Reasons to stay with big banks...

[Brokefuturedoctor]

Is there any reason to stay with big banks such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America at this point besides the ability to deposit cash? Ally seems like a really good option at this point for those people who do not deal frequently in cash. Additionally, if someone did deal in cash, I feel like a local credit union would be better than using the two large banks above. Do people have thoughts on this?

[Mr. Green]

I stay away from the largest 5 or 6 banks in general because it is clear from their past behavior that they don't have customers' best interest in mind. This may be somewhat true of all banks these days but the biggest of them seem to have this flagrant "fuck you" attitude about it. Since the only thing you can do is control where you put your money, that's how I show my displeasure with their way of doing business.

If you look at this list you'll see the size of the bank drops off markedly between numbers 6 and 7. We bank with BB&T, which is a huge regional bank and is the 14th largest bank in the country, yet JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are all ~10 times the size of BB&T.

[GreenSheep]

Well, there's this, but I suppose it wouldn't affect you, thanks to FDIC insurance, unless you have entirely too much money sitting around in your bank account.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/map-of-failed-banks.aspx

[undercover]

Every bank is FDIC insured, so it doesn't really matter. Go with the bank that works best for you. What happened at Wells Fargo could've easily happened at Bank of America or Chase...I don't really have faith in any of them. I don't think I've physically went inside a bank in about 2-3 years though, so I don't even bank with any traditional bank. I just use Schwab for all investing/banking.

[accolay]

The Credit Union I have has better rates on almost everything.

Unfortunately I have accounts at both Wells Fargo and US Bank due to mortgages being sold to them.

[omega13]

The one reason that I can think of is that if you ever wanted to reach as close to a perfect 850 credit score as possible, your credit history would be most impacted by your financial relationship to one of the Tier 1 banks: Wells Fargo, Citi, Chase, BOA and US Bank.

To clarify, when you take a loan out for instance, there is a maximum amount of points your credit history would be rewarded with if you paid things on time, had the right credit utilization, refinanced every couple of years etc. If you go with a Tier 2 financial institution, like American Express, the most you can get out of your perfect financial "attendance" would be about 80%.

If on the other hand you don't care for that, then I'd say you're better of with one of the local credit unions. I would personally look for one that is part of a CU co-op so that you don't get charged any fees for using out of network ATMs.

I also don't think that ANY bank has your best interest in mind. Their first and foremost concern is to make money.

[spicykissa]

I've banked exclusively online with Schwab since I took a trip to Europe in 2008. I very rarely use cash, and they have free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world. (You get the fees returned to your account at the end of every month). Checks are deposited with the smartphone app. The only time it's kind of a pain is if I'm given cash, but that really only happens at Christmas. I try to use it for gas or groceries as I go along in January, but I'd rather have deposited it as I tend to fritter it away. Cash is "fake money" to my brain for some reason.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I've banked exclusively online with Schwab since I took a trip to Europe in 2008. I very rarely use cash, and they have free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world. (You get the fees returned to your account at the end of every month). Checks are deposited with the smartphone app. The only time it's kind of a pain is if I'm given cash, but that really only happens at Christmas. I try to use it for gas or groceries as I go along in January, but I'd rather have deposited it as I tend to fritter it away. Cash is "fake money" to my brain for some reason.

I laughed when I read that. I hate getting cash. I spend less when I used my credit card because it's easier to track how much I'm spending.

As for the thread, my wife and I keep our checking accounts at Citizens which is part of RBS. Their savings and money market accounts suck, but they do offer free checking accounts, so we just keep our checking accounts there so we have easy/free access to ATM's where we live. Any other cash we keep liquid goes to Discover or Synchrony. If I didn't need to deposit cash on occasion, I could use an online bank for just about everything.

[Brokefuturedoctor]

Thank you all for the input. I sympathize completely with getting cash and feeling like it is fake money unless I deposit it.

I don't have a credit card or other line of credit with Wells, so I think I feel ok about closing the account. I wasn't affected by any of the recent happenings there. I mostly just want to consolidate my money somewhere that won't charge me for having under a certain balance. WF seems like it just wants to layer on charges for not having a lot of money in a checking account.

[Paul der Krake]

- Wide footprint
- They usually have at least one or two historic buildings downtown that are very nice
- Usually better tech/websites
- They don't hide behind the non-profit label to pay their analysts next to nothing

Rates are irrelevant to me since I get those from online-only outfits.

[Spork]

We pulled out of our BigBank account after the bail out.  We moved to a small, local credit union.  As an after thought, I prefer the credit union over all, but as stated above: BigBank had a much better bill pay interface and did have a nice large foot print where there was always a local office and/or ATM.

[accolay]

Websites and etc. depends on the credit union. The credit union I belong to was ahead of it's time when online banking first started and continues with a terrific webstie. It's credit card has no foreign transaction fee and there are many network no fee ATMs nationwide.

