Need to switch banks

Bank Of America is incorporating $5 monthly fees on debit cards beginning on the first day of next year. There is also already a $6.95 monthly fee instituted on the checking account of your bank. Basically, it's $12 a month just for me to have my checking account and debit card with BoA. My parents have recommended for me to shut down the account in November or December and transfer the funds to a new bank.

I'm not sure what bank I should turn to but I know it has to have no monthly maintenance fees and some decent reviews from it's customers. The bank also has to have the ability to lend out student loans as well.

Edit: Going to look into PNC Bank, but suggestions for others would be appreciated.

 

ING is supposed to be a really good bank. They currently have my beneficiary'less life insurance policy. I might look at them.,. definitely looking to get away from BOA as well. May also consider smaller community banks.

 

Wells Fargo is also doing a debit card fee. I can't remember how much at the moment

 

$3

 

I have banked at wells fargo for 20+ years...i am not much for change when it comes to banking...mainly because i do everything paperless...the money comes in direct deposit...all my bills are auto draft...i use a debit card for almost everything...infact i rarely see or have in my hands coin/cash money

 

I am with PNC and they currently do not charge to use a debit card, and I haven't received any info indicating that they plan to. My son is a college student (but has loans thru CitiBank) and we both have the Virtual Wallet with PNC which I highly recommend. Check it out when you have a chance. It's a nice overdraft protection device.

 

Need to switch banks,...........................................

the banking industry is surely still smarting from the many deflated years of negative asset management {technically since 2006}. for them though however, it is part of being in business as they surely enjoyed the many years of economic surge.

moving away from the larger banks, and in particular, the ones of whom receieved bailouts from the Federal government is prudent business in protecting your assets in the long term views.

there is a gentlemen here on this thread that got it right when he said something about checking out the, " community banks ". he is correct. the larger banks can only grow so much before their fees, and costs must rise. they are under extreme pressures to raise these fees, and costs.

those that received government help are under even more pressures. remember, banks are a consortium of investors, and investors do not invest to not get healthy returns on their monies. they are looking for positive yields.

it's much like a restaurant that is not permitted to expand, there is a finite number of tabletops so for continued profiture, and viability there are only a few remedies left to raise revenue. raising prices, and trimming costs and in too many cases, reducing services.

by moving to the smaller, community banks you actually are providing tangible help to the economy as well as surely getting reasonable costs for services as well as any local conveniences it may bring to you.

the real deal however is the true help it can provide the economy, in specifically, your local economy. your money is expanded further into your own local area, and more opportunity can flourish more quickly, and with greater ease.

banks are created by intelligent individuals not necessarily because they wish to honorably serve their communities or the general populace. they are created because in the larger world of capital investment they are the quickest, most reliable path to tremendous wealth.

they are government protected, and insured. this provides a big confidence booster to those considering where to invest. it is another of many reasons that you see banks being bought out, and big bank names changing all of the time.

when the government a few years ago was in congressional debates about propping up the banking industry with the federal bailout program, we moved all of our assets from them immediately because we knew costs were going to have to be increased, and that services were going to start getting cut.

we moved our assets to the community banks locally where we had always had a presence anyways. in reviewing our last several years the moves have showed more equity growths, and a serious improvement of both services, and product access not to mention how we are treated.

the irony is, if everyone pooled their money, it would be enough to get your own SEC Bank Charter, and you could start your own bank, and then see exactly what you would have to charge others. an eye opener for you, it surely would be.

hopefully, my words here have provided some help in understanding an industry that will always not want you to know things, and for sure will continue to operate with no real reason to be careful with your money.

it's kind of like voting. one person might say, " but all i have is one vote ". or one dollar. the teeth are in the numbers so if everyone acted, change would be forced.

so remember, go big, but go small while your doing it! thank you,



alexis

 

Google the top 100 banks and pick one in your area. I am with BOA and will be leaving them this month. I want to ensure I have a debit card in time for the Holiday shopping and direct deposit take one pay cycle to kick in. Good luck.

