What Bank Accounts Do You Use?

[james.hendrickson]

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking about doing an article on which savings accounts people actually use, as opposed to which accounts get the most advertising dollars.

If you have a second, could you please post the bank accounts that you actually use?

Also, a related question, has the Wells Fargo scandal impacted your trust or faith in the banking system?

[bigdaddybus]

I use a credit union savings account where I keep the balance between 5K-7.5K. Its the same CU where I have a checking account and do my online banking.
What I consider my actual savings (or some on here will likely call an emergency fund) is in a non-retirement brokerage account that is linked to my CU checking account where I can easily transfer money to and from the brokerage account as needed.


As far as Wells Fargo is concerned, I closed on the purchase of my home last week using a mortgage broker. I asked if they would not sell my mortgage to Wells Fargo. They told me that they have unofficially suspended selling mortgages to Wells Fargo do to concerns of customers like mine.

[DaveInPgh]

My ER fund is in a CapitalOne Savings Account. I also have a checking account with them and I love the ease of their BillPay.

I have become more and more cynical over the years and honestly don't have faith or trust in much of anything these days. Our Presidential election is a prime example. Put down the Partisan Kool-Aid for a minute and ask yourself if your candidate deserves your faith or trust? If you answered yes, you have already had too much Kool-Aid.

[rennigade]

Barclays for my savings account.

Wells Fargo for checking.

No...the wells fargo scandal hasnt swayed me one way or the other. Its already know the banking system is corrupt. What wells fargo did was childs play compared to what happened during the housing crisis.

[Petunia 100]

I have my checking account at Wells Fargo, a savings account, and a savings account at GS Savings Bank. I swap my online savings account around sometimes, if I can get a higher rate elsewhere. No loyalty at all in that regard.

No, the recent Wells Fargo scandal has not shaken my faith in the banking system. If you demand that employees push new accounts at every customer and punish them if they don't open enough, what do you expect will happen? It was a bad policy; now it has been corrected. What I am curious about is how all of those fees were charged. How did the money get into the accounts in order to deduct fees? If a bank employee diverted money out of my account to open a new account, I would absolutely notice that.

[rennigade]

If a bank employee diverted money out of my account to open a new account, I would absolutely notice that.

My guess is all these people that were affected didnt keep a check registry. They probably suck with money. Same old story. I would also notice considering I balance my checkbook around every 2 weeks.

[MonkeyMama]

We mostly bank with credit unions. Definitely avoid the big banks. I am not surprised at all about WF fraud and would not have banked with them in the first place.

We are kind of this way with just about everything. Stick to the little guys and the non-profits. But it just depends. In some situations you have less choice. Ask me again when I have a few million dollars and want to spread my money around more (due to SIPC or FDIC insurance limits).

[DaveInPgh]

My guess is all these people that were affected didnt keep a check registry. They probably suck with money. Same old story. I would also notice considering I balance my checkbook around every 2 weeks.

My check registry is Microsoft Excel and I probably balance it at least 3 times per week. Mostly because I have a lot of free time at work. If I had to do it solely at home, I would probably do it weekly.

[JBinKC]

An interest bearing checking account is the only bank asset I have besides my brokerage accounts. If there is a rate differential any balance excesses in my checking gets diverted into T bills with various staggering maturities. With this approach I get very little sales pressure into other products or locked in from their mistakes.

I wish there was a topic on dealing with brokerage cash balances and finding the highest return on those assets that allow full liquidity. As opposed to bank accounts fund management fees eat up all of the return that carries short maturity paper. I think that is the most challenging task in the current market environment.

[Jluke]

I wish there was a topic on dealing with brokerage cash balances and finding the highest return on those assets that allow full liquidity.

I utilize Capital One and Capital One Investing... this allows the cash to be in the CapitalOne savings account (or new money market account), then when I'm ready to invest I instant transfer the money to CapitalOne Investing.

The downside is that there is a transaction fee for buying/selling funds in CapitalOne investing.

However, maybe you can connect CapitalOne savings/money market to your brokerage and do something similar.

[cooliemae]

Primary checking and savings accounts are at Capital One 360, though I have other savings/checking accounts for various reasons.

Doesn't surprise me about Wells Fargo, but hasn't affected me as far as I know.

[HundredK]

Citi checking and savings for personal, Chase checking for business. I don't love Chase, but some of their instant payment features are very useful. I actually do love Citi, even though there are plenty of arguments that they're evil too.

I track everything in quickbooks (separate quickbooks companies for business and personal). That's actually one of the things that made me wake up - tracking our personal info in quickbooks. For some reason, it flipped a switch in my head when I started thinking of our personal finances as though they were for a business. Mortifying, actually, but got me on the right track. Quickbooks isn't cheap, but I think it saves me far more than it costs.

Re: Wells Fargo, no it didn't shake my faith, but I think that's because there isn't much that would shock me. Wells in particular I have never been a fan of, and my friends who are ex employees were pretty miserable there.

[kork13]

Our primary joint checking account is with USAA. Most of our cash savings goes to Ally. We also have a USAA savings account & some credit union accounts, but they're very infrequently used.

I'm enough of a cynic to not fully trust other people with my money. Thus, I'm constantly in a "trust but verify" mode of operations. What Wells Fargo was doing is shameful, but it doesn't change my opinions of anything by much, except to reinforce my intention to never use them or any of the other mega banks, and an appreciation for the banks I do have that keep things simple & straightforward. I would never bank with somebody who is constantly trying to sell me on useless services that I don't want.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I have four accounts, all of them interest bearing checking. The only bank any here would have heard of is Capital One 360, which I rarely use and barely have any money in. I keep that account because it facilitates rare transfers of money directly and very quickly to other accounts.

Otherwise, I'm at a large credit union, a small privately owned bank, and a small nationally chartered bank that is headquartered in a rural Missouri town, 175miles away. I smile at thinking how we bank at a family-operated bank. Mom and Pop bank. Shades of "It's a Wonderful Life."

All of these I initially learned of through advertising.

[DaveInPgh]

Otherwise, I'm at a large credit union, a small privately owned bank, and a small nationally chartered bank that is headquartered in a rural Missouri town, 175miles away. I smile at thinking how we bank at a family-operated bank. Mom and Pop bank. Shades of "It's a Wonderful Life."

I am a bit skeptical about their business plan