Favorite National Bank Chain

[Doctor Whom]

I left my credit union after they gouged me on service fees (despite being "non-profit")

I used to have an account with my father's credit union, but the people there exhibited weapons-grade incompetence more than once.

[US71]

I left my credit union after they gouged me on service fees (despite being "non-profit")

I used to have an account with my father's credit union, but the people there exhibited weapons-grade incompetence more than once.

Same here: my cash deposits were always $10-$20 short (Count it again! "Oh, I missed that").  Then they lost $1000 deposit I made after one of my shows. They eventually found it, but refused to reimburse me the bounced check fees.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Like SidS1045, I think that "favourite national bank" is an oxymoron.

I do everything with my local credit union, and have not run into a single problem with them.

[SSOWorld]

Bank or CU - you're going to have fees.  The fees CUs will charge are used to drive a member of the CU toward a certain practice (E-Statements for and direct deposits to get free bill pay for example).  I have not had any problems with mine.

[SP Cook]

Credit Unions became de facto banks after a Supreme Court decision back in the 90s.  They used to really be limited to a genuine group, such as people that worked at the same place.  Now they only play lip service to that.  All you have is a small bank.  I don't get why deal with a small bank, unless you have bad credit and cannot borrow money elsewhere.  Knowing that my bank is on the corner, anywhere in the South I might go, it reassuring.

The remaining genuine credit unions, are generally run out of a cigar box.  Weapons grade incompentence to be sure. 

[1995hoo]

Credit Unions became de facto banks after a Supreme Court decision back in the 90s.  They used to really be limited to a genuine group, such as people that worked at the same place.  Now they only play lip service to that.  All you have is a small bank.  I don't get why deal with a small bank, unless you have bad credit and cannot borrow money elsewhere.  Knowing that my bank is on the corner, anywhere in the South I might go, it reassuring.

The remaining genuine credit unions, are generally run out of a cigar box.  Weapons grade incompentence to be sure. 

There's a local bank here that reimburses ATM fees charged by other banks, which takes away a lot of the concern about not having access to branches when you travel. True, making a deposit is harder if the need arises; mobile check deposit via a phone or tablet helps, but it has limitations (and there's always the risk they might put a hold on the deposit and ask you to produce the check, which is harder if you're on the road).

[hbelkins]

Credit Unions became de facto banks after a Supreme Court decision back in the 90s.  They used to really be limited to a genuine group, such as people that worked at the same place.  Now they only play lip service to that.  All you have is a small bank.  I don't get why deal with a small bank, unless you have bad credit and cannot borrow money elsewhere.  Knowing that my bank is on the corner, anywhere in the South I might go, it reassuring.

The remaining genuine credit unions, are generally run out of a cigar box.  Weapons grade incompentence to be sure.

A lot of the small, independent banks and credit unions have joined together to form something called Alliance One, which offers fee-free ATM service.

I have banked for years at my hometown bank. Once upon a time it was owned and operated by a very well-respected local family. I knew them, my family knew them (my grandfather taught the bank president's son how to fish when he was a youngster) and when I wanted my first loan, to buy a car, I talked to the bank president himself. (I even had an unsolicited job offer to work there not long after I got out of college).

The expansion bug bit them, and they went after the more lucrative home loan market in the Winchester-Lexington-Georgetown area. They purged a lot of long-time, popular and well-liked employees. They expanded and then moved the headquarters to Winchester, and recently sold their big former headquarters they'd opened in the mid-1980s, leaving only a branch-type physical presence in the bank's hometown. The president is from out-of-town now (there's a back story behind that, which I won't go into here) and the directors are mostly from elsewhere. It's not the same hometown bank that it used to be, and that I preferred to deal with. They've started charging for services that were free for years, are closing dormant accounts and refusing to cash checks for non-customers, and a lot of other things that would have been blasphemy 25 years ago in our little community.

I don't consider the bank's offices in the other towns to be "my bank." They're not going to know me from Adam if I go in there and are going to treat me like a stranger, instead of someone they know.

My little town is withering on the vine. Businesses are closing, unemployment is very high and opportunities for educated, intelligent, ambitious people are few and far between. It's telling, though, that as the expansion bug has bitten the local bank, two banks from neighboring counties have established branched within the past 10 years. My sister-in-law works at the newest one, having been hired away from the established bank.

I'm also a member of one of the credit unions available to employees at my place of work. That came in handy when I lived in Winchester and worked in Frankfort (before my hometown bank expanded into Winchester), but it's not so handy now because their closest physical presence is Lexington. They are easier to deal with than the bank, however, for short-term loans or lines of credit.

[realjd]

Credit Unions became de facto banks after a Supreme Court decision back in the 90s.  They used to really be limited to a genuine group, such as people that worked at the same place.  Now they only play lip service to that.  All you have is a small bank.  I don't get why deal with a small bank, unless you have bad credit and cannot borrow money elsewhere.  Knowing that my bank is on the corner, anywhere in the South I might go, it reassuring.

