Looking for a new bank

[Dr. Zaus]

99.99% of places accept credit (OR debit cards). There is absolutely positively ZERO incentive to carry cash, unless you want a reason to be robbed.

Moreover, using a debit card is insecure, whereas using a credit card is using someone else's money (effectively), so if a fraudulent charge happens, you are not responsible for it.

To put it bluntly, you are stupid to use cash in this modern society. There are 100 benefits to not using it, 0 benefits to using it, and multiple incentives TO use credit cards.

Lots of little hipster places here don't take credit cards.

 

[Crono]

99.99% of places accept credit (OR debit cards). There is absolutely positively ZERO incentive to carry cash, unless you want a reason to be robbed.

Moreover, using a debit card is insecure, whereas using a credit card is using someone else's money (effectively), so if a fraudulent charge happens, you are not responsible for it.

To put it bluntly, you are stupid to use cash in this modern society. There are 100 benefits to not using it, 0 benefits to using it, and multiple incentives TO use credit cards.

Keep thinking that. Every so often natural disasters like Sandy (just to use my own experience) hit, making credit cards useless in many places. A bad enough situation to make little plastic cards hard to use, but not an end-of-the-world scenario (which would of course make cash worthless as well) that would make bartering necessary. Even in my everyday experience I've had the problem where the local McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts machines are "down" and they take cash only.

Not to mention the fact that while you may not be liable for fraudulent charges, it's a royal pain to get things sorted out if you are the victim of credit card theft or even trigger some alert due to "suspicious" activity. Again, during that time your plastic card is near worthless.

I'm not saying people shouldn't use credit cards, but if you think it's without risks or disadvantages and that we should be living in a cashless society, you really must be fortunate to not have encountered any of the problems going credit card-only. The systems in place now aren't 100% reliable. If it works 99.9X% of the time or whatever the number is, sure, it makes it convenient to use credit cards, but it's not to the point yet where it isn't smart to have cash on hand at least as a backup.

 

[lxskllr]

99.99% of places accept credit (OR debit cards). There is absolutely positively ZERO incentive to carry cash, unless you want a reason to be robbed.

Moreover, using a debit card is insecure, whereas using a credit card is using someone else's money (effectively), so if a fraudulent charge happens, you are not responsible for it.

To put it bluntly, you are stupid to use cash in this modern society. There are 100 benefits to not using it, 0 benefits to using it, and multiple incentives TO use credit cards.

I use cash virtually 100% of the time. Every transaction is crystal clear, with zero mistakes. Robbery? Good luck. If you get my money, you earned it.

 

[cpacini]

Keep thinking that. Every so often natural disasters like Sandy (just to use my own experience) hit, making credit cards useless in many places. A bad enough situation to make little plastic cards hard to use, but not an end-of-the-world scenario (which would of course make cash worthless as well) that would make bartering necessary. Even in my everyday experience I've had the problem where the local McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts machines are "down" and they take cash only.

Not to mention the fact that while you may not be liable for fraudulent charges, it's a royal pain to get things sorted out if you are the victim of credit card theft or even trigger some alert due to "suspicious" activity. Again, during that time your plastic card is near worthless.

I'm not saying people shouldn't use credit cards, but if you think it's without risks or disadvantages and that we should be living in a cashless society, you really must be fortunate to not have encountered any of the problems going credit card-only. The systems in place now aren't 100% reliable. If it works 99.9X% of the time or whatever the number is, sure, it makes it convenient to use credit cards, but it's not to the point yet where it isn't smart to have cash on hand at least as a backup.

I haven't carried cash in years, I can't remember the last time it was an issue.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Keep thinking that. Every so often natural disasters like Sandy (just to use my own experience) hit, making credit cards useless in many places. A bad enough situation to make little plastic cards hard to use, but not an end-of-the-world scenario (which would of course make cash worthless as well) that would make bartering necessary. Even in my everyday experience I've had the problem where the local McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts machines are "down" and they take cash only.

Not to mention the fact that while you may not be liable for fraudulent charges, it's a royal pain to get things sorted out if you are the victim of credit card theft or even trigger some alert due to "suspicious" activity. Again, during that time your plastic card is near worthless.

