I am in my early 20s and am currently a student. I have had a Checking and savings account at Wells Fargo since I started working. I also have a mutual fund set up. Are their any online resources that can help me research? Or should I just go around and sit with everyone and ask them questions, the problem with that is everyone is going to say they are the best. I am mainly concerned about things such as interest rate in my savings, BS charges and penalties and friendliness of phone staff.
talk to friends get word of mouth recommendations
Shop around - get the best free toaster money doesn’t need to buy.
If having a local bank isn’t critical for you, you might want to investigate Reward checking accounts. There are a number of them available (both nationally and locally) and you can earn 5%+ interest on your account if you have a certain number of transactions per month (usually 10) and receive your statement electronically. Some also require a direct deposit or usage of their online bill pay. Most have minimal if any minimum balance requirements.
I have had such an account for several years and it has been a big money-saver for me. I have to do my deposits by mail, but any ATM transactions (which are generally not at my bank’s ATM because they aren’t in my area) are reimbursed monthly by my bank.
A good site to check these out would be http://www.depositaccounts.com/checking/reward-checking-accounts.html
If you qualify for an account there, I would strongly recommend USAA. I’ve dealth with them by phone, email, and website, and they are always accurate and helpful.
I realize this is one personal anecdote, but I have heard the same from other customers of theirs as well.
How much do you use ATMs? Having a large network of ATMs is one factor that’s important to me.
Usually if you don’t use your own banks ATM you get hit twice. Once by the owner of the ATM with a transaction fee and once by your own bank. Take out $20 and you end up paying an additional $4 in fees.
(That $4 is the 1% interest your savings account pays you once a year for the $400 you have in it.)
I use ATMs very often which is why I use Wells they are just everywhere for me.
MoneySavingExpert.com has a section dedicated to banking which compares various banks’ accounts’ fees, debit cards, interest rates, sign-up bonuses, rewards programs, etc. It also has similarly detailed information on mortgages, savings accounts, etc. I’ve found it extremely useful in choosing financial products. The only caveat: it covers UK financial institutions only.
Credit Unions are awesome–you’re part owner which is kind of cool. Most are part of a CU ATM network so you always can find machines (I think the ones in most 7-11s are part of the network!) and mine doesn’t charge me bogus fees, they’re super friendly, you get to vote for who you want to run it, there are all kinds of other perks (like their auto-buying service). CUs are usually somewhat local, which is a nice touch.
Fatwallet.com always has threads about bank accounts with the highest rates. Another good source for interest rates is bankrate.com. Both of those sites concern themselves more with rates than with friendliness, though.
Word of mouth is a great way to get started. It can at least narrow down your options.
Another thing. Make a list of what’s important to you in a bank account. Free atms/lot of atms? 7 days a week banking (with grocery store locations)? Low maintenance fees? High interest? Multiple account incentives?
Also, are there any deal breakers? List off the top three things you want in an account, and perhaps the top three deal breakers. Then, when you do go to the bank to get their information, you can compare these criteria. If you don’t care about minimum balance requirements, you don’t even have to look at those sections of the disclosures. That will also help you compare apples to apples.