topic Re: When Do You Fire The Bank? in Personal Finance

When Do You Fire The Bank?

RootDet — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 22:24:31 GMT

Hi All,

I am wondering, when do you decide to end a banking/credit union relationship? I have a few credit union relationships where I don't see much value moving forward with.

NASA FCU - Great they give Fico. Lending is conservative, Checking requires parking $2500 so have savings only. I originally wanted a star trek card but they feel I have too much credit already.

AOD FCU - Great small CU. Not a fan of the online interface, lacks zelle or popmoney. Mostly been using it to send/receive facebook payments. They denied me a CC way back because of too much credit and some bs about deferred student loans being bad ... in the middle of a pandemic!

SecuMD - They have just been ticking me funny. been a member since like 2020 savings only. Tried to open a checking but they were adamant about chex and that my report didn't matter along as I had no bad entries ... then denied me for too many inquiries. Ticked me off an existing member, not like I was applying for membership, felt lied to. I applied for CC back in 2020 denied for too much credit. Then recently applied as it seemed like they were loosening up, and they offered me $5k. Appealed and learned today it was denied. Can't even figure out the CEO's email so I can complain about the bait and switch being lied to about the chex.

I mean it costs me nothing to keep them around, except time to move money around. But in the case of SecuMD/NASA they could never become anything more with just savings since your allowed what 6 debit transactions a month? In all 3 cases, they don't seem to offer any great APY products, so not like there is value add there. Like DCU or Redstone FCU for example.

So when do you decide to move on is the question? Do you just keep everybody incase someday you want to use them? Credit unions are a dime a dozen, where one doesn't lend, another will.

At the moment I am not looking for anything new in banking along something really special comes around. I actually recently joined UnifyFCU which was bumpy and needed some CEO intervention and they are really cool, great interface, great people to deal with. It has been awesome!

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

TheRedHat — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 23:41:25 GMT

When a bank no longer has a loan or credit card that I want, I'll leave them. When a few loans that I have now are paid off, I plan on closing those bank accounts soon thereafter.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 23:53:06 GMT

I would keep your memberships. You just never know when a credit union will offer a new product you want, or new deal that might help you. And since ChexSystems prevents you from joining too many credit unions in a certain time span, it's good to hang onto the ones you've sacrificed to obtain. I love credit unions, and I keep every one I've ever joined.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 03:39:14 GMT

@RootDet wrote:
Hi All,

I am wondering, when do you decide to end a banking/credit union relationship? I have a few credit union relationships where I don't see much value moving forward with.

NASA FCU - Great they give Fico. Lending is conservative, Checking requires parking $2500 so have savings only. I originally wanted a star trek card but they feel I have too much credit already.
AOD FCU - Great small CU. Not a fan of the online interface, lacks zelle or popmoney. Mostly been using it to send/receive facebook payments. They denied me a CC way back because of too much credit and some bs about deferred student loans being bad ... in the middle of a pandemic!
SecuMD - They have just been ticking me funny. been a member since like 2020 savings only. Tried to open a checking but they were adamant about chex and that my report didn't matter along as I had no bad entries ... then denied me for too many inquiries. Ticked me off an existing member, not like I was applying for membership, felt lied to. I applied for CC back in 2020 denied for too much credit. Then recently applied as it seemed like they were loosening up, and they offered me $5k. Appealed and learned today it was denied. Can't even figure out the CEO's email so I can complain about the bait and switch being lied to about the chex.

I mean it costs me nothing to keep them around, except time to move money around. But in the case of SecuMD/NASA they could never become anything more with just savings since your allowed what 6 debit transactions a month? In all 3 cases, they don't seem to offer any great APY products, so not like there is value add there. Like DCU or Redstone FCU for example.

So when do you decide to move on is the question? Do you just keep everybody incase someday you want to use them? Credit unions are a dime a dozen, where one doesn't lend, another will.

At the moment I am not looking for anything new in banking along something really special comes around. I actually recently joined UnifyFCU which was bumpy and needed some CEO intervention and they are really cool, great interface, great people to deal with. It has been awesome!

It's a tough question. Recently I closed my accounts with a credit union which I really loved, but I guess they didn't love me so much. Every time I applied for credit I was denied. In all instances the reasoning was essentially that I had too much available credit limits.