I'm not saying people shouldn't use credit cards, but if you think it's without risks or disadvantages and that we should be living in a cashless society, you really must be fortunate to not have encountered any of the problems going credit card-only. The systems in place now aren't 100% reliable. If it works 99.9X% of the time or whatever the number is, sure, it makes it convenient to use credit cards, but it's not to the point yet where it isn't smart to have cash on hand at least as a backup.

Oh boy. You're pretty funny.

First, I'm not advocating for NEVER having cash. I have ~$200 in cash hidden at home. I have $20 hidden in my car in case I run out of gas or need to pay for parking. It's there for emergencies and in case I need it at a rare odd time. Yes, you're a dumbass if you use it in your daily day-to-day transactions instead of a credit card that...
A) Generates credit history, hence much more likely to be approved for loans and have lower rates
B) Gives rewards, most cards give miles, 1% cash back, or 5% cash back depending on the transaction.
C) Puts the risk in the hands of the credit card company instead of yourself. If I have to hand over my wallet I don't have to worry about losing any money. You do.

Trying to build out scenarios of the USA economy collapsing or a hurricane that magically stops all credit card machines, or having to go to a different coffee shop for 1 day as justification for carrying around cash 24/7 is just funny and pathetic.

Also, I guarantee you have never had a fraudulent charge. How do I know this? Because I know how easy it is. I have had it happen multiple times, and each time it's just 1 call away - and sometimes it's 0 calls because they notice it, reject it, and send me a notification of it via email saying a new card is in the mail. Oh NO! What torture of having to deal with that

I use cash virtually 100% of the time. Every transaction is crystal clear, with zero mistakes. Robbery? Good luck. If you get my money, you earned it.

I fail to see any justification for doing so - but hey - whatever works for you. I'll enjoy cashing out my $1k+ at the end of the year from earning cashback all year.

Lots of little hipster places here don't take credit cards.

And I could careless. If I REALLY want something and they don't take AT LEAST debit, then they aren't worth my time. Most hipster places embrace it with things such as iPhone/iPad card swipes to be able to charge to credit cards.

 

[dr150]

I use cash virtually 100% of the time. Every transaction is crystal clear, with zero mistakes. Robbery? Good luck. If you get my money, you earned it.

Not worth it holding you at gunpoint for $7.

....Can't even have a decent meal at Chipotle with that.

 

[TwiceOver]

I know Wells Fargo is shady as fuck, but they've never hosed me and their systems work really well. I haven't found a reason for me to leave them yet, except for re-fi my mortgage which they weren't at all competitive on.

 

[Crono]

Oh boy. You're pretty funny.

...

Also, I guarantee you have never had a fraudulent charge. How do I know this? Because I know how easy it is. I have had it happen multiple times, and each time it's just 1 call away - and sometimes it's 0 calls because they notice it, reject it, and send me a notification of it via email saying a new card is in the mail. Oh NO! What torture of having to deal with that

Yeah, you inject this kind of hyperbolic statement without qualification in the post I quoted and you roll you eyes at my response.

To put it bluntly, you are stupid to use cash in this modern society. There are 100 benefits to not using it, 0 benefits to using it, and multiple incentives TO use credit cards.

And again, I have no problem with people using credit cards over cash. I gave my reasons for using cash - good for you and everyone else who never has a problem using credit all the time, I'm happy for you - but I still use cash plenty for daily, in-person transactions, and stating people are stupid for carrying and using cash is, well, stupid.

 

[Crono]

Not worth it holding you at gunpoint for $7.

....Can't even have a decent meal at Chipotle with that.

Not to mention the smartphone is a better target. Most people aren't going to be carrying a ton of cash on them at any given time. Spot a Galaxy S6/Note 5 variant or a new iPhone? Jackpot... though "kill switch" and other security is making it tougher.

 

[waffleironhead]

Sounds like yours sucks. There should be a mechanism for removing those in power, and bringing it in line with consumer interests. Might be more work than you're interested in, but it should be doable. There's zero reason to be worse than a (multi)national chain.

Yeah, that sounds like way too much work. Dont get me wrong ive used great credit unions before, which is why I was so surprised by this one.

 

[glenn1]

I know Wells Fargo is shady as fuck, but they've never hosed me and their systems work really well. I haven't found a reason for me to leave them yet, except for re-fi my mortgage which they weren't at all competitive on.

