Public service announcement re: First Niagara

[primaleph]

Anyone who's had a lot of problems with First Niagara, particularly overdraft charges, might want to look at the latest post in my personal lj, entitled Banking Woes + Solution. I would cross-post it here, but it's fairly long.

Comments

[sleepsong]

Could you please post a direct link to the entry in question? That way people who come across this in the future after you've made more posts to your LJ will be able to find what you're talking about.

Thanks! :)

[primaleph]

Good idea. Meant to do that before.

[musiquephan]

AND...a quick google search on TARP recipients will reveal First Commonwealth took NONE of those funds. A bank with integrity--who knew.

I wasn't one of the National City customers absorbed by First Niagra. However, I'm still considering switching banks and FC was one into which I was looking. Parkvale also looked appealing.

Good luck!

[primaleph]

I've heard very favorable things about Parkvale's policies as well. Apparently if there's overdraft, they freeze your account temporarily... Which can be an annoyance, but it guarantees you'll never have more than one overdraft charge at one time.

[kathasdied]

I was screwed by the switch from National City to FN (and my mom got switched from NC to PNC, she got lucky).
I actually really hated FN's online banking and billpay. Since i do everything online, their crappy website was enough to make me switch.

I switched to PNC - biggest reason is there is one right by me, and most of the ATMs inside UPMC hospitals are PNC. (I spend enough time in the hospital to get annoyed by the ATM fee when I have emergencies and need cash)

[pyrtolin]

For more options,
http://moveyourmoney.info/
Has good tools for looking up local community banks with good ratings and credit unions. (As well as plenty of advocacy for why it's a good idea to put your money somewhere with a decidedly more local focus than the bigger banks.)