The remaining genuine credit unions, are generally run out of a cigar box.  Weapons grade incompentence to be sure. 

Credit unions are non-profit and member owned. They typically have better customer service, lower fees, and lower interest rates (for accounts and loans) than a bank.

How often do you need to visit a bank when out of town? My credit/debit and ATM cards work anywhere in the world. The only reason I ever actually visit my credit union is to get into my safe deposit box.

[The Nature Boy]

Credit Unions became de facto banks after a Supreme Court decision back in the 90s.  They used to really be limited to a genuine group, such as people that worked at the same place.  Now they only play lip service to that.  All you have is a small bank.  I don't get why deal with a small bank, unless you have bad credit and cannot borrow money elsewhere.  Knowing that my bank is on the corner, anywhere in the South I might go, it reassuring.

The remaining genuine credit unions, are generally run out of a cigar box.  Weapons grade incompentence to be sure. 

Credit unions are non-profit and member owned. They typically have better customer service, lower fees, and lower interest rates (for accounts and loans) than a bank.

How often do you need to visit a bank when out of town? My credit/debit and ATM cards work anywhere in the world. The only reason I ever actually visit my credit union is to get into my safe deposit box.

You would genuinely be surprised. You still need to go and deposit cash and checks. I don't trust mobile check deposit and you still have to physically present cash to deposit it.

[Scott5114]

...When do you need to make a deposit when you're out of town? What sort of vacation do you go on where people are giving you sums of money so large that you can't just take it home with you and deposit it then? (Okay, Vegas, but I'm pretty sure you can have them mail a check to your house if you hit a large enough jackpot that you're worried about taking it home...) I can see why a business that travels to conventions and other long-distance points of sale might want access to their bank nationwide, but I simply don't see that happening for an individual citizen.

Like realjd, I don't need to visit my CU branch. I do anyway because I prefer $10s to $20s and every ATM dispenses $20s, so I just go in to get $10s. They also have a free self-service coin counter, which I use whenever I amass $20 or so worth of random coins.

Regarding the credit union thing–since credit unions are usually non-profit and member-owned, they tend to not have the predatory fees and policies that for-profit banks do. My ATM fee for an out of network ATM is only 75¢, which I understand is quite a bit lower than the likes of Chase and BOA. If I am cheesed off about something the bank is doing I can walk into a board meeting (times and locations are posted in the branches) and raise hell with the directors directly instead of going up the line of corporate circlejerkers until I reach someone 16 levels up who has the power to fix whatever my issue is, but probably won't because he's busy trying to prop up his uneven desk with a strap of hundreds.

[1995hoo]

...When do you need to make a deposit when you're out of town? What sort of vacation do you go on where people are giving you sums of money so large that you can't just take it home with you and deposit it then? (Okay, Vegas, but I'm pretty sure you can have them mail a check to your house if you hit a large enough jackpot that you're worried about taking it home...) I can see why a business that travels to conventions and other long-distance points of sale might want access to their bank nationwide, but I simply don't see that happening for an individual citizen.

....

One example when I wanted the ability to make deposits when I was out of town was some years back (prior to the advent of mobile deposits) when I was on a month-long business trip. My firm sent expense reimbursement checks to me at the hotel due to the trip's duration.

I've also needed to make a deposit when I was on vacation (in Florida for Christmas in 2012) because a check (from someone else) I had deposited the week before had bounced and I needed to move money between banks in a hurry so my month-end bill payments wouldn't bounce. An inter-bank transfer would have taken too long, so it was faster to write a check and then go make a deposit (in this case, having an account at a national bank with ATMs in Florida helped). Nowadays I might use my iPad and make a mobile check deposit, but in that particular case I'd probably still go to the nearest branch even though it was some 10 or 15 miles away–when you make the deposit at the bank or an ATM, you don't run the risk I mentioned earlier of them placing a hold on the deposit and asking you to go put the check into an ATM.

[The Nature Boy]

...When do you need to make a deposit when you're out of town? What sort of vacation do you go on where people are giving you sums of money so large that you can't just take it home with you and deposit it then? (Okay, Vegas, but I'm pretty sure you can have them mail a check to your house if you hit a large enough jackpot that you're worried about taking it home...) I can see why a business that travels to conventions and other long-distance points of sale might want access to their bank nationwide, but I simply don't see that happening for an individual citizen.

Like realjd, I don't need to visit my CU branch. I do anyway because I prefer $10s to $20s and every ATM dispenses $20s, so I just go in to get $10s. They also have a free self-service coin counter, which I use whenever I amass $20 or so worth of random coins.

