Which of the large banks is the best?

[beer]

Which of the national banks is the one you prefer the most? I'm not really interested in credit unions etc. since I travel and....well I'd rather be a heathen by supporting a large bank than by being more socially responsible at the expense of convenience.

Which of the large banks is regareded to be the best? I'm with Wamu and citibank right now. Wamu pissed me off with their $4 ATM fees and I've only kept a bit of money in the citi account so I don't know how they are to deal with.

 

[FoBoT]

Citi is the largest , so it must be the best

 

[middlehead]

My checking is with US Bank because they were the only bank in my town at the time. Literally, the only bank in the city. Wells Fargo opened an office eventually, but I never saw any great reason to change. The only other major bank I have experience with is a credit card from Bank of America. Never had any problems with them, but they've never done anything special for me either.

 

[krunchykrome]

Wachovia, hands down.

 

[vi edit]

I've been happy with Wells Fargo. They have one of the better ATM networks that I've seen with machines in many Airports. They also have some "extended hours" locations that are open far beyond traditional banking times. When I lived in Omaha, there was one in the Target near us that was open from 12:00-5:00 on a Sunday.

Only downfall is that their fees are horrible if you fall below account minimums, need any special services(cashiers check), or use an out of network ATM.

But I think you'll find that at about any national bank.

 

[nonameo]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Wachovia, hands down.

I have also had good experience with Wachovia.

 

[j00fek]

credit unions > banks

i hate fees

 

[JC86]

I really think this depends on where you live . . . . out here in Los Angeles, there's a bank of america, wells fargo, and wamu literally at every corner. I've had accounts with all three at one point or another and to be honest, i dun think there's much of a difference. The only thing for me is that I want convenient ATM locations and they all offer that if that's what you're looking for. I can't speak for other locations around the country but when I was in Boston, Fleet Bank was all over the place and iirc, BOA bought out Fleet so there's gotta be a lot of BOA locations in Boston as well.

 

[Mizugori]

Ok I have used:

Chase - major dick in the !!!
BOA - pretty good, some ridiculous fees like everyone though
Wamu - also pretty good, lower fees and I don't know what you're talking about 4 dollars?? they dont charge for using their card at an out of network atm last i checked... maybe you got a 4 dollar fee for using another banks card at a wamu atm?

Bank of NY - turned into chase, f*ck that

Citibank - best IMO. Treat you very well, cool looking debit cards, they are ALL OVER THE PLACE kind of like chase, only they aren't assholes like chase. they will work with just about anyone for credit too.

 

[beer]

>> Wamu - also pretty good, lower fees and I don't know what you're talking about 4 dollars?? they dont charge for using their card at an out of network atm last i checked... maybe you got a 4 dollar fee for using another banks card at a wamu atm? <<

They raised their ATM fee from $1.25 to $4 on May 1st. I got it with ONE of those and said it was fscking ridiculous. Bye, wamu!

 

[Coquito]

I use North Fork since they bought out Greenpoint. I like the fact that there are no fees associated with my accounts, & the fact that I earn just a little interest with my checking(1-2.5%). They haven't bothered me with anything so far, & their tellers are always cute & helpful.

 

[imported_nerve]

I like citi bank. I just switched over.

Opened a checking acct. and signed up for the AAdvantage debit card to get miles.

They have ATMs in pretty much all 7-11's and are free.

They now offer some mobile banking I was reading about which looks.... cool...

 

[jamesave]

Bank of America or Citibank

Citibank has the online savings which give you high yield. Bofa has really nice online banking interface.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: nerve
I like citi bank. I just switched over.

Opened a checking acct. and signed up for the AAdvantage debit card to get miles.

They have ATMs in pretty much all 7-11's and are free.

They now offer some mobile banking I was reading about which looks.... cool...

I have a checking account and a savings account with Citibank. I've been with them for like five years, and I'm pretty happy.

I got an offer in the mail yesterday telling me that Citibank is now offering 4.65% on their savings account plus a $50 sign-up bonus for new accounts (if you don't already have a Citibank account). Go to offer.citibank.com and enter the code CY6B to see what the deal is.

We can post codes now, right??


The 7Eleven ATMs are great, but I also use Citibanks overseas. If you pull money out of a Citibank ATM overseas, they don't charge you any fees and they give you a much better exchange rate than the money changers.



Edit: BTW, the Citibank savings account rate was 5.0% last year when I signed up. They dropped it to 4.5% for about six months, and it now looks like they took it up to 4.65%. It's not as great as other online banks, but transfers between your Citibank checking and Citibank savings accounts are instantaneous.

 

[everman]

ING

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: nonameo

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Wachovia, hands down.

I have also had good experience with Wachovia.

Same here.

But Bank of America has a great ATM network.

 

[marvdmartian]

I have two checking accounts. One, local, with Citibank (started out being small bank called First American, which got bought out by Citibank). One back home, which was Citibank, but was one of a dozen branches that got sold to M&T Bank.

Recently, when the house I was renting had a real-life gas explosion, and I couldn't find my checkbooks right away in what was left of the house, I called both banks, to see if they'd stop payment, or whatever.

M&T said they'd have to charge me to do any stop payment, and I'd have to give them the number of the last check I wrote (a reasonable thing to ask, but "DOH!!", I just told you my house blew up, and I can't find my checkbook! Hello??). I told 'em never mind, I'd wait a couple days and see if I could find the checkbook first (which I did, thank goodness!).

Citibank said no problem, we'll do a stop payment whenever you want, on whichever checks you want, just tell us when & which. How much? NADA, free, gratis. Like the girl on the phone said, hey, your house just blew up.....it's the least we can do! A month later, when I finally got into my local branch to order new checks, the customer service guy asked why I'd done the stop payment before, and why I was getting the new checks. I told him about what happened to the house, and he said he thought I looked familiar (I had been interviewed by all 3 local network affiliate news stations). When he was all done getting my check order in, I asked him if they'd take the money out of my account automatically, and how much it'd be, so I could deduct it. He told me, "No charge, it's the least we can do for you!" Now that's what I call customer service! Twice, even!!

I'm 99% certain that before I go home next time, I'll switch my direct deposit over to my local Citibank account, then close the M&T account when I go home. They have all the personality of something growing on the underside of a rock, imho. :disgust: