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Help me choose a Local Bank/Credit Union in the Bay Area/Northern California
Giggles_Funsworth
Blight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
Blight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
So I am with Wells Fargo right now. I know they are assholes, but after my smaller regional bank dicked me, I went with them because my girlfriend and her dad have been with them for a long time and it made it easy for me to transfer money to her, their reps at the local branch are super nice, and they're like two blocks away. I kind of wanted to switch on Bank Transfer day, but my girlfriend convinced me not to.
But after reading the other H/A thread about the dude who overdrafted with them, I really don't feel like hanging on to my account anymore.
I do have some requirements though.
They need to have decent availability of ATMs (or other banks they have agreements with) in San Jose, San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Northern California, in order of priority for me because of how much and where I spend my time. I don't want to get dinged with ATM fees all the time because I can't find one of theirs. I would consider a banking with someone that offers refunds of ATM fees like WaMu used to.
They need to have good online banking software so that I can still rapidly transfer money to my girlfriend's (Wells Fargo) account, free of charge. There are REASONS she can't switch right now. Preferably instantaneous, same day is also acceptable, and I guess I would consider next day but Wells Fargo's website has really spoiled me in regards to this.
Does anybody have any ideas or places to start looking?
But after reading the other H/A thread about the dude who overdrafted with them, I really don't feel like hanging on to my account anymore.
I do have some requirements though.
They need to have decent availability of ATMs (or other banks they have agreements with) in San Jose, San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Northern California, in order of priority for me because of how much and where I spend my time. I don't want to get dinged with ATM fees all the time because I can't find one of theirs. I would consider a banking with someone that offers refunds of ATM fees like WaMu used to.
They need to have good online banking software so that I can still rapidly transfer money to my girlfriend's (Wells Fargo) account, free of charge. There are REASONS she can't switch right now. Preferably instantaneous, same day is also acceptable, and I guess I would consider next day but Wells Fargo's website has really spoiled me in regards to this.
Does anybody have any ideas or places to start looking?
Giggles_Funsworth on
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This is my "advice". I'm not trying to enter a discussion (please, don't even bring it up) with anyone about the evils of big banking. If your experience ain't broke, why try and fix it?
@Giggles_Funswo, most credit unions are members of an ATM-sharing network, so if you're a member of one, you can use any of their ATMs. Most online banks will allow you to do transfers of money between accounts pretty simply (I know I do it with mine, and it's usually within a day).
As for finding them, this site seems to work pretty well (I plugged my address in, and it had all of the CUs near me). Unfortunately, I can't really help you with recommending a specific Northern California CU, but asking friends is a good place to start.
This is not D&D. Do not attempt to debate the issue in this thread. You can leave advice without debating each other, honest.
http://www.sffirecu.org/
Bay Area local here. I have two credit unions: San Mateo Credit Union, and Patelco. Patelco locations are pretty numerous and span from Berkeley to SF to San Jose.
Also, most credit unions in the area are part of one of the credit union networks, which means you can walk in to any credit union and as long as you have your account number, you can do your banking. You can also use affiliated credit union ATMs without charge. Take a look at this map: http://www.cuswirl.com/search?zipcode=94123
You're not going to get this, sorry, regardless of who you go with. Bank-to-bank transfers are ridiculously slow in the US. Regardless of what bank or credit union you go with, you can expect a bank-to-bank transfer to take 3-4 business days.
@Skeith: Patelco is part of the CUSwirl network. Take a look at the above link.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Another vote for SF Fire. I've never paid an ATM fee in my life.
Yeah, super nice to deal with too.
That's some bullshit. That's the reason I no longer deal with corporate banks. Washington Mutual used to pull that shit all the time with me.
I had an HSA at TechCU for a little while and I never had any problems with them, but after I changed health plans I closed that account.
I've only had one problem at San Mateo Credit Union in the 4 or so years I've been with them. I have automatic bill pay and my bills are paid on Friday, because that's when I get paid.
Last Veteran's Day, they were closed on Friday, so they processed the bill pay on the preceding Thursday. I don't keep a large buffer in my checking account so this caused a bunch of overdraft fees. They reversed every single one of them.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Unfortunately, you won't find any rates higher than 0.2% for brick-and-mortar institutions nowadays, but if that is important to you then check out: BauerFinancial's Star Ratings for a high-level independent overview. If you see something with 4-5 stars, I'd suggest walking in and talking to them directly. Make sure you have a list of questions handy for the things that are important to you (rates of return, ATM fees/availability, service offerings, etc. etc. etc.).