Regarding the credit union thing–since credit unions are usually non-profit and member-owned, they tend to not have the predatory fees and policies that for-profit banks do. My ATM fee for an out of network ATM is only 75¢, which I understand is quite a bit lower than the likes of Chase and BOA. If I am cheesed off about something the bank is doing I can walk into a board meeting (times and locations are posted in the branches) and raise hell with the directors directly instead of going up the line of corporate circlejerkers until I reach someone 16 levels up who has the power to fix whatever my issue is, but probably won't because he's busy trying to prop up his uneven desk with a strap of hundreds.

This probably only applies to students and otherwise transient people but right now, I am not where I live for 9 months out of the year. If I had an account with a bank where I do live, I would be screwed for an entire 3 months straight.

Similarly, I am moving to a new place in January and then moving again in May and then moving again in August (and then staying put indefinitely). Until I reach August 2015 though, I don't really have a "local" bank because I am moving so much. I assume many students are in the same boat.

EDIT to add - Since I plan to live near where I went to college, I could have banked locally there but then I would've gone 3 years without being around my local bank regularly.

[Scott5114]

Okay, I can definitely see where this would come into play for students. As far as I could tell, when I was at college in Springfield, MO, there were no banks other than the national chains that had branches both in Oklahoma and in Springfield. (I think the nearest TFCU branch was Miami, OK.) This actually worked to my benefit on one occasion, since TFCU issues laminated cards with your account information (which helps make an in-person transaction quicker) and I lost mine up there. If anyone found it they would have had a several hour drive before they could do anything with it. Nothing ever came of it.

I managed to make do in this situation because I didn't have any deposits to make–no job–and when I needed cash, I could write a check out to cash at the university bursar's office at no cost. At the time, I was too young to get a debit card, which would have made things immensely more convenient.

As for the case of expense reimbursement while on a long business trip–does the business really not offer direct deposit??

[hbelkins]

When I was in college, I opened a checking account at one of the local banks. It helped that I knew someone here at home who knew a higher-up at that particular bank (one of three in the town at the time), so I had a personal contact and a good recommendation on which bank to use.

Even though I had my home address on the checks, and not a college address (which would have changed every year because I was in a different dorm), having an account on a local bank helped with writing checks at local businesses, many of which would not take student checks from out-of-town banks.

[1995hoo]

....

As for the case of expense reimbursement while on a long business trip–does the business really not offer direct deposit??

It was eight years ago and I had no say in accounting procedures. What was I supposed to do? Paychecks came by direct deposit. Reimbursements didn't.

[vdeane]

I don't bother re-ordering checks when moving.  The checks with the old address process just fine.  That said, I don't use them often, so I'd have nearly an entire box to dispose of (somehow) at every move if I did.  I wish one could order one booklet at a time.  I really don't need more.

[SP Cook]

Couple of things.

- Las Vegas.  Now that is an issue for me.  I gamble.  A lot.  None of the banks that do business in LV do business here, and even if they did, none of them are within walking distance of the Strip.  The ATMs are all non-bank rip-off machines, and limited to $500 anyway.  So what to do?  You can either take cash, which is obviously a risk.  Or get the bank to write you a Cashier's Check payable to the casino, which is problematical and can take a day to clear the casino cage.  Or establish an account with the casino for a "marker" which is more paperwork than a house loan.  Or take traveler's checks.  Yes, they still make them, but the bank has to look in the back of the vault and ask the oldest teller what to do.  A lot of trouble.  Going to Canada or to the Carribbean is even harder, because of customs.  (Coming back is easy, the casino will write you a check).

- Deposit slips.  Yep.  I pay all my bills on line.  The only time I write a check is to kids as graduation gifts and such.  Maybe 10 a year.  But you get checks.  Random refunds, payments, so on.  So I end up needing deposit slips way before I need checks.  I am on the same box of checks from 15 years ago, but buy boxes and boxes of just deposit slips. 

-College.  Yep.  When I was in college, almost 40 years ago, you needed to open an account in the college town.  There were no branch banks in my state.  Made for a problem.

[realjd]

- Deposit slips.  Yep.  I pay all my bills on line.  The only time I write a check is to kids as graduation gifts and such.  Maybe 10 a year.  But you get checks.  Random refunds, payments, so on.  So I end up needing deposit slips way before I need checks.  I am on the same box of checks from 15 years ago, but buy boxes and boxes of just deposit slips. 

What's a deposit slip? If I go to the bank in person there's a little form I fill out but it's just my account number, name, and amount depositing. Is that what you're talking about? If so, doesn't your bank have stacks of them for free to fill out when you get there?

Your statement about Canada and the Caribbean being challenging for money transfers brings up another question I've always had: what actually happens if you declare more than $10k in money coming back into the country?

[jeffandnicole]

....

As for the case of expense reimbursement while on a long business trip—does the business really not offer direct deposit??

It was eight years ago and I had no say in accounting procedures. What was I supposed to do? Paychecks came by direct deposit. Reimbursements didn't.

