB) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations

https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-140-million-civil-money-penalty-against-usaa-federal-savings#:~:text=WASHINGTON%E2%80%94The%20Financial %20Crimes%20Enforcement,BSA)%20and%20its%20impleme nting%20regulations.


And the other fine:

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/10/21/usaa-bank-fined-85-million-federal-regulators-violations-of-law.html

I work with 5 banks: one local and two regionals for personal and business, plus Amex Bank and Marcus for high yield savings and CDs. The smaller the bank the better customer service I get. Amex and Marcus offer 0 customer service.

Eeek!

My wife runs the USAA acounts - yeah, that's it...I'll have a chat with her when she gets home:D

Yeah, well I'm still with them. Honestly I don't know why though. Its just easier to stay put vice shop around; DITTO for their insurance. They say the two entities are separate but no way this isn't impacting (adversely) our insurance rates.

I do hear good things about Navy FCU and have had good experience with PenFed as well.

I do work for a whole bunch of credit unions in WA state. In general, they are great. But as someone said, not all are created equal.

Some of the largest can operate similar to the large nationwide banks. And some of the smallest can be so mismanaged that I wouldn't risk my money there.

I'd recommend a mid-sized local CU that has been in existence for at least 20 years (that number is based on a couple of factors that I won't bother to go into - but it's not random).

There are regular mergers and acquisitions of credit unions and you want to be in one that is the surviving entity of a merger, or one that is an acquiring credit union - which would indicate strong management and sustainable growth. The ones that get gobbled up in acquisitions are often on the ropes or poorly managed.

You can research a local credit union here: https://mapping.ncua.gov/ResearchCreditUnion

When I was a youngster at home in the late 50's...my parents gave me an allowance each week that I deposited to my savings account at our local bank.
When getting ready for college, I went to withdraw the approx $50 that had built up.

The bank teller informed me that it was all gone...due to fees for not enough activity in the account.
Those were the days of the small bank book that was stamped for deposits and withdrawals and they said it would have shown the fee charges if I would have come in for cash or deposit.

I was so upset that I never went to a bank again.

Yeah. Discrimination against the poor. BTDT. That would be a good candidate for a Bill.

Been at a cu for 30 years. They have a kids account and the kids would deposit at least $5 and the cu would match it. There is a limit, both age and monetary of course, but our son saved up enough to get an r/c b17in 6 months when he wss 7 or 8.

I work for a very large US based bank, and I have accounts there. Happy with them, but I also bank with Huntington.

I’ve been doing some research and I’m going to get out of both the USAA banking and insurance side. If they can afford to pay $85 million in penalties you have to wonder where the money is coming from. Well, I know where it’s coming from, our insurance premiums. I’ve stayed with them this long because I haven’t wanted to go through the hassle of going somewhere else.

I was with USAA for insurance for years. I changed when the price increases were large, and I had no claims. I am with ANAPAC now.

You're former mil, aren't you, Tobra? Check out USAA. I've been with them well over 20 years...insurance and banking.

Looks like I should have read page 2 before posting...lol.

Maybe it's time to shop around for insurance...been years since I looked at other companies and none came close to the rates I got with USAA.

I'm going to ask an honest dumbarse question-
Ok. so- local credit unions have some plusses.

That said, is there any benefit to hanging onto a big POS bank for the idea of "too big to fail"?

I have used all 3 for years

Credit Union: Best customer service

Small Local Bank: Very close to CU if not the same

BoA: the only bad thing I can say about BoA is they have very long lines with only 1 or maybe 2 tellers. CU and small bank are miniscule compared to BoA but have more tellers. I have Karen'ed about it.

I'm sure it was taken very seriously at the top.

Small bank, I once sent out a glowing email to three people I was working with, particularly about one person. One of the other two sent it to corporate and the president of the frickin bank emailed me and then called me talk with me more about my experience. Ended up doing a video interview that was shown at their annual board meeting.

Writing positive notes about businesses I interact with is one of the small joys in my life. Amazing the results sometimes.

Ok, I'll be the outlier and recommend a big bank: Chase.

There's a chase branch near me in a classic modern building from the early 60s. It has a cool 60's fountain in front, and a giant sequoia tree, and parking.

I originally went in and opened an account because I had white hot anger for bank of america, and at the time the bank was a washington mutual. My experience there was terrific, the bank gave me any guff at all I'd go in and talk to a person and it was figured out.

Washington Mutual went broke and got boughted by Chase and... my experience is still awesome at that branch.

Mostly I do my banking online but I have a butch lady there thats 'my banker'. There's stuff that banks find hard, like moving stock 'in kind', or whatever. I talk to her, then start the process, and then she shepherds the mechanics through their system and calls me when its done.

One time I had trouble validating a transfer to a different bank, I followed their process and it dint work. So I drove to the branch and sat drinking their coffee and looking at the fountain under the sequoia while some other guy called the mothership and got it working.

Wife had the kid's bank accounts at usaa, kept defending it for their whole lives. Man... if you wanted to make someone hate a bank... anyway they're adults now, I opened accounts for them and now they've got a person too. No fees, business accounts, etc. Its ridiculously good.

Every year or so they ask to manage my money or something and I decline.

And bank of america... I still have my first bank account with them, I have an ira there, and they give me a really good credit card but... I seriously think the people there are developmentally disabled. Its a good credit card so I put up with it but man oh man is that a broken bank. Total clown show. Like... go in to ask a question, they have a phone in the front and you call corporate on their damn phone. And corporate has no clue. Thats a seriously unhealthy environment, peter principal to the max.

I got a call a few days ago from a new person
at my bank branch, wanting to reach out
and introduce herself.
She asked me if I was satisfied with the
giant bank she works for.

I said, "do you really want to know?"
She said of course.

So I told her that her bank is paying 6/10ths of
one percent interest on "preferred" savings accounts
While others are closer to 4.5%
And on one of my small accounts,
they recently started charging me $25 per month
because the balance fell below $10k.

I then explained that in the past 2 months
I have moved seven figures OUT of accounts at
that bank and the only reason I still have $30k
there is because my wife has had that account
for 30 years and it's like a security blanket that
she isn't ready to give up yet.
But soon.

She said I should make an appointment to come
see her at the bank to straighten it out.
I said why should I come down there to fix
things your bank screwed up?

so to answer the OPs question, No. I don't think so.

I used to work for one that evolved into one deemed "too big to fail" (after I left) .... but it did :(.

And that was my 2nd rodeo ... my first was a Pacman bank when banking was deregulated and all both did for years was buy smaller (sometimes larger) banks and grow, grow, grow ..... and those smaller entities were often "better" in every way (for their customers). One is half of WF now and the other a huge chunk of BOA.

I am NOT a banker ... nor do I need one ... CU later :)

Don't keep more than $250K in whatever you opt for and sleep well .... FDIC.

Banks of all sizes can fail....

We do our daily banking with B of A. I have no complaints. Bill pay works fine and branches are numerous. Don’t keep much there because they pay bupkas for interest. Marcus for CD’s and hi interest savings is also good. It’s an on-line bank and their app and reporting work very well. Can’t expect much more from a on-line bank. Same with UFB Direct but their app isn’t as user friendly as Marcus.

I've been with BoA ever since they took over my local bank United Jersey. That was back in the mid 90's. It has indeed changed alot. Back before the takeover the tellers and FAs knew me by name. I could walk in at 10 AM and walk out with a personal loan by 11 AM.

Now, there is never more than one teller on duty even if there is a long queue and there is always some fat azz sitting around doing nothing. I stay with them because there is literally no other bank in town and the nearest CU is about 20 miles away.