Hi all,

I am just starting to think about this now... Chris is with a bank called MT&T and he keeps complaining about them saying how awful they are.

I'm with Lloyds in this country and they are ok (ish) apart from the horrendous charges... I know that I am not going to get a perfect bank... ()

BUT, what bank would you recommend going with. Are the smaller banks best? Or the national ones?

IMO Most large(er) US banks are awful - no personal service, they don't know (and don't care) who you are; they're too big to know/care. If you give up some of the convenience (of having a branch office everywhere) and go with some of the smaller/local branches, you'll likely have a better experience.

We're with Wells Fargo at the moment but, assuming I'm reading the blurb correctly, they're quite a bit poorer with interest rates etc as compared Barclays. I'm not too enamoured with their online banking either, it's a simple user/pass to login, compared to a pretty comprehensive security system with Barclays.

Mind, they're super polite when you visit a branch, in fairness, and bend over backwards to help you. Makes a change to the somewhat grumpy buggers Barclays employ.

I think we're going to look for another bank once I'm over there.


Stu

We found Regions Bank to be quite unfriendly towards new immigrants. We've been VERY happy with Bank of America. Your mileage may vary.

I belong to a credit union, which is ideal for me...they are usually cheaper and more customer service oriented...my credit union is fairly large, but it is local...check your area...

M&T is also an immigrant friendly bank. You just need to make sure you have your Social Security # when opening a bank account. M&T will let you open an account without one, but you must supply the SS# to them within 30 days of account opening, or the account will be closed. (G & I bank with M&T)

I'd write a list of what's most important to you in a bank and try to find a good fit from there. If you are hoping to maitain a UK account, you might want to consider HSBC as they have offices here and in the UK.

As with any bank, the thing you'll want to know about are fees and funds availabilty.

The US banking system makes the UK one look positively progressive.

We have bank mainly with Wells Fargo and they are on a par service wise with any big UK bank. We also use a local credit union as their savings rates are better. The credit union has poor customer service and we stopped using them at one time because of it, but their interest rates are too good to ignore.

Online banking in the US doesn't even come close to comparing with the ease of use and lack of restrictions I'm used to with NatWest.

Thanks for all the advice Much appreciated.

I think I am going to look into Bank of America and Credit Union a little more.... Julez, Chris was with M&T (That was my typing error, lol... He said he would never touch them again with a ten foot barge pole, he has just recently left and gone with someone else, I can't remember who now though...)

tosh,

I bank with Bank of America and I like them, never had any problems with them. But I must say, I'm 22 and have done like...nothing financial in my life; I just have two different bank accounts, no loans, anything. I do have a credit card now. But yeh to me the fact that it's a big national bank that's not going to go under or anything is very comforting and their...stupid trademark seal is very comforting, it just seems like The Standard Bank xD I know these are dumb reasons.

More helpful info maybe, my mom banks there and seems to like them a lot, and she did a lot of kind of complicated stuff financially a few years ago when she split with my dad. They gave her a good loan for a new house and stuff pretty easily I think, and refinanced her mortgage when it went down quite happily, and I know she has like...a personal advisor she sees whenever she goes, always the same woman. Also, turned out my dad is a secret gambler and completely ruined her credit score for years without her knowing, and it seems like they were very understanding and helpful about that and now her credit's like uber awesome. All in all just saying, new financing of house, loans, credit turnaround, whatever else comes with being a proper adult: seems like my mom's pretty happy with them.

I use Wells Fargo and the credit union offered through work. They are fine and WElls Fargo was immigrant friendly, though I feel that they will nickel and dime you for everything. UK banks are definitely better.

I used to bank with Bank One (who are now Chase, I think) and they were AWFUL, with TERRIBLE customer service. Wouldn't touch them again with a barge pole.

It's just my 2 cents, ut I'll offer it: I too think Chase is one of the worst banks out there in terms of fees and customer focus. My experience (others' may be dfferent) is they are consistantly unfriendly and unhelpful.

Wells Fargo is "ok". But agree with others that their online banking is woefully antiquated - many transaction types still have to go through their call center or branch. They are always very friendly and try to be helpful, however.

My favorite bank is M&I. But they are a regional bank in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin) and are not available to customers in most states.

Warm Regards,
Samby

I agree with Tracy, Regions Banks is one bank you should avoid like the plague. There only interest is to see how much money they can get out of you and they don't seem to care how they do it. Also beware of banks over here who offer free checking accounts, free checking doesn't usually mean free checks. They will give you the first checks free when you open an account but then when you re-order you will be charged for them.

