looking for a new bank. need Q's to add to my 'interview'

[chiver78]

I have been using Bank of America for close to a decade, mainly because they have branches *everywhere* in the US and have many partner banks around Europe - which served my needs as I was travelling all over hell and creation for my old job, as well as travelling for pleasure within the US. I am no longer in that job, and my personal travel has diminished significantly. now I'm at the point where the things that turn my nose up about BofA outweigh the conveniences I'm no longer using......so I'm on the hunt for a new bank. I thought I had it with the company CU for the new job, but I've discovered this week that there aren't actually any branches in my state. not cool, that's definitely a no.

so, as I look at new banks - and go check my local branch out in person and talk to an actual employee - I want to ask important questions. here's my list so far, am I missing anything? important to note, I'm looking for smaller banks/credit unions as opposed to the ones that are "too big to fail" sort of thing.

-are there branches near either home/work? (I work an hour from home, off-Cape. this is actually an important detail)
-is this bank in the SUM network, or something similar?
-if there are no branches immediately local, do you partner with anyone so I can make an in-person deposit if needed?
-can you show me what your online banking site looks like, including bill pay? does that bill pay include the ability to set up automatic recurring payments to creditors other than within your own bank? (this was an annoyance with the company CU that I discovered this week...)

[busymom]

Are there any monthly fees? Do I need to be making a certain number of deposits or withdrawals each month for my account to be "fee free"? (Personally, I've had better luck with the credit unions too.)

[alabamagal]

What do use branches for? Do you need a branch near you?

When I moved there was 1 branch in my new city. Not convenient but it doesn't really matter. On the 9 months I have been here I have only have to go to my branch 2 times. One was for wire transfer for house closing other time was when I had a expense check > $2000 that I could not remote deposit.

[chiver78]

good questions, sorry I should have made clear - I'm only considering accounts that have those sorts of terms I intend to meet. looking at options that have no minimum balances, are free with/without direct deposit (since it's a given that I'll have direct deposit).

fwiw, the company CU has a #of transactions required across your collection of accounts in order to obtain a 2% interest rate for ck/sav.

[chiver78]

I use branches b/c my roommate is rebuilding his credit and doesn't have any cards at the moment. we routinely have him give me cash to pay a bill for him online, and I choose to use my debit card and deposit the same $ and not even record it to my ledger. it works for us, and I'd like to keep that convenience.

past that, occasionally I have questions and would like to actually speak to someone in person. I hate asking WWYD/recommend sort of questions to a person on the phone that could really be anywhere. someone local understands my local economy, how I'm using my income to pay stuff off and save at the same time, and can recommend programs that would best suit me for my needs.

[Ombud]

These are the questions we used when looking for GS1's bank:
♤ what's needed to avoid monthly fees
♡ how convenient are the ATM locations
◇ will they reimburse ATM fees charged by other banks
♧ does debit card have Visa or Mastercard logo
☆ VISA or Mastercard rate

He still doesn't have that cc but hasn't needed one yet

[myrrh]

Do you have available (at the branch you will use most often), and cost of:
a cashiers check?
a money order?
a notary?
a medallion signature?
safety deposit boxes available (if you want one of those)?

[Chocolate Lover]

My main bank doesn't have any local branches but they do take cash deposits at certain ATMs. None within 100 miles of me but maybe you'd be able to find something like that.

I have a local CU for a brick and mortar/deposit cash kind of thing.

[hypersion]

What wrong with just continuing to use bank of america.

[chiver78]

Sept 25, 2015 14:12:53 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

My main bank doesn't have any local branches but they do take cash deposits at certain ATMs. None within 100 miles of me but maybe you'd be able to find something like that.

I have a local CU for a brick and mortar/deposit cash kind of thing.

my new company CU doesn't have any brick and mortar locations, which is why I'm not switching to them like I originally planned to do when I opened those accounts.    and as far as ATMs that take deposits, there aren't any really local to where I live, which sucks even more. so I'll just keep this open for the car loan, and make the payments from checking out of the direct deposit $ to keep the account free.

[chiver78]

Sept 25, 2015 20:24:42 GMT -5 hypersion said:

What wrong with just continuing to use bank of america.

I don't particularly care for some of their business practices, and since moving to my new house, they aren't exactly convenient for me anymore.

the reason I opened the accounts with them in the first place was because I could walk to my primary branch and they had locations/ATMs all over the place. also, at the time, I was doing a fair amount of international travel, and BofA had the most options for sister banks overseas - where I wouldn't incur any exchange or "international transaction" fees for taking out local currency once I got there. none of those reasons are still the case, so I am free to move on to another bank.