US Banks - WTF???

[Dr_LHA 3]

All banks are evil. *shrug* Most of my money is sitting with UBS, not Bank of America. I have a Bank of America account with some money in it so I can pay bills because I'd rather not write checks on an investment account.

All banks are not evil. My bank is very nice, I know most of the people who work and run it and they are good people. One of the benefits of banking with a smaller bank.

Also...never having been to the Washington/Baltimore area in my life, I'm sure there's lots of chain businesses there that I've never heard of.

Yes, and that doesn't make them bad does it, just because you've never heard of them? Everyone may have heard of BoA, but thats because they're a huge evil corperation, rather than a smaller local bank. Although having a large bank has some advantages (ATM locations basically), I've found that smaller banks and especially credit unions in the USA are better in terms of not reaming you with fees whenever you do anything non-standard.

[homesick_american 1]

All banks are evil. *shrug* Most of my money is sitting with UBS, not Bank of America. I have a Bank of America account with some money in it so I can pay bills because I'd rather not write checks on an investment account.

All banks are not evil. My bank is very nice, I know most of the people who work and run it and they are good people. One of the benefits of banking with a smaller bank.

Also...never having been to the Washington/Baltimore area in my life, I'm sure there's lots of chain businesses there that I've never heard of.

Yes, and that doesn't make them bad does it, just because you've never heard of them? Everyone may have heard of BoA, but thats because they're a huge evil corperation, rather than a smaller local bank. Although having a large bank has some advantages (ATM locations basically), I've found that smaller banks and especially credit unions in the USA are better in terms of not reaming you with fees whenever you do anything non-standard.

Banks exist to make money...period. People shouldn't forget that. One of the worst banks I ever dealt with was a small bank....the University Federal Credit Union at the University of Texas. Suxxxxxxxxxor. Small banks aren't always terrific and large banks aren't always terrible.

So far I haven't had any problems with Bank of America and since I don't bounce checks or do wacky things with my account I'm not counting on having any problems.

[Leney 0]

I also bank with a small, local bank (though they are growing and entering bigger markets ie state college etc). I am allowed 3 free checks a month, and $1 for each additional check written (honestly I use my debit card so much I barely ever write 3 checks a month). It used to be a direct deposit account, which was free, until they stopped counting international wire transfers as direct deposits (go figure) now they charge me a monthly fee (like $2 something). I like my bank, they are nice folks, get everything done quickly and are always polite.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Banks exist to make money...period. People shouldn't forget that.

All businesses exist to make money, but being a business doesn't make one inherently evil though.

One of the worst banks I ever dealt with was a small bank....the University Federal Credit Union at the University of Texas. Suxxxxxxxxxor. Small banks aren't always terrific and large banks aren't always terrible.

Well IMHO the 2 worst banks in America are BoA and Wells Fargo, although I'm sure there are many small shitheads out there. I would rank them as the 2 worst because of the sheer number of people they have ###### over. A small bank just can't do that much damage!

So far I haven't had any problems with Bank of America and since I don't bounce checks or do wacky things with my account I'm not counting on having any problems.

We'll see. I never bounced a check either FYI. My problem was having too much money in my BoA account.

[homesick_american 1]

Banks exist to make money...period. People shouldn't forget that.

All businesses exist to make money, but being a business doesn't make one inherently evil though.

One of the worst banks I ever dealt with was a small bank....the University Federal Credit Union at the University of Texas. Suxxxxxxxxxor. Small banks aren't always terrific and large banks aren't always terrible.

Well IMHO the 2 worst banks in America are BoA and Wells Fargo, although I'm sure there are many small shitheads out there. I would rank them as the 2 worst because of the sheer number of people they have ###### over. A small bank just can't do that much damage!

So far I haven't had any problems with Bank of America and since I don't bounce checks or do wacky things with my account I'm not counting on having any problems.

We'll see. I never bounced a check either FYI. My problem was having too much money in my BoA account.

I know a bunch of people who bank with Bank of America and they haven't had any problems. Obviously if I do encounter problems I won't be so stubborn as to stay with them just to prove a point; I'll take my business elsewhere as I've done in the past when banks have tried to screw me over.