 

Why deal with banks at all? I think that more consideration should be given to Credit Unions. They have federally insured funds and they're much more customer focused and friendly. Fees are usually much lower, if they exist at all, for debit cards, loans, checking accounts, etc. Many have associations with other C.U's so even when you aren't close to your home C.U you can obtain money from ATM's, often free a minimal fee. There's really no downside.

 

I moved mine there a few years ago from Red Rocks Credit Union. When Red Rocks instituted a fee of $5 per driveup teller transaction I had had it with them. Even the day their ATM was broken they wouldn't waive it. I was like WTF??!! :smt043

I am happy with Wells Fargo and they pretty much have a branch on every corner of the city so it's not hard to find and ATM. I don't find they charge any excessive fees.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, especially to Swirlman for the recommendation for the Credit Unions. I'll let you all know how it goes, I just came across an important article about the condition of our financial system.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...in-history-Bank-of-England-Governor-says.html

 

a woman started a petition and had about 250,000 people to sign it and gave it to BAC and they have not responded yet. she was profiled on CNN

 

You're welcome, Mike. Just make sure that you look at a few different ones. I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you find.

 

Alright, I finally got one setup. This is where I'll be starting everything up.

https://www.secumd.org/html/index/index.cfm

I also noticed that a community level bank in Florida was giving $5/month incentively to its customers in response to the larger banks which charged fees on their customers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/community-bank-offers-to-_n_1009653.html

 

I closed my BOA account the other day cause I heard about this...I had already moved to PNC Checking and saving (I use it as a savings really). BUt I got my monthly statement from PNC the other day and they had charged me four dollars...I don't know why cause I haven't investigated yet, but I'm guessing due to low activity...none of these banks are totally/truely free...

 

It may be because your balance dropped below a minimum required balance. That happened to me and a rep recommended the Virtual Wallet. Check it out. My son & I both have it. If you earn enough or can keep a high enough balance, you can qualify for a performance Virtual Wallet. Both protect against overdrafts & there is no minimum.

 

Sh!t, there better not be a minimum near the level I'm at...

 

Nyyyyeeeahhhhhh, you're rich!

 

Here is what I am going to do. I open up an account and and simply move my money to paypal. I then use paypal's debit card. no feeS!!!!

 

For you BOA customers:


http://news.yahoo.com/bank-america-drops-5-debit-card-fee-plan-154433897.html



(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp scrapped plans to charge a $5 per-month debit fee, handing a victory to consumers angry with big banks.
The second-biggest U.S. bank, whose shares were down almost 6 percent, said on Tuesday that the move was in response to customer feedback and competition. Bank of America was under pressure to make the change as rivals backtracked from plans to charge customers for using their debit cards.
"It's a sign of consumer power in action," said Norma Garcia, manager of the financial services program for Consumers Union. "This is a sign of the marketplace working."
Last week JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co decided to cancel test programs, while SunTrust Banks Inc and Regions Financial Corp said on Monday that they would end monthly charges and reimburse customers.
Bank of America had planned to start charging customers next year. Banks began crafting the monthly charges to make up revenue lost to a law that slashes the fees they charge retailers when consumers swipe their cards. The fees sparked a firestorm of criticism from consumers and politicians, and many smaller banks and credit unions shunned the practice.
Bank of America began softening its stance on the fee last week. The Charlotte, North Carolina, bank planned to give customers more ways to avoid the charge, such as maintaining minimum balances, having a paycheck direct-deposited or using their Bank of America credit card.
"We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee," Bank of America Co-Chief Operating Officer David Darnell said in a statement.
The reversal is another embarrassing about-face for Bank of American Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. Last spring, he signaled plans for a modest dividend increase this year, only to have the Federal Reserve Board deny the request.
Shares of Bank of America were down 5.9 percent at $6.43 in afternoon trading. The KBW Bank Index was down 4.2 percent after a proposed Greek referendum threatened to upend a European bailout plan to contain the sovereign debt crisis.
(Reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andre Grenon)