[LifestyleDeflation]

Convenience is the biggest factor for me. I know I can find a branch in every city open at consistent hours, and that there will always be someone I can talk to with a specific question.

I do business with Wells Fargo, and aside from moral issues, I can't imagine why anyone would switch. Sure, they make errors and charge fees occasionally, but I've never once had trouble correcting errors or reversing fees just by calling and adding them. Additionally, applying for a large and unsecured business loan took me all of 15 minutes. Show me a credit union or small bank that will make the process that painless.

[Lanthiriel]

I'm a devoted credit union member. I've never had any problems with them. Plus my current credit union does so much good in our community through donations to charitable organizations and volunteer hours by their staff. I get warm fuzzies and no fees. Win win.

[SwordGuy]

Convenience is the biggest factor for me. I know I can find a branch in every city open at consistent hours, and that there will always be someone I can talk to with a specific question.

I do business with Wells Fargo, and aside from moral issues, I can't imagine why anyone would switch. Sure, they make errors and charge fees occasionally, but I've never once had trouble correcting errors or reversing fees just by calling and adding them. Additionally, applying for a large and unsecured business loan took me all of 15 minutes. Show me a credit union or small bank that will make the process that painless.

Pentagon Fed Credit Union has been really easy to deal with.  I've bought cars on car loans from them.  They're like, we'll pay for the car now, go on and drive it off the lot, you'll get the paperwork in a few days, sign it and send it back in.

[dividendman]

I do pretty much all of my banking with Wells Fargo including: chequing, savings, 3 credit cards, line of credit, tIRA, Roth IRA, regular brokerage account.

Why?

1) Convenience
2) No trading fees since my balances reach a certain threshold (this is not longer available on new accounts)
3) No fees for cashier's cheques
4) Free updated credit score

[golfreak12]

I've been with Washington Mutual since 1991 and when they were bought out by Chase, I decided to stay with Chase.
All my links are through Chase. I know my account and routing number by heart. They cost me zero money. No need to switch banks. Oh and I have like 5 other banks that I can switch as my main bank if I wanted to.

[Metric Mouse]

Is there any reason to stay with big banks such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America at this point besides the ability to deposit cash? Ally seems like a really good option at this point for those people who do not deal frequently in cash. Additionally, if someone did deal in cash, I feel like a local credit union would be better than using the two large banks above. Do people have thoughts on this?

Local credit union all the way.  I've no use for historic (expensive, inefficient) buildings, extended customer service hours, high fees or occasional mistakes.  Why would I take the hit in interest just to have to deal with all of that, when I can get much, much better rate at my local cu?

[GuitarBrian]

I bank with Wells Fargo. For convience mostly, traveling all the time, they have branches all over... Almost all 35 states we went to this year.

[LifestyleDeflation]

Is there any reason to stay with big banks such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America at this point besides the ability to deposit cash? Ally seems like a really good option at this point for those people who do not deal frequently in cash. Additionally, if someone did deal in cash, I feel like a local credit union would be better than using the two large banks above. Do people have thoughts on this?

Local credit union all the way.  I've no use for historic (expensive, inefficient) buildings, extended customer service hours, high fees or occasional mistakes.  Why would I take the hit in interest just to have to deal with all of that, when I can get much, much better rate at my local cu?

It sounds like you're in party referencing my post, so I'd also like to point out that the experiences I've had with both my local bank and my local credit union have been significantly more frustrating- everyone charges fees for something, but my local operations are much more weary about reversing them. It also seems to take forever to get in touch with the right person for a specific need. Maybe you've got an awesome CU, but I sure don't. ☺

ETA- one specific memory each from my local CU and local bank. When I was applying for a business loan:

My CU wanted me to fill out a ~10 page application with some very detailed financial information, stuff that would take me probably 10 hours to aggregate.

My local bank told me to "come back tomorrow when our business loan person is in the building." They also told me that their maximum loan size is 10% of last year's net profit. Wtf? Either that was someone talking out of their ass or their lending rules are ridiculously restrictive. Who would need a loan for only 10% of their last year's profits?

This compared to Wells Fargo, who asked me for I believe 5 pieces of information:
-Name & title of signer
-Business name & entity type
-Tax ID #
-Previous year gross
-Previous year net

So easy, which as a business owner is so important to me!

[Petunia 100]

I bank with Wells Fargo and I am very content with both the service (excellent) and the cost (free).  Since the scandal about the excessive fees broke, I have been wondering exactly how that worked.  I have a new account I didn't authorize and am being charged fees.  So, how did the account get funded in the first place?  They transferred money out of my account and I just didn't notice? 

