Who do you bank with and...

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-03-2006, 08:45 AM

how has your time with your bank been?

I bank with Wachovia bank, we've been with them for over 15 years now when they were first Meridian then First Union and now wachovia and although I have only had maybe 2-3 errors with them in all those years I am charged for little things here and there and I want a FREE checking that actually means FREE.

- I would like to know who you bank with?
- Would you most likely stay with this bank for a while OR what has made you stay with this bank as long as you have?
- Would you recommend this bank to others?

Looking forward to hear what everyone has to say.

**Mojjo** · 03-03-2006, 08:50 AM

New Jersey Law and Public Safety Credit Union...mouth full alright.

I LOVE THEM!!!!

Free means free with them, I pay $6 a month for bill pay but it rocks and I'm relieved of so much little stuff (like stamps and envelopes).

They are great..we have our CC through them too. And our car loan. They are small and friendly and in our building. Also, the online site is great. We may get our mortgage through them too. And I use bank checks to pay for a lot of things (rent, daycare) and they are free.

**chewawalove** · 03-03-2006, 09:05 AM

We are with Wachovia too & have been for a long time, but like you are looking to leave. Same reasons.

We are looking at several options here. We already have one small account with the credit union & are thinking of moving to Mid-South Bank (local).

Wachovia here used to be SouthTrust. Our feelings now..?....bah, wach!

**AmyMCGS** · 03-03-2006, 09:12 AM

We bank with a small local bank that only has branches in one county. I originally wanted to move to a bigger bank when we got married, but, DH talked me into staying there (we had both used that bank before). Now I'm glad we did-- all the tellers know us by name, and if something happens that's odd, they call us. Our first mortgage was through them and our Safe Deposit box is there, too.

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-03-2006, 09:13 AM

I agree about Wachovia as I stated in my first post, they charge us $2 to get our checks sent back (I hardly EVER write a check) so I am going to call them today and get that taken care of) plus little fees here and there.

My son has an account with Soverign and they charge you 50cents each time you use your debit card for a purchase where you have to enter a pin (that's crazy).

**PrairieRose** · 03-03-2006, 10:33 AM

We bank with a small, local bank with only one other branch in another town. When I call over there to do any type of business they always call me by my first name, ask about my kids by name and the banker even comes to visit on occaission. I love this bank and the friendly-ness of the people. There are some advantages to banking at privately owned banks. You might look around in your area. There's bound to be a few.

**homesteadmamma** · 03-03-2006, 10:49 AM

Please be careful what you post in regards to your banking. Remember this is a public forum.

We've banked at the same bank for years and years. Our bank has been chosen has one of the best banks in Canada.

**tlenad** · 03-03-2006, 11:43 AM

I bank at Bank of America and have a savings account at ING Direct.

I choose Bank of America for a few reason, on-line services are free which is how I do all my transfers and monthly payments. And they branches all over the US. My parents own a farm about an hour and a half away from me and I often spend weekends there. Plus we have family on the other side of the state so it's nice to away have access to my Bank if I need money for some reason.

Now if only I could get my Visa paid off that I have through them, I'd be happy.

I chose ING for my savings account because they give a good savings interest rate and were FDIC insured.

**littlemotherhaywood** · 03-03-2006, 01:29 PM

I do my banking at US Bank. My checking account is free and my bill pay is free. Honestly, the customer service has been pretty poor and they have too many stipulations about how long stuff takes to post to my account. For example, even if I deposit cash on a Saturday, it's not accessible till the following Tuesday. I hate that, but I love the FREE bill pay and the fact that I have no fees associated with the account. I also have a reward debit card so if I use it as a credit card I get a certain percentage (it's small, but every bit counts). Every time I go to the gas station I use the debit card and usually when I go to the grocery although I'm reconsidering my spending habits, lol. Overall, I'm satisfied.

**frugalfarmwife** · 03-03-2006, 02:16 PM

We use National City Bank, it does have its negatives (problems since they took over) it was origionally a savings and loan. We use them as they were the only ones that could work with us on our farm loan, regular banks don't handle farm mortgages (and you wonder why the family farm is disappearing!)

The checking is free, bill pay is free, we have a CC thru them for gasoline that we pay off monthly, you do have to keep a minimum in savings to not be dinged $3 a month (grrrr) I only keep a minimum in there, the rest in an online bank as I get 10x the interest online

kj

**pkellyc** · 03-03-2006, 02:42 PM

We have been going to the same bank building for 20 years it has just changed hands 3 times.

**baxjul** · 03-03-2006, 03:07 PM

We have Capital City and we love them, they have never made any mistakes, and everything is free.

kj, I worked at National City for over a year, and they have alot of little fees!

**momof42003** · 03-03-2006, 06:58 PM

We are at a local Credit Union... They have a few through out the state where we do the most traveling.. We have been there for almost ten years... They are great. Won't be changing ever... If that is possible... We have had two other banks with our account and they were national bank, and on more than one occasion they screwed our accounts up really bad... Never again.

**inneedofhope** · 03-03-2006, 08:04 PM

I use a credit union and I really like it. All accounts earn interest, even if it is small. I use a larger big name bank for my mortgage only. I am not as pleased with their service.

**pita1213** · 03-03-2006, 09:30 PM

we also bank with a local credit union. there are fees on somethings, but the fees are on things we don't use like bill pay. but even will bill pay, if you use it to pay 5 or more bills, it's free.
we do get charge a fee ( maybe 50 cents but i think it's still a quarter) if we use our debit card as a debit card. if we use it as a credit card, there is no fee. we have 2 loans through them and the best thing about that is the payment comes out of the checking account so i don't have to worry about forgetting to make the payment. and if i want to make an extra payment, i can just transfer hte money.
when we were in CT for 3 years we opened an account with First Union. that was teh worst mistake we ever made. first they linked someone elses debit card to our account and we had to fight them with that. then they processedsome checks before processing a deposit and then processed more checks. well because they didn't process teh deposit first, the first 2 checks bounced, then they bounce the 3 they processed after teh deposit. there was more than enough money after the deposit to cover teh bounced check fees, and the total of all the checks. dh and i had to argue with a manger for over an hour to get them to refund the bounced check fees. at first they said they'd refund the first 2 but would not refund the last 3 because ti was their error in not processing the deposit first. couldn't get my head around that one. finally got it through to the guy that the last 3 shouldn't have even been bounced because by the time they were processed there was a positive balance.

i don't know if things have improved since they were bought out, but we will never go back to a regular bank.
i am much happier with a credit union.