What Bank Accounts Do You Use?

[bjl584]

I do most of my banking at a local bank.
I'm also a member of a local credit union.

[puck36]

I have 2 checking (Main & Household), 2 savings (EF and Car fund) accounts, home mortgage accounts at Wellsfargo. I also have an online savings account with HSBC (EF).

[scfr]

We have business & personal checking accounts, personal savings accounts, and CDs. I bank at big banks, small regional banks, and credit unions. I am an equal opportunity banking customer. I read that the banking industry labels folks like me "overbanked" and potentially a "disruptive force." They claim to not know what we want. Really? It's not tricky at all. We want the highest possible interest rate.

Regarding Wells Fargo, when I was job hunting I didn't even both applying for jobs at WF because it was very clear from their job descriptions that there was tremendous pressure to meet high sales quotas. That was not the sort of place I wanted to work.

[lootpacman]

I have:

- Ally's Online Savings (Emergency Fund)
- Bank of America checking account and savings account (it's convenient)
- Fidelity Cash Management account (free)

[snafu]

I've been reading comments from SA participants for years and regularly see a rant about one of the big banks. If you are researching writing about financial institutions, I hope you'll remind readers, particularly new, to review their bank fees/charges. I suspect many WF client's never noticed charges against their accounts. How much do SA participants pay in bank charges in a year?
I have stock in the two banks I use. I figure it's the only way to benefit from the highly paid executive suite. I also hold ETF American bank units as a result of the 2008 crash.

I notice most of my friends never reconcile their bank accounts. They check on-line to verify pays deposited, and repetitive automatic payments have cleared. Rarely is there a plan for savings over the sum applied to a employer sponsored retirement program treated as a deduction like income tax and SS.

[disneysteve]

We really only use one account regularly and that is our Bank of America checking account. Of course, we have quite a few investment accounts and we do have a Capital One online money market account (formerly ING) but we hardly ever touch that. Oh, and I have a Paypal account that gets used regularly for ebay transactions.

As for Wells Fargo, it's a disgrace, obviously, but as I told my daughter, it just highlights why I've taught her to balance her checkbook every month. How all these people didn't notice that money was being taken out of their accounts to fund new accounts is beyond me. Shame on them for letting themselves be victimized like that.

[GoodSteward]

I have a BB&T checking
- I used to use a local-only bank but switched to BBT, which is regional, not long after my card got compromised while on a trip to see my in-laws a few states away. Thankfully they had a BBT in the town my in-laws lived in and we got temporary debit cards issued to keep us afloat. We had no credit cards at the time (Thanks dave Ramsey ) but due to this is what got me back into having one on hand. I had just enough cash to get the gas and food we needed to finish making it to KY. If i still used a local bank like CU I would have had to have family transfer me money.

Barclay Savings

I notice most of my friends never reconcile their bank accounts. They check on-line to verify pays deposited, and repetitive automatic payments have cleared. Rarely is there a plan for savings over the sum applied to a employer sponsored retirement program treated as a deduction like income tax and SS.

This blows me away how few people do this. I was talking to some people telling them how easy it was for me to reconcile my bank account using the program YNAB, and someone piped up "you reconcile?!" like I was some strange person. They followed that by saying "I've not reconciled in years!" These same people have much money problems. They told me they remember everything. Not long after they over drafted really bad because they forgot something. LOL Here's your sign.

[scfr]

How much do SA participants pay in bank charges in a year?

$40 per year for a 3x10 safe deposit box. That's it.

[disneysteve]

How much do SA participants pay in bank charges in a year?

I pay zero in bank charges. We bank with Bank of America. There is no charge for anything.

I don't know if you count this as a bank charge but we do pay an annual fee for our Marriott Visa card of $85 but every year they also give me a certificate for one free night so it's really a wash. In fact, we come out ahead because we always make sure to use that certificate at the nicest hotel we can which is often in the $150-200/night range.

[Petunia 100]

How much do SA participants pay in bank charges in a year?

I pay $0 at Wells Fargo. That is why I bank there. I get 100 free trades per year in my traditional IRA too (brokerage account). I can get cashier checks and notary services for $0 as well.

[HundredK]

I pay $0 at Wells Fargo. That is why I bank there. I get 100 free trades per year in my traditional IRA too (brokerage account). I can get cashier checks and notary services for $0 as well.

You can also get lots of "free accounts" without ever having authorized them! Ba-dum-bum. Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)

I pay $0 in fees to Citi and occasionally some random fees to Chase if I need to wire money.

[MonkeyMama]

How much do SA participants pay in bank charges in a year?

We don't pay any bank fees.

-$0-