Available in all 50 states, if not possible, as many states as possible.
Things that would be nice but not necessary:
4. Checking account that pays interest.
5. International presence, preferably without fee for currency exchange.
6. Lots of free ATMs or low cost fees for other ATMs
Things i don’t need:
7. Good loan rates, ill probably use my credit union for loans forever.
8. New homeowners deals, also covered by my credit union.
9. Fancy charge cards, miles, etc. I’ve never seen a bank with a stellar cc.
To my knowledge, only three banks have branches in every state: Bank of America, Chase, and Citibank.
To my knowledge, all three of these banks are universally despised. All I can add is that I once worked for Chase (as a teller) and vowed never to bank there in any way shape or form.
I do all of my banking and investing through Charles Schwab. I have nothing but good things to say about them and have recommended them to numerous friends.
They offer:
No minimum balance requirements
No monthly service charges
No ATM fees
Free standard checks and a Visa® Platinum debit card
Free online bill pay on Schwab.com and Schwab Mobile
Competitive interest rate
FDIC Insurance up to $250,000
From their checking account FAQ.
Potential drawbacks:
They have very few bank branches; most physical locations are brokerage branches and have limited ability to deal in physical cash.
You need to have a Schwab brokerage account. At the end of the month they refund all ATM fees by lump sum cash deposit into your brokerage account. On the plus side, there is no minimum balance required in the brokerage, and you can instantly transfer cash back and forth between accounts.
edit: They also offer free ATM withdrawals internationally.
I only use my credit union for loans, I’ve had a track record with them since 2007. They also do new homeowners deals (like 3% apr, 1 point or less.) Also, no penalty for early loan payment.
But why in the world do you need a bank available in all 50 (or most) states? In fact a great many people make very little use of bank branches at all (can do almost everything online).
Why do you need a branch available in all 50 states? Why do you need a new bank at all? Open a checking and/or savings account with your Credit Union. Why would you only use them for loans?
I switched to Schwab when HSBC quit retail banking a few years ago. I don’t recall if they automatically opened a brokerage account for me when I opened my “High Yield Investor Checking Account” but if so, I wasn’t required to fund it with a dime. Also, my ATM fee rebates go directly back into checking every month, not into my brokerage account. That’s an account setting that I’m sure you can change.
Check deposits when I rarely make them are via Schwab Mobile. Just sign the check and take a picture of the front and back with your phone. They can also be done via mail by prepaid envelope. They sent me that stuff when I opened checking. The only thing I can’t do is directly deposit or withdraw cash because there’s no place to do so. Using any ATM anywhere (even the sketchy stand-alone ones that charge $5 and international ones) for free more than make up for that to me. Even if your bank has ATMs in every state, it’s really nice to not drive around looking for “your” ATM to save three bucks or feel ripped off.
If I wanted a stack of Benjamins, I might be able to do that by withdrawing from a live teller at a third party bank with my debit card, I’m not sure. If I wanted to deposit the same stack, I think I’d be shit outta luck. So far it hasn’t been an issue. I’m not at all a “plastic only” person, I carry and use cash almost every day. It’s just all withdrawn. Bytes go in, cash (and bytes) come out. If I had cash income, it wouldn’t work by itself.
All that said, I’m very happy with Schwab, too. I do have investments with them now, but they also work just fine as a checking only institution, and they do pay interest on checking. The “high yield” is .1% APY! I think I netted a free drink last year. I definitely saved a hell of a lot more than that in ATM fees.
Bank of America fits your first major requirements.
I know it is trendy to hate them, but I can’t exactly figure out why. They do my online bill pay, I get money out of their ATMs, and I have free checking. I get all of what I want. What am I supposed to complain about?
Between being able to deposit checks with my smartphone and hitting up ATMs, I haven’t been in a branch in nearly forever.
PNC is not in all 50 states, but with virtual wallet, you get three free atm visits to non-PNC atm’s a month - so that lessens the issue.
With direct deposit, there’s no charge for the checking, and with virtual wallet, money is easily transferred between savings and checking, so you get a little interest.
I’ve used the same (Utah-based) credit union for ten years, five of those years outside of Utah.
When I went into other credit union branches or to other credit unions’ ATMs in Texas, I was treated exactly the same as I would have been at my “home” CU. No ATM fees, able to deposit as well as withdraw, and my receipts even had the name of my own CU on them.
The national “shared branch” credit union network is larger than any single bank.
I actually loathe Chase bank, but I have a checking account with them because they offer free premium checking and all sorts of benefits to veterans. And, everywhere and convenient.
Because I don’t know which state I’m moving to yet.
Besides loans, everything else they do sucks.
At my current bank, I do:
safety deposit box
free online banking
weekend/evening hours
roughly 1/3 atms are free for my bank.
Visa debit/atm/bank card (my main credit card is mastercard, so it’s necessary when the place doesn’t accept MC.)
None of these things my CU can do. It’s opposite for loans. For loans, I’ll usually know same day or within three days. So far, all the loans I got from then were under 5%, which means 2-3% interest with about 1 point. Since I’ve done other loans with them in the past, I don’t have to fill out an application. If I move, I’m fairly positive that my CU will cover one in a different state.