I usually make certain they have a large safe to keep my money in, and not just some crummy old matress they're hiding it under.
Free checking is nice, but usually requires some sort of minimum balance requirement you have to maintain, or get charged their monthly fee. Some banks will waive that if you do direct deposit of your paycheck, so that's worth asking about.
Other than that, the best advice I can give is to ask around, and see who has what bank for their own account, and ask them whether they'd recommend it to someone. Trust me, if a person is impressed with their bank, they'll be happy to brag to you about how great they are. On the flip side, if someone's not very impressed with their bank, they won't have anything to brag about.
Personally, I've had nothing but luck with Citibank, as they've always seemed to bend over backwards to provide me exceptional service. When I was working for the navy in Guam, I got transferred on pretty short notice to Texas, and knew the local bank I'd financed my truck with wouldn't let me ship it while I still owed on it. I called Citibank and asked about used car loans (they don't have, but they recommended I try to qualify for a signature loan). They took my loan application over the phone, put me on hold for about 8 minutes, and came back with approval for $15K. I told them that I needed the money fast, and they sent out the promissary note via Express Mail (2 days to Guam), and told me when I got it, to sign it and fax a copy back to them, then mail the original, signed copy back to them. Once they received the faxed copy with my signature on it, they mailed out a bank check for the loan amount, again via express mail (about $12 each time, at no extra charge to me). I had the loan check less than a week after I was approved for the loan, and I was on an island half way around the world from my bank. Now THAT'S service!!
Now that I'm in Texas, I bank with Citibank here. Last year, in the middle of the night, the house I was renting literally blew up while I was sleeping in my bed. The house was a complete loss (needless to say.......if anyone wants, you can check out the aftermath pics at my photobucket album,
here ), and one of the things that I never was able to find was my checkbook. I called my local bank branch, and they cancelled the remainder of the checks (stopped payment, so they couldn't be written on by anyone else that found it), for nothing.......no charge. When I went down to the bank to order new checks, the bank rep did the order up on the computer, and I asked him if they'd just charge my account for the cost of my new checks. Imagine my pleasant surprise when he told me the new checks were no charge!
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