Payroll departments can be funny, based on the employer's guidelines.  My regular paycheck is direct deposited, and if I want to see the deductions, I log in online and take a look (as long as the deposit matches what I got two weeks ago, I don't bother looking).  But my OT pay is via traditional paycheck on the opposite weeks of regular pay.  I don't even have the option for direct deposit. 

I'm in Vegas yearly as well - but I generally don't gamble a whole helluva lot (maybe several hundred bucks, and that's a big trip!), and most of my purchases are on a credit card.  When I do want cash, Casino Royale has a cheap, $1 (I believe) ATM to withdrawal cash.

My bank changed names several years ago now, but since the routing number never changed, I've never had to get new checks.  I write one a month - the mortgage, and one every few months - Water/Sewer.  Everything else is paid online or automatically.

[Scott5114]

What's a deposit slip? If I go to the bank in person there's a little form I fill out but it's just my account number, name, and amount depositing. Is that what you're talking about? If so, doesn't your bank have stacks of them for free to fill out when you get there?

My credit union doesn't even bother with deposit slips–I just show the laminated card with my account number on it, or, failing that, tell them my account number, which I have memorized, and the teller just types in the information. My business bank does require deposit slips, so one time I went in I grabbed 20 or so blank ones and filled them all out with my business name and account number. Whenever I want to make a deposit I just fill in the amount. The only place I've seen pre-printed ones used was when I was a manager at Burger King; we had a pad of pre-printed slips with the account number and bank name ready to go. It also created carbonless duplicates so that if there was ever a discrepancy it could be seen which manager had prepared the deposit.

Your statement about Canada and the Caribbean being challenging for money transfers brings up another question I've always had: what actually happens if you declare more than $10k in money coming back into the country?

It probably triggers some form of reporting under the Bank Secrecy Act (i.e. anti-money laundering laws). Basically, nothing, other than your personal information is collected and the Treasury Department is notified that you have $10k in cash coming in. At that point they can determine whether or not further investigation is warranted.

In the casino industry, we have to do similar tracking of ticket and chip redemption in case someone attempts to launder money by inserting tainted cash into a slot machine, not gambling, and redeeming the cashout ticket for clean money. We don't do anything other than log it and send it off to the Treasury.

A former coworker of mine once got the third degree from a bank because she had amassed a few grand on her pay card (a feeful debit card that employees' checks were deposited to if they did not opt for direct deposit). An interbank transfer didn't occur to her (or else she couldn't figure out how to make it work), so she went to a fee-free ATM and withdrew the card's balance, then took the cash to her bank. The bank flipped out when she made a deposit of several straps of $20s and had her fill out umpteen forms. They did accept her explanation, however, and told her next time to just do an interbank transfer.

--best assumption on quote fix --sso

[jeffandnicole]

My credit union doesn't even bother with deposit slips–I just show the laminated card with my account number on it, or, failing that, tell them my account number, which I have memorized, and the teller just types in the information. My business bank does require deposit slips, so one time I went in I grabbed 20 or so blank ones and filled them all out with my business name and account number. Whenever I want to make a deposit I just fill in the amount. The only place I've seen pre-printed ones used was when I was a manager at Burger King; we had a pad of pre-printed slips with the account number and bank name ready to go. It also created carbonless duplicates so that if there was ever a discrepancy it could be seen which manager had prepared the deposit.

One of the worst banks in this regard was Wilmington Trust (which is now M&T Bank), which I had to deal with about 4 years ago.  They had 3 ply deposit slips.  I guess because of cost savings, they got rid of the 3 ply.  But...they didn't get rid of the need for 3 deposit slips.  I would have to fill out 3 deposit slips for a single deposit!!!

[vdeane]

I don't worry about how many deposit slips I have.  If for some reason I run out, I just use the ones in the bank.  That's not likely to happen in the near term though; I'm guaranteed to write at least one check a month (when I reimburse Mom for my portion of the family cell phone bill) but not for a deposit.  I'm currently lagging by one book.

[Pete from Boston]

I forgot deposit slips exist (and I get a fair number of checks coming in).

[1995hoo]

I have enough deposit slips but I seldom use them. Ever since the ATM gave the opportunity to get a receipt with an image of the deposited check, I've usually deposited checks via the ATM, even when a check has been for over $20,000, or via my iPad subject to bank-imposed limits on the amount. Haven't had any problems, though I'll admit the first time or two (via each method) I was a little nervous.

I have found mobile depositing doesn't work well with rebate checks or class-action settlement checks you get through the mail. They usually have more information printed on them than a "standard" check and it seems to confuse the mobile app. Ticks me off when I have a check for something like $3.62 and I have to go to the ATM to deposit it!

[wxfree]

My favorite is First National Bank.  They have branches in almost every town I've ever been to.