Coolest unexpected bank perk?

[tallguy]

There are a lot of people here with money and a good relationship with their bank, and due to that get certain benefits from their banks.  As a Private Client, I get a lot of the same.  Some are nice, like having all of my fees waived for just about everything, personal bankers who do anything I need them to, being able to extend those benefits to family members, etc.  Some I don't use and probably never will, like access to a free 24-hour hotline for people to handle things for me, free safety-deposit box if I needed one, etc.

I just got a new one in the mail.  The bank has for their Private Clients an Arts and Culture program.  I now have a card granting me access for myself (and either one or more guests depending on the venue) to the Science Center and the major museums in the area.  There have been any number of times where I have seen advertised new exhibits and thought, "Wow, that would be cool to go see!"  But would it be worth $20-25 per person to go see?  Well, me being almost the ultimate YM'er, not so much.  Now, I don't have to worry about it. 

So, what are the coolest unexpected perks you have gotten through your bank?  

[alabamagal]

When we had a business we had a couple different banks through the years. Our last bank was a regional bank based in our small city

We had a personal business banker who would take care of things for us. We had a business line of credit. And our banker always helped us work through issues. We sold business 2 years ago so we don't go through the business banker anymore.

When we moved to AL the bank has 2 hardly used branches in the city we live in so we stayed with them. Their customer service via phone is still awesome. They also just got bought by another small regional bank from Mississippi so I hope their good service continues

We are not high net worth customers.

[skubikky]

No transaction fees when overseas.
Able to get foreign currency with no charge.

We get tickets/passes and other things like that through a charitable event that we're involved in.

[MJ2.0]

I don't know if this is a "perk", but apparently my debit card number was picked up and was being used by various parties (looks like the charges were reversed before I told them it wasn't me). BoA called my home, my cell, my work, and emailed me about six times. When I returned their call, they went over the erroneous charges and closed out my card. I mean they really went all out with trying to notify me, to the point where it was annoying... but I guess that's better than just letting it go.

[Plain Old Petunia]

Jul 2, 2015 7:31:42 GMT -5 skubikky said:

No transaction fees when overseas.
Able to get foreign currency with no charge.

We get tickets/passes and other things like that through a charitable event that we're involved in.

But are you able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?

[swamp]

When I was 10.5 months pregnant and was having a hard time walking because my feet were so swollen, the bank next to my office let me park in their parking lot so I could waddle myself to the office.  My usual lot was about a block away.

Other than that, I got nothing.

[Deleted]

I don't get anything from my bank at all    Do you hold your investment accounts through the bank? You make me hate my bank. 

Once upon a time I had a bank that sent me Tiffany wine glasses as a thank you each year. Now that was nice!!! Then they got acquired by another bank and poof, no more Tiffany glasses!

Excuse me, just remembered, they give me harassment from their investment division . . . yeah, that's what they give me. I have been a customer for over 20 years and nothing . . . it's like a bad marriage. They were a local bank, but got bought by a big bank.

tallguy, are you using some sort of local bank that they give you nice perks like that?

[swamp]

one of the banks I do closings for sends me cookies at Christmas.

[MJ2.0]

Jul 2, 2015 8:34:40 GMT -5 swamp said:

When I was 10.5 months pregnant and was having a hard time walking because my feet were so swollen, the bank next to my office let me park in their parking lot so I could waddle myself to the office.  My usual lot was about a block away.

Other than that, I got nothing.

seriously?!

[tallguy]

Jul 2, 2015 8:51:25 GMT -5 @rockit said:

I don't get anything from my bank at all    Do you hold your investment accounts through the bank? You make me hate my bank. 

Once upon a time I had a bank that sent me Tiffany wine glasses as a thank you each year. Now that was nice!!! Then they got acquired by another bank and poof, no more Tiffany glasses!

Excuse me, just remembered, they give me harassment from their investment division . . . yeah, that's what they give me. I have been a customer for over 20 years and nothing . . . it's like a bad marriage. They were a local bank, but got bought by a big bank.

tallguy, are you using some sort of local bank that they give you nice perks like that?

No.  I was with Washington Mutual until the "unpleasantness" years ago.  They were bought out by Chase, which I wasn't particularly happy about because I liked the people at Washington Mutual.  I now have good people at Chase, and yes, I transferred my IRA's over.  I still have the same investment in my T-IRA but the management is through them instead of the fund company.  Doesn't cost me any more that way.  And I decided to let their Managed Accounts handle my Roth for a while to see how that works.  So yeah, they make some money off of me but so far it is working out fine.  And I plan to use the hell out of this new benefit!      

[sarcasticgirl]

Apparently I get random perks like that through by BOA credit card. Museum passes and such. I looked at the listing of perks once and then forgot all about it. 

I get many more discounts and free tickets through work than through any other avenue. 

[MJ2.0]

sarcasticgirl, I just saw that - cool! That will definitely help entertain DS for very little

[mollyanna58]

The best I get is the possibility of a free safe deposit box, if they have any available in the small size.

[Plain Old Petunia]

I get all of my banking services for free, which is nice.  But, I don't get cookies or tiffany glasses or science museum entrances.

[Deleted]

I learned that it is time to start shopping for a new bank (really applies to anything) when they start sending a bunch of freebies (perks).


For banking I do 100% on-line out of state, they pay any ATM fees.  This is positive for both them and me as they don't have the cost of all the fixed locations - I don't have to watch where I pull money out.

Otherwise all the perks are gone.  I don't keep enough money in the bank for them to offer me anything.  I use Vanguard/Fidelity for brokerage.

Prior to switching to Vanguard, I did have some bank mutual funds.  Of course they offered all kinds of services, personal adviser, save deposit box, etc.   Well I don't need to pay 1% of my funds every year versus .07% for the index fund.  Guess those fees really do matter  .  That was some of the most expensive $20 "perks" I have ever paid for.

[joemilitary]

".....personal bankers who do anything I need them to,...."

Hmmm, there's a pretty good looking female personal banker at my branch......hmmmm......<<consolidates accounts>> 

[gooddecisions]

Just a regular account or credit card from boa gets you free admission to museums on the first weekend of every month. You don't need a special "private client" relationship.

I walked into Wells Fargo with my 3 year old and they really wanted to open an account for her. I told them, sure if it comes with free children's museum admission...they had no idea what I was talking about. I shrugged and said we would stay with boa.

[Deleted]

I get free checking and free online bill-paying.  They do something called Relationship Points, too, and give you a few for having a checking account, etc. I think I got 20 last month, and you have to have 2500 to redeem for a $5 Starbucks card or something.

I'll be dead before I reach that total.

[resolution]

We get baseball tickets to the local minor league team. There is also a small discount on the safety deposit box. Other than that, not a whole lot, but we keep most of our money with Vanguard and not with the bank.

[Opti]

Jul 2, 2015 9:24:05 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Apparently I get random perks like that through by BOA credit card. Museum passes and such. I looked at the listing of perks once and then forgot all about it. 

I get many more discounts and free tickets through work than through any other avenue. 

There used to be random perks through my Credit Union for discounts on tickets to Great Adventure and similar stuff. I missed the best perk by a few hours recently. Every year in the summer, they make hotdogs and give them out to customers as part of their car loan awareness day or whatever it is. Might be about the used cars through ?

My library had some great passes to some of the museums. Unfortunately they dropped the Stickley Musuem from the roster before I could go. Its around $10 admission, but it isn't the Met or Longwood Gardens either.

I should probably find out if they still have the one for the sculpture gardens in Hamilton. That is pricey. And cool.