Tony

Me and Russ are with a credit union called Fairwinds... not sure if this is local or not.

My bank is great! Everyone knows me there, one of the ladies even hugs me when I go in hehehe! I see them in the local publix and they say hey there... and we not in a small town... very friendly!

I think Fairwinds is a local one and I've heard good things about it. If you find a good credit union, it's the best. I've banked at large banks, local banks, and I've found that my credit union has been the best I've used.

My sister used to work at a small and local bank and I hated it It was just like...a gossip-mill, basically. Just a row of women tellers talking about all the customers they know and how much they deposited or took out and what they're doing and this must mean this is going on in their lives and whatever else. I'd come in as an 18 year old kid with pretty large checks to be cashed because I was awesome at this commission job, and they'd always be really nosy and just outright questioning about it And it didn't seem like it was in a security-issue sort of way either, just a 'ooh I want to know all your business' way.
Maybe it was just this one bank of course, doesn't mean at all that small banks are like that. But I kind of like going to big branches of big name banks and people not knowing who I am; if they don't greet me by name it still just seems more professional to me.

I would also recommend a credit union for the same reasons

We are with USAA, but unless you have military connections you can't get membership with them. They're apparently one of the highest rated companies in customer service in the US, and so far they have been fantastic. We opened a joint account over the phone with a free number in the UK, had a starting balance transferred from our UK account and have full online access to it. Previously when we were in the US we had credit unions, you have to be really careful though as lots of US banks and credit unions are sneaky with their charges. One we had we got charged $10 a month if our balance was under $500 (which it always was, we were lucky if we had anything left at the end of the month!).

I find the comparisons about UK banks interesting - Chas HATED UK banks and all their many and complicated charges. He much prefers the experience we've had with Bank of America.

Military affiliation is no longer required to open USAA accounts. They are a pretty good organization, I agree.

Warm Regards,
Samby

What sort of interest rates do US banks offer on savings accounts? For comparison, I've got two savings accounts with Barclays - one 4% AER and an e-savings account with 4.24% AER.


Probably a good case for mileage varying. I think the only time Barclays have charged me was for going overdrawn, although I had a good moan at them and got the ridiculous £30 a day charge refunded.

Not that Barclays are amazing by the way, I just happened to sign up with them years ago as a student and didn't really get around to changing.


Stu

My big love of UK banks was the fact they didn't charge me to use another bank's ATM, check books and gave me a big fat overdraft - those charges add up

I had an overdraft at NatWest!

US Bank charges me .25 if I use my card as debit. What bullsh*t. But overall USB is good. I would never ever use Bank of America.

Who did he bank with. My UK bank had no charges, in fact I haven't paid them a charge for so long I can't even remember when it was.

Wells Fargo, I have to remember which checking account we have, how much I have to keep in it to get free checking, argue every month my pension comes over because they charge me a wire transfer fee. Tell Moneycorp I've been charged a wire transfer fee when I shouldn't have and they have to get Wells Fargo to refund it.

I have an account with a credit union and Citizen's Bank which are crap, by the way. I can't sing praises highly enough for First Direct back home. I have their new saver account at 8% and their online e-saver account at 5%. Can't get close to that here.

I'm with a credit union too. I pay no monthly maintenance fees and I love it. I would never go back to a regular bank again.

I had an account with Natwest in the UK and never got any charges for cheques or overdrafts. In the UK if the overdraft is agreed there is no charge or at least there wasn't for me with Natwest. Here in the US even if the overdraft is agreed they still charge you a ridiculous amount for every transaction that goes into overdraft.

Tony

We had a line of credit with the credit union we use and realised even though we had never used the line of credit at any time they were charging for it. It's like paying for an overdraft when you don't use it.

I have to agree with Dawn Credit Unions (if you can find one you can get into) are much easier than Banks. There are many reasons for this (used to work for a bank and a credit union in the past) Credit Unions are generally 'member based' thus they have better customer service, fees are less and interests rates are more often than not better. Also they do not have to follow the same federal regulations as larger banks which helps. Bigger Banks in my opinion are a total pain. I've been with my credit union USAA since 2000 and love them to death. Best thing I can suggest is see what is available in your area when you get there and go from there. Good luck to you.

His last bank was First Direct. I think he was with some others before that, but I couldn't tell you which ones.

And yeah I agree w/ everyone - I'm sure it's a 'your mileage may vary' type of situation with banks.

My fiance says Fidelity is the best. Did you look into them?