Then one day I woke up to the fact that hopefully I'm never going to have less available credit, which means that they will never approve me. So I decided to move on. Of course it's possible that if I'd stuck around for another 5 years there might have been a change in their policy, but perhaps it's an ingrained part of their 'culture'. I don't know if I did the right thing or the wrong thing.

Now if they'd denied me because my utilization was too high, or I'd made too many recent inquiries, or some other reason I could do something about, then maybe I would have stuck around.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

RootDet — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 05:07:35 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@RootDet wrote:
Hi All,

I am wondering, when do you decide to end a banking/credit union relationship? I have a few credit union relationships where I don't see much value moving forward with.

NASA FCU - Great they give Fico. Lending is conservative, Checking requires parking $2500 so have savings only. I originally wanted a star trek card but they feel I have too much credit already.
AOD FCU - Great small CU. Not a fan of the online interface, lacks zelle or popmoney. Mostly been using it to send/receive facebook payments. They denied me a CC way back because of too much credit and some bs about deferred student loans being bad ... in the middle of a pandemic!
SecuMD - They have just been ticking me funny. been a member since like 2020 savings only. Tried to open a checking but they were adamant about chex and that my report didn't matter along as I had no bad entries ... then denied me for too many inquiries. Ticked me off an existing member, not like I was applying for membership, felt lied to. I applied for CC back in 2020 denied for too much credit. Then recently applied as it seemed like they were loosening up, and they offered me $5k. Appealed and learned today it was denied. Can't even figure out the CEO's email so I can complain about the bait and switch being lied to about the chex.

I mean it costs me nothing to keep them around, except time to move money around. But in the case of SecuMD/NASA they could never become anything more with just savings since your allowed what 6 debit transactions a month? In all 3 cases, they don't seem to offer any great APY products, so not like there is value add there. Like DCU or Redstone FCU for example.

So when do you decide to move on is the question? Do you just keep everybody incase someday you want to use them? Credit unions are a dime a dozen, where one doesn't lend, another will.

At the moment I am not looking for anything new in banking along something really special comes around. I actually recently joined UnifyFCU which was bumpy and needed some CEO intervention and they are really cool, great interface, great people to deal with. It has been awesome!
It's a tough question. Recently I closed my accounts with a credit union which I really loved, but I guess they didn't love me so much. Every time I applied for credit I was denied. In all instances the reasoning was essentially that I had too much available credit limits.

Then one day I woke up to the fact that hopefully I'm never going to have less available credit, which means that they will never approve me. So I decided to move on. Of course it's possible that if I'd stuck around for another 5 years there might have been a change in their policy, but perhaps it's an ingrained part of their 'culture'. I don't know if I did the right thing or the wrong thing.

Now if they'd denied me because my utilization was too high, or I'd made too many recent inquiries, or some other reason I could do something about, then maybe I would have stuck around.

True indeed. any of the 3 could change policies and loosen up the purse strings more. SecuMD though really just grinds my gears as the guy lied and that ticks me off.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 12:38:04 GMT

NASA FCU has some good points, which may or may not apply to you.

1) Certificates. They sometimes have very good rates (their specials) among the highest out there. Not currently the case!

2) Credit card. In FotM time, these were great, 30K credit lines with just a SP. Now generally S/D, but for the last two years they have a promotion, spend $1000 get a $100 back (or $25 for $250, $50 for $500). As my card is a flat 1.5%, this is 11.5% on $1000, worth keeping.

But if you don't have the card, better deals out there!

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

VetMom — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 02:21:51 GMT

When I had to file bankruptcy(mortgage broker couldn't find bankruptcy refused to believe I filed) due to medical issues Tower Federal Credit Union(I worked at NSA then) closed all my accs! After that I said I would NEVER use a cu again! A bank helped me rebuild still with them to this day! Fast fwd 20+yrs just purchased a suv! Local cu(oh wait for the drama...) gave me best rate after salesman thought my $16k down-payment was going to a brand new Highlander Platinum..NOPE but LOVE my pandemic CPO Platinum Highlander even with all the pandemic issues (wasn't in emissions sys, dealership refunded paint job due to LIES)!

Now let's get to why I texted my financial advisor with my bank(luv my cute veteran logo credit/debit cards haha) "I don't care if you liquidate my kitchen sink GIVE ME THE $ TO GET RID OF THE IDIOTS AT THIS CU!! I want car PAID OFF ASAP!! No wonder they give low rates to trick ppl into joining!!"