In the past, I banked with my credit union.  Once while on a road trip, I was 2,000 miles from home in my minivan with my 2 children (who were still young at that time) and my debit card was declined to purchase gas.  Annoying, but no big deal. So I visited a bank ATM which had my credit union's logo on it to get some cash.  My debit card was declined.  It was a weekend so I had to wait a few days to call.  When I called, all they could say was that my card should work.  Well yeah, I already knew that.  Their only suggestion was to bring my card in once I was home and they would take a look at it.  That was not a terribly helpful suggestion. 

Since then, I have stuck with large national banks for banking.  I am still a member of the credit union, but I do not bank with them. 

[Petunia 100]

P.S. debit cards can fail for a variety of reasons, even if valid, depending on how they are set up, the size of your transaction, the POS/ATM device type (attended vs non attended), the merchant type and their status in the network, the time of day (some bank systems go down for maintenance or for updates/how failures). Since funds are confirmed via the merchant payment network, any one of several systems failing; or software not liking the parameters of your card/ transaction; or new update to the network you bank is late implementing; can result in a default to a 'no.'  It is not always your financial institutions fault, but as you point out they could be slow to keep current.

If you want mind numbing details, Google 'US EMV migration'.

That's fine.  My complaint is not that there was a problem.  My complaint is that there was a problem and they did nothing to help me.  Nothing.  Did I mention I was 2,000 miles from home in a minivan with two small children with little cash and no working debit card?  I am unwilling to be in that sort of situation again, so I choose to bank with a large national bank.

[Travis]

I've been with WF since college and it's been a good relationship so far.  I haven't gone to them in person much except for a medallion signature last year and on the rare occasions I have too much cash in my pocket (Craiglist sales and Christmas come to mind).  Since the invention of mobile deposit I have even fewer reasons to visit a branch in person, but I like the security of having the option.  We used to keep my wife's BoA account open when we lived on the east coast since WF does/didn't have an eastern presence back then.  USAA covers that gap for now.  I opened a Chase account for the cash incentive a couple months ago and I've toyed with keeping it open long term since I have so many credit cards with them.

My family have been credit union members for decades and I have an account with them, but since they're state-specific I don't do anything with them except keep a minimum balance.  If we ever settle down back home they'll be competitive for a mortgage.  They're also competitive with larger banks for my son's "young member" account.

[Nothlit]

P.S. debit cards can fail for a variety of reasons, even if valid, depending on how they are set up, the size of your transaction, the POS/ATM device type (attended vs non attended), the merchant type and their status in the network, the time of day (some bank systems go down for maintenance or for updates/how failures). Since funds are confirmed via the merchant payment network, any one of several systems failing; or software not liking the parameters of your card/ transaction; or new update to the network you bank is late implementing; can result in a default to a 'no.'  It is not always your financial institutions fault, but as you point out they could be slow to keep current.

If you want mind numbing details, Google 'US EMV migration'.

That's fine.  My complaint is not that there was a problem.  My complaint is that there was a problem and they did nothing to help me.  Nothing.  Did I mention I was 2,000 miles from home in a minivan with two small children with little cash and no working debit card?  I am unwilling to be in that sort of situation again, so I choose to bank with a large national bank.

The following is not intended as a personal rebuttal - I just saw an opportunity to leverage your story to mention something that many may not be aware of, and it seems relevant to the thread. :)

A significant number of credit unions are part of a nationwide network called CO-OP (I think it used to be called CU Service Centers, and they either merged or changed names sometime in the last decade). You can basically walk into any participating credit union branch and perform transactions as if you were at your home branch. In your situation, this would have allowed you to make a cash withdrawal at the teller window without having to use your ATM card. It's possible your credit union was not a participant, in which case this wouldn't have helped you. However, there are apparently 5000 participating credit union branches in the network, which is on par with the number of branches that Wells Fargo, Chase, and BoA each have nationwide (according to a 5 second Google search I just did).

In fact, my parents moved about 1000 miles cross-country after retiring a few years ago, and my dad still keeps using his credit union account from their former state. He just goes to a local credit union that participates in the shared branching network and does all his transactions through them, and nobody seems to mind.

[RedmondStash]

We've been with BoA for more than 25 years, largely out of inertia. There are some advantages:

- lower HELOC rate, because it's also with BoA
- partner banks around the world, so you can get money out of a foreign ATM without service fees
- lots of branches everywhere, so we can get money out of domestic ATMs without service fees too
- when we were with Merrill Lynch, we got some special treatment because of the BoA/Merrill relationship. (We've since moved to Vanguard.)

We haven't really had any trouble with them. They are adequate for our needs. But we're also not wedded to them; if there's a compelling reason at some point, we wouldn't hesitate to move to a credit union or another financial institution.

[Metric Mouse]

Is there any reason to stay with big banks such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America at this point besides the ability to deposit cash? Ally seems like a good option at this point for those people who do not deal frequently in cash. Additionally, if someone did deal in cash, I feel like a local credit union would be better than using the two large banks above. Do people have thoughts on this?

