The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: FIstateofmind on January 27, 2017, 04:06:15 AM
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Hello Mustachians,
I'd like to see if I can get a better checking account. Wells Fargo requires $1,500 min balance and it pains me to see that money parked there.
I work for an international company, so I need to ensure I'll pay no transfer fees. Usually this means the bank has an ACH code. I use ally for my savings, but I have had trouble with the international deposits.
Another perk with Wells Fargo is the ability to deposit physical cash. Any alternatives for this?
As always, thanks for the help!
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Credit Union?
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I have free, no-minumim-balance checking through a local credit union. I have no idea how credit unions are with international transfers, though.
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Merrill Lynch CMA has no minimums and you can use any Bank of America ATM. Not sure about the transfer fees.
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Read the fine print for waiving the account fee. Many banks don't have a minimum if you have a certain amount of direct deposit coming in, or a certain number of bill pay/debit transactions per month.
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Are you able to elaborate on the difficulties you've had with Ally and transfers? I'm not a customer of theirs but I wouldn't expect that they would be any different than most any bank or credit union in this regard. Thanks!
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Alliant Credit Union
Fidelity Cash Management account
Capital One 360
(probably in that order too)
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Read the fine print for waiving the account fee. Many banks don't have a minimum if you have a certain amount of direct deposit coming in, or a certain number of bill pay/debit transactions per month.
We currently use Schwab Bank for our primary checking & Wells Fargo for brick & mortar services. WF waives its checking account fee & minimum balance because we have Social Security direct deposit going there. DS gets his WF fees waived because his account is for college students. Schwab is distance only but we do have a local brokerage office which can handle some things face to face. Schwab has no minimum, pays any ATM fee anywhere in the world, & does not charge transaction fees. Both accept mobile deposits from a mobile device. It's easy to transfer between the two banks but typically takes 3-5 days; I always initiate this from Schwab because it doesn't charge transfer fees, even if coming from or to Wells Fargo.
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Schwab has worked very well for me too... I used to have a branch in my town so if you need cash deposit that's the only caveat. But it's great for international travel, no ATM fees, and best of all I have my brokerage and IRA there.
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