Rep kept telling me I have excellent credit scores! Well I refinanced the car to a lower rate after I learned dealership told another pandemic lie! Still love my Car! Haha Rep closed old acc causing payment in process to bounce back which it did show up in my bank acc! Well my cu accs were locked! I learned bounced payment was treated as a "missed" payment! I called cust serv to get it unlocked to set up new payment! Idiots hung up on me 4 times! Transferred me all over the place for 4 days because no one knew their jobs!!! It was finally unlocked!! I LOVE MY BANK GOING NOWHERE....

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

BearsCubsOtters — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 11:32:51 GMT

@RootDet wrote:
Hi All,

I am wondering, when do you decide to end a banking/credit union relationship? I have a few credit union relationships where I don't see much value moving forward with.

NASA FCU - Great they give Fico. Lending is conservative, Checking requires parking $2500 so have savings only. I originally wanted a star trek card but they feel I have too much credit already.
AOD FCU - Great small CU. Not a fan of the online interface, lacks zelle or popmoney. Mostly been using it to send/receive facebook payments. They denied me a CC way back because of too much credit and some bs about deferred student loans being bad ... in the middle of a pandemic!
SecuMD - They have just been ticking me funny. been a member since like 2020 savings only. Tried to open a checking but they were adamant about chex and that my report didn't matter along as I had no bad entries ... then denied me for too many inquiries. Ticked me off an existing member, not like I was applying for membership, felt lied to. I applied for CC back in 2020 denied for too much credit. Then recently applied as it seemed like they were loosening up, and they offered me $5k. Appealed and learned today it was denied. Can't even figure out the CEO's email so I can complain about the bait and switch being lied to about the chex.

I mean it costs me nothing to keep them around, except time to move money around. But in the case of SecuMD/NASA they could never become anything more with just savings since your allowed what 6 debit transactions a month? In all 3 cases, they don't seem to offer any great APY products, so not like there is value add there. Like DCU or Redstone FCU for example.

So when do you decide to move on is the question? Do you just keep everybody incase someday you want to use them? Credit unions are a dime a dozen, where one doesn't lend, another will.

At the moment I am not looking for anything new in banking along something really special comes around. I actually recently joined UnifyFCU which was bumpy and needed some CEO intervention and they are really cool, great interface, great people to deal with. It has been awesome!

I move on after 1) a series of bad experiences with either a product, service or systems; 2) I have been a member for several years earning just 0.05-0.10% APY on member savings and the CU has never offered a loan, credit card or deposit account worth applying for.

Especially when you have other great credit unions (i.e. PenFed, NFCU and Redstone), some of your others do not seem logical.

If it were me, I'd drop NASA and SECUMD but I would keep AOD in the hopes that they eventually offer the 3% card again. One out of three won't hurt to keep around.

Credit unions can an amazing financial tool-but they are not built equally. There are some truly horrible credit unions out there.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

Anonymalous — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 07:24:27 GMT

The bank accounts I've closed were for specific reasons. For instance, my primary bank got bought out by Wells Fargo when they were at the nadir of their reputation, so I closed all my accounts and moved to another bank. Or when I moved, it turned out one of my banks was a pain to deal with remotely. The mobile deposit limit was smaller than the checks I was trying to deposit, and they were telling me I had to go into a (now very distant) branch for routine account maintenance. It was easier just to close them.

So I watch for red flags and accounts that are just too much of a nuisance to deal with. Most financial institutions offer the same basic services, so I'm not going to keep an account open just in case they might offer something in the future. There's some value in redundancy, but there's also value in simplicity.

Soudns like you have a few institutions that are hard to deal with, or that you don't trust. I'd definitely considering closing those.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

disdreamin — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 17:46:39 GMT

Who I use for my primary has migrated over the years but I have yet to fire a bank or CU. My primary checking account has been sold/changed three times now, but it's still chugging along, and each institution has offered the same or better perks so I've rolled with it. The only way I can see closing an account is if they cost me money to have. Currently none of them charge any kind of fee.

Re: When Do You Fire The Bank?

joltdude — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 05:10:30 GMT

I bounced the Rat Credit Union after noting they were whittling my savings down montly *even though I had made a transaction during that year on an attached checking account... and they didnt even try to make amends.... or keep me as a member.. was basically told Sucks to be you, no "make a deposit and we will credit you some of the inactivity fees on the savings". sent me the docusign in less than 5 min after the phone call and sent it back and was closed within the hour...

-J