Local credit union all the way.  I've no use for historic (expensive, inefficient) buildings, extended customer service hours, high fees or occasional mistakes.  Why would I take the hit in interest just to have to deal with all of that, when I can get much, much better rate at my local cu?really

It sounds like you're in party referencing my post, so I'd also like to point out that the experiences I've had with both my local bank and my local credit union have been significantly more frustrating- everyone charges fees for something, but my local operations are much more weary about reversing them. It also seems to take forever to get in touch with the right person for a specific need. Maybe you've got an awesome CU, but I sure don't. ☺

ETA- one specific memory each from my local CU and local bank. When I was applying for a business loan:

My CU wanted me to fill out a ~10 page application with some very detailed financial information, stuff that would take me probably 10 hours to aggregate.

My local bank told me to "come back tomorrow when our business loan person is in the building." They also told me that their maximum loan size is 10% of last year's net profit. Wtf? Either that was someone talking out of their ass or their lending rules are ridiculously restrictive. Who would need a loan for only 10% of their last year's profits?

This compared to Wells Fargo, who asked me for I believe 5 pieces of information:
-Name & title of signer
-Business name & entity type
-Tax ID #
-Previous year gross
-Previous year net

So easy, which as a business owner is so important to me!

Absolutely understand; if I were a small business operator,I would have different needs of a bank than I do as a regular retiree. It's great that you are happy with your current bank!

[Kansas Beachbum]

Convenience, as others have said.  I keep my checking account at BOA.  We travel a lot and I like that I can get an ATM pretty much anywhere, domestically anyway, we go.  I've never been anywhere in the US that I couldn't find a BOA branch if I needed cash.  As far as money market accounts and such, Ally and some of the online banks have quite a bit better rates.

[Petunia 100]

The following is not intended as a personal rebuttal - I just saw an opportunity to leverage your story to mention something that many may not be aware of, and it seems relevant to the thread. :)

A significant number of credit unions are part of a nationwide network called CO-OP (I think it used to be called CU Service Centers, and they either merged or changed names sometime in the last decade). You can basically walk into any participating credit union branch and perform transactions as if you were at your home branch. In your situation, this would have allowed you to make a cash withdrawal at the teller window without having to use your ATM card. It's possible your credit union was not a participant, in which case this wouldn't have helped you. However, there are apparently 5000 participating credit union branches in the network, which is on par with the number of branches that Wells Fargo, Chase, and BoA each have nationwide (according to a 5 second Google search I just did).

In fact, my parents moved about 1000 miles cross-country after retiring a few years ago, and my dad still keeps using his credit union account from their former state. He just goes to a local credit union that participates in the shared branching network and does all his transactions through them, and nobody seems to mind.

Yes, if there had been a participating credit union in the vicinity, that is what I would have done.  However, there was not.  I was in a rural area of Minnesota. 

I ended up asking an acquaintance in that area to cash my personal check; she did. 

[MilesTeg]

Credit Union, all the way.

Of course, the quality of credit union's vary just as much as banks but they are, in general, a much better way for individuals to keep their money. I've exclusively used a credit union for the last ~15 years.

Why would you want to pay someone to handle your money instead of having that service done for free (ok, for a $5 flat lifetime fee)? No fees (mine CU even reimburses me for 3rd party ATM fees), better rates, 100% member focus (i.e. no shareholders to please), etc.

Obviously they don't necessarily meet the needs of businesses/etc. but for personal banking they are, frankly, unbeatable in my experience.

First house I bought I made the mistake of using the builder's preferred lender (countrywide, LOL), and it's was nothing but a horror show. Countrywide went bankrupt a few months after getting the mortgage and they sold to BoA who failed to actually pay the insurance and taxes in a timely fashion and had the audacity to try to make ME pay for the late fees.

[MilesTeg]

Convenience, as others have said.  I keep my checking account at BOA.  We travel a lot and I like that I can get an ATM pretty much anywhere, domestically anyway, we go.  I've never been anywhere in the US that I couldn't find a BOA branch if I needed cash.  As far as money market accounts and such, Ally and some of the online banks have quite a bit better rates.

I've traveled all over (17 states) using my credit union exclusively. I have never had a problem with any ATM nor have I paid any ATM fees. If it's an 'in-network' ATM I just don't get charged. If it's an 'out of network' ATM I get reimbursed for the fee a few days later.

As with commercial banks (large and small), credit unions (large and small) vary in their service.

The real problem is the commercial banks lobbying to make sure that credit unions have to jump through innumerable hoops to even exist, because how DARE a group of people work together to accomplish a goal without a profit motive rather than pay some fat cat to do it for them. Fix that injustice and credit unions would fix a lot of problems with our banking system just by providing easier access to money management that is not compromised by profit motive.