Incidentally the worst bank I ever dealt with was in the UK but I don't think that really means anything. Banks in general are just a necessary evil.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Incidentally the worst bank I ever dealt with was in the UK but I don't think that really means anything. Banks in general are just a necessary evil.

Natwest? They're c**ts.

[homesick_american 1]

Incidentally the worst bank I ever dealt with was in the UK but I don't think that really means anything. Banks in general are just a necessary evil.

Natwest? They're c**ts.

Not even! They held our mortgage and we didn't have any problems with them other than the fact that they were CONSTANTLY slapping us with interest rate increases. If we'd planned to stay in the UK we'd have refinanced for sure. Service-wise, though, I can't really complain. They were responsive and sent whatever I asked them to send whenever I asked them to send it, on one occasion bending over backwards to provide us with a mortgage statement in a very short period of time.

Nationwide held my current account and they were RUBBISH; I asked them to close an account several times and it's STILL open...and they're still charging me fees on it. They should just exhale because I'm never going to pay them.

[Dr_LHA 3]

I had fun with LloydsTSB when I moved over here. They kept demanding that I put money in my account, and telling me that I had to "come into the branch to talk to person X" or "call us with X days of getting this message". Problem was that I lived in California (try calling a bank who closes at 3pm when you're 8 hours behind), and not only that, they sent me the letters through some bulk mailing company and I invariably got the letters a few days after the "deadlines" they kept setting me. My response was to ignore them which only made them madder. Luckily they never actually charged me any fees. Just sent angry letters every few weeks!

[homesick_american 1]

I had fun with LloydsTSB when I moved over here. They kept demanding that I put money in my account, and telling me that I had to "come into the branch to talk to person X" or "call us with X days of getting this message". Problem was that I lived in California (try calling a bank who closes at 3pm when you're 8 hours behind), and not only that, they sent me the letters through some bulk mailing company and I invariably got the letters a few days after the "deadlines" they kept setting me. My response was to ignore them which only made them madder. Luckily they never actually charged me any fees. Just sent angry letters every few weeks!

LOL; Nationwide doesn't have my address here so they can just write off those stupid fees that are THEIR FAULT anyway.

[Cry_Tuff 0]

I had worked for a bank for the past 5 years. As with any bank account, you must read the fine print. Many want to charge hidden fees...I'm not sure what banks are in your area, but as some of the previous posters have stated, you CAN get free checks...it all depends on the bank, and the type of account you have. Wells Fargo, Citibank, US Bank, Fifth Third, National City...all of those are good banks to do buisness with for a standard checking account....Best thing to do is shop around. If you don't like what they offer, you don't have to accept that, and simply leave and go to the bank that does have what you want.

[Mark&Steph 0]

I disagree. Some banks are shite, sure, but not all.

My local Commerce branch is open 7 days a week, M-F: 7:30am-8pm, Sat: 7:30am-6pm, Sun: 11am-4pm

and most holidays.

Find me a UK bank that does that.

I was shocked to find our bank here open Sundays. Not only that, but our local branch is open 7:30AM to midnight, 7 days a week...

Edited July 31, 2007 by Mark&Steph

[Rubycon 0]

Back at Christmas I opened a checking account with Harris, who are a small-ish Chicagoland bank. To begin with, I was surprised how easy it was to open a US account as a UKC (much harder to open an account in the UK these days). They messed up my UK address as their computer wouldn't accept a UK postal code, and my first couple of statements and my debit card went missing - however they were fine about sorting it out and since then I've had no problems. So overall I've been pretty impressed with their customer service.

I was rather alarmed to receive a box of 100 cheques from them (free, incidently)! They're very pretty and they have my UK address on - but when I move in a few weeks I have to change my address - what a waste of cheques!

[L_n_O 3]

So when you order cheques from one of these 3rd party websites.. do you just enter your account info?

[mawilson 2,133]

So when you order cheques from one of these 3rd party websites.. do you just enter your account info?

Yes. They do verify the account info with the bank, so don't even think about it B)

[L_n_O 3]

=) ya ya ya