No, but I was already planning to leave Bank of America - they’ve been driving me nuts since I set up the account after moving to Tucson in 2007 (but I knew I wouldn’t be staying there, and didn’t want to have to set up another one right off wherever I ended up). Now that I’m a bit more settled, I set up with a local credit union. My November paycheck will go into the new account and I’ll have gotten all the automatic transfers swapped over by mid-December, then I can shut down the BofA accounts by the first of the year.
I’m keeping my Big Bad Bank Account. Changing would be a hassle, and it’s not like they charge me anything. If that changes, I’m out.
I thought changing would be a hassle, but I have changed twice this year and it was not too bad. First, I jumped ship on Chase – I used to be a WaMu customer before they got handed over to Chase. Chase just kept jerking the account conditions around to ensure everyone who banked at WaMu would get screwed over. So I was shopping for a new place to put my money when the local Wells Fargo guy comes around and offers me the exact same kind of account as I used to have at WaMu.
So, I figured, ok, I know lots of people who like Wells Fargo, let’s give it a shot. 3 months later, boom! – we are changing the conditions on your account so we can change you a $15 fee per month. I emailed them telling them what I thought I about the change and of course get a form letter about how I should talk to my local banker.
Fuck that. I am not interested in TALKING to anyone. I like things in writing. So, I did my research and jumped ship for USAA. Wells Fargo accounts fully closed on Friday.
At least they didn’t give me any shit when I closed the accounts. Chase wanted to know “why?” when I closed my account there (and I told them exactly why).
I really hate having things just changed out of the blue. The big banks seem to love to do that, so to hell with them.
We did, but not for the same reason. We moved from Ohio to Florida three years ago. Our Ohio-based bank also has branches in Florida, but the closest one is some 26miles away. They’ve been promising to build a branch in the town where we live for the past three years. They own a piece of property close by but haven’t broken ground on it.
So, Saturday we made the first move to begin moving our accounts from them to a local Credit Union.
I did not change banks. I have TD Bank and I love them. I have their student account and it is absolutely perfect for me. They’re open 7 days a week and they have long hours. They’re nice to me. My boyfriend has a normal checking account with them and he is also very happy with them.
A local bank, I presume (I’ve never heard of it). If a local bank had popped up on my radar, that would have been another possibility, but they must not advertise where I am or they are totally smothered by the Big Banks in the area. Heck, if you are getting good service, don’t change.
I think most of the outrage is aimed at the Big Banks in any case. Those are the ones who act like greedy bloodsuckers. 
I’m a recent Wachovia -> Wells Fargo forced transferee. I’m sticking with Wells for now but not that impressed so far.
I have a checking and savings account at a credit union that I can switch to whenever I like. They are just less convenient than Wells.
I’m changing jobs shortly and I plan on having my new direct deposit set up with my credit union account. Once I have that established, I will go close down my BofA account because I’m pissed about their debit fee idea.
They’re not local the way Southbridge Savings Bank is (pretty sure it’s only in central MA). They reach from New Brunswick down to Georgia and into eastern NY, PA - so basically you have probably heard of them if you live over here. They definitely don’t have the reach of BoA and Wells Fargo though.
I was thinking of switching from Regions Bank, but since they backed off on their debit card charges I kind of lost my enthusiasm to switch. They have an ATM right here in my office building so it’s awfully convenient to use them.
We opened two accounts (checking and money market) with Commerce Bank about 13 years ago, then added two more when our kids were born. We loved Commerce, then a few years ago TD Bank took over. We’re still pretty happy with them, but a few months ago I started noticing a $3 charge for each withdrawal at a non-TD Bank. That was new. Then one month they charged a $12 monthly “account maintenance fee”, or some shit. WTF?
My wife went in to complain and they said they could eliminate those fees if we just linked our checking and MMA together, plus we’d start earning interest on our checking account. Well, why the F weren’t they linked in the first place? Why wouldn’t we want them linked?
Crazy. Now they’re linked, no more fees, and interest (embarrassingly low percentage, but interest nonetheless) on checking. As long as they maintain the status quo, we’ll stick with them.
TD is Toronto Dominion Bank, one of the biggest banks in Canada. They bought some US banks in the last few years.
It is by no means a “small, local bank”, although it may pretend to be to people who have never been to Canada.
BigT: I couldn’t put your suggestion into practice because banks are evil and are closed on Sundays. Not to fear though, I may be a little late to the party but I’ll definitely stick it to the man today and open and then close as many accounts as possible. That’ll show 'em!
I have free checking with Chase, and they haven’t mentioned charging new fees for anything. I’ll change banks if they do, but they’ve been really good to me. I had a few black marks against me when I opened the account 3+ years ago, but Chase still let me open a probationary checking account (it had a small monthly fee and some limits on transactions). It was graduated to a free checking account within 6 months, and I really appreciate that they gave me a chance to turn my shit around. I wouldn’t have achieved the financial recovery I have without Chase, so I have a good amount of loyalty to them.
Also, I don’t even know what credit union I’d be eligible to join. I work for the same insurance company my mom does, and there’s no eligibility there AFAIK. Although my sister is a teacher, but that’s down in Texas. Would I be able to get an account at a teacher’s CU? That might be pretty sweet.
Not true, I was on the phone for a half hour while one of their reps spewed all kinds of misinformation about credit unions and the tax repercussions of moving from one retirement account to another, while repeatedly telling me that Merrill Lynch isn’t part of Bank of America, just owned by it. :rolleyes:
Sometimes it’s based on location - for example, the one I joined I was actually qualified for membership through my county of residence - if you live or work in certain counties, you’re eligible. There was some relaxing of the rules for credit union membership a few years ago IIRC, and you might find one through the NCUAthat you’re eligible for.
We are in the process of doing this - not because of the designated ‘Day’ but because our superb smaller bank that offered us everything we needed and were great to work with and free ATM withdrawals and no charges etc etc etc were bought out by someone last year. No changes to the previous service then Sept 1st we get a letter stating that beginning Oct 1st there will be a whole shake up on account charges, minimum balance, minimum deposit per month etc. I already had an account through the work credit union that I had before we got married and created a joint checking account. So we are switching to using them. I just sent off the direct deposit change request to payroll this morning. The offer the same services we use online bill pay, online banking, free checking as well as preferential loan rates etc etc. Hopefully will be cancelling the bank account Dec 1st.
That is exactly the kind of thing that turned me off of Chase. My Wamu account was going along fine until Chase bought it out and then “the letter” arrives which basically says we are changing everything about your account. Have a nice day, sucker.
Huh, I didn’t know that. I was wondering what the TD meant. We were just plain Bank North before they were bought out. This is the first bank in my awareness that has actually gotten better with each buy out or merger.
Possibly, some allow family to join. You can become a member of some (community charter) CU’s if you 'live, work, or worship within x miles of one of their branches.
Further, some have ‘shared branches’, essentially a branch multiplier. My CU is about 100 miles away; never been there (they acquired a local one years ago); I go into a different, local CU on those infrequent occasions that I have a check to deposit.