I used to work for them and would never, ever bank with them now that I no longer do and have the option.

As to OP, try CapitalOne360. Amazingly enough when ING Direct was sold off to Capital One, the new parent company didn't fuck things up with the new subsidiary and actually improved them in some ways.

No experience with Ally Bank but I refuse to deal with anything connected to the dinosaurs at General Motors and don't want to be associated in any way with their scumbag loansharks in GMAC. Besides I don't feel like losing all my shit in their inevitable 2nd and hopefully final bankruptcy.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Lots of little hipster places here don't take credit cards.

BS. I find that the little hipster places are the best at taking cards because they all seem to have Square readers on their phones.

 

[RossMAN]

https://twofactorauth.org/#banking

 

[manlymatt83]

Alliant Credit Union.

Been with them for 10+ years. I've never felt the urge to look elsewhere.

Great service, and always adjusts their rates to remain competitive. On the west coast you can deposit your checks via their partner bank, Bank of the West.

Schwab Bank is good for having a secondary "token account" to use when traveling overseas as they'll expense ANY ATM fee around the world.

Another token account worth consideration is a BofA free account, etc. This is good if you need a bank window to do transactions.

Are you still happy with Alliant? I just opened an account with them. Thinking of switching over.

 

[brianmanahan]

https://twofactorauth.org/#banking

for a second, i thought rossman was with us

 

[Muse]

I am a fan of Chase. Good mobile options, no fees as long as you keep balances decent, and probably the best benefit is that all my accounts are managed in one spot alongside online bill pay. On top of that, they have tons of ATM's most places I go.

Only fee I've ever paid with them was to electronic transfer a huge sum when I bought my house. Outside of that I've not been charged - or if I was they removed it (had an issue with a new card, but cleared it up).

I've banked with Chase a long time (checking and I've had other accounts there), don't pay monthly fees because I meet requirements. I also have a free checking account at Union Bank. I like them particularly because the safe deposit box I have there is only charged $15/year, which sure beats Chase last time I checked. My Chase branch used to be Washington Mutual, but they were acquired by J.P. Morgan, who IIRC own Chase. My checks still say Washington Mutual, ha!!! In 2000 they screwed me out of my mortgage just as I went into escrow. Hard to forgive them that, but I still have the account, which gets auto-dinged for my utilities, credit cards, etc. I feel more comfortable having two checking accounts with different institutions. I keep decent balances in both but beyond that keep cash in online savings accounts. The B&M banks don't pay squat for keeping your money.

 

[Muse]

Keep thinking that. Every so often natural disasters like Sandy (just to use my own experience) hit, making credit cards useless in many places. A bad enough situation to make little plastic cards hard to use, but not an end-of-the-world scenario (which would of course make cash worthless as well) that would make bartering necessary. Even in my everyday experience I've had the problem where the local McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts machines are "down" and they take cash only.

Not to mention the fact that while you may not be liable for fraudulent charges, it's a royal pain to get things sorted out if you are the victim of credit card theft or even trigger some alert due to "suspicious" activity. Again, during that time your plastic card is near worthless.

I'm not saying people shouldn't use credit cards, but if you think it's without risks or disadvantages and that we should be living in a cashless society, you really must be fortunate to not have encountered any of the problems going credit card-only. The systems in place now aren't 100% reliable. If it works 99.9X% of the time or whatever the number is, sure, it makes it convenient to use credit cards, but it's not to the point yet where it isn't smart to have cash on hand at least as a backup.

I have cash, often go out without any if I know I'm going to be able to pay with CC. I keep cash at home in case of an emergency. I even have some hidden in the car, don't remember needing that. My CC's have cash back rewards, so I figure paying cash is at a premium, it's cheaper to pay with CC and I do when possible. Besides, as should be obvious, cash is faceless, nameless and can be tendered by anybody. A CC is more secure. The CC companies generally have your back if you're scammed, lose your card, misplace it, whatever. I try to keep enough cash on hand to get me through a foreseeable emergency, which is hard to gauge, but haven't had any problems so far.

Cash has other downsides. You have to store it, sort it, count it, deal with change. I have containers at home with coins and coin rolls. The less I deal in cash the less I have to mess with that stuff.