All Is Calm....

[brookiki]

I'm really tired of studying, but I feel like I'm making some headway. I'm sure I'm going to get slammed by finals, but still.. *shrugs* I feel like I'm getting more stuff and I have till Monday for the first, Tuesday for the second, Thursday for the third, and I've got to fit a take-home in there somewhere.

Comments

[star_maple]

I really love Washington Mutual (althought I am scared of what will happen when Chase fully takes over). The clerks are always really happy and they have free checking and free ATM use, although their overdraft fee is still, like $20 and it sucks.

Not sure about their credit cards as I get my credit card through USAA and I have a *bitchin'* interest rate, so it's not likely to change.

Mom and dad just opened up an account with Key Bank too, for my dad to use in New York. I would also recommend credit unions. Not as many ATMs and not many branches, but they generally have really good customer service.

[brookiki]

I've heard good things about credit unions, too. Given that I don't use ATMs at all and I'm never in the bank, that wouldn't affect me too much. I'm mainly worried about interest and customer service.

I don't really care about the bank credit cards. I only took this one because they kept calling and did the "You're crazy for not taking this because look at all the great stuff you get" thing.

But I think that scary thing about banks is the fact that they're being shuffled around so much. You go to all the trouble of finding a good bank, only to have the very one you most wanted to avoid take over. That would suck.

[star_maple]

If you're never in the bank you might consider online banking as it offers better interest rates, usually. Some of the stock trading websites have online banking (E*Trade in particular) as do some investment firms like ING. I'm actually putting the majority of my savings in a money market account as the interest rates are much better (generally) and it's protected by the FDIC now. It's a little harder to get to quickly, but it's still pretty liquid. I'm trying to build up the 3-6 months of emergency money you're supposed to have in that account.

The best thing about my credit card is the low interest rate. Not that it ever comes into play for me since I almost always pay off the balance, but whenever someone is constantly pestering me about getting a credit card I can tell them my interest rate with my current one and it usually shuts them right up because they can't compete. :)

[brookiki]

Sounds like you're really doing your homework. I need to do some longterm planning myself. My money is safe right now, but it's not working nearly as hard as it should be.

I keep hearing people say that this is the best possible time to buy stocks if you're in it for the long haul and I keep toying with the idea of putting a little money in some safe stocks, but I just can't decide.

[korichan]

Shannon had that exact same problem with them, and hers was over a charge dispute that they refused to accept wasn't from her, even though she provided documentation stating just that. She ended up switching after that, I think she uses Central now.
Chase has some bad charges that they will slap you with, but they were always really good about working out disputes and dropping the charges (at least my branch was) if you explained the situation. Especially if you overdrafted by a dollar or so. They just kicked it off and went on. I have the UK Credit Union now because of work, which is okay, except they won't let me use my card in a lot of places because they restrict paying sellers that are internationally owned or a lot of online programs like Paypal because they do a lot of international transactions.

[brookiki]

And it's no wonder they're having financial problems. There's a limit to how uncooperative you can be with customers before they throw up their hands and go somewhere else.

I'm okay with banks having fees for certain things. If they didn't, they'd have a lot more problems. The thing is, though, I also feel that if a customer is doing exactly what he or she is supposed to be doing and playing by the rules, that ought to at least get them in the door to discuss charges and disputes.

I guess there are extra fees for international transactions. I remember getting hit with a lot of them when I was using ATMs in France. That would be inconvenient, though.

[fayoreix2]

Oh boy, National City is BUYING my bank. Good to know they suck!

PNC screwed me with overdraft fees, but at the end of the day it was my fault for making the error that I withdrew deposited money too quickly without checking.

[brookiki]

True. I mean, you should have kept better track of it. At the same time, though, when the bank knows you're going to go over the limit and has the opportunity to either refuse funds or give you the funds with a nasty charge, that raises another issue. I really do think that a bank should at least offer customers to opt out of the program.