Bank of Amer vs. WaMu checking?

CreditDrama85 · ‎04-07-2008

i have checking account with both these banks and am thinking WaMu needs to be my primary acct if i choose to keep both.

i have noticed that Bank of Amer will return a check unpaid if it is for a little as $5 more than my balance; and when i deposit a check, it doesnt appear until the next business day.

with WaMu, if my account is short, checks are paid by several hundred dollars and my account will show as negative until i deposit another check; AND when i do deposit a check it is made available that day.

it seems like Bank of America has some cathcing up to do?

Message Edited by CreditDrama85 on 04-07-2008 06:53 AM

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

I liked WAMU checking when I had them.

Those OD fees will kill you though-

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

Or you could say that BofA is practicing tough love and trying to get you to stop bouncing checks and balance your check book, while Wamu is acting like an enabling drug dealer who is encouraging your bad behavior and milking you for overdraft fees.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

seems to me that the real answer here is making sure that your account isn't short frequently i.e. balance your check book. then you won't have to change accounts etc, and on top of that you'll be able to feel good about being responsible with your finances.

JMHO

CreditDrama85 · ‎04-07-2008

LOL, i guess i do need to be more responsible

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

How long have you had your BoA account, do you have direct deposit, do you also have a savings account, etc., etc.?

On the rare occasion that I've had an overdraft on my BoA, they've covered it (and then charged me a hefty fee, of course).

If you use Online Banking or online Bill Pay at all, you'll find that the BoA system is far superior. I have a WAMU checking account, but I pretty much never use it. I use my WAMU savings account to receive enough direct deposits to cover my WAMU mortgage, and then I auto-transfer to the checking account in time to pay said mortgage, gaining just a bit of interest in the process.

For the rest of my banking, WAMU is really inferior to BoA.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

chin up, it's really not that difficult... i promise

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

I've been with BofA for a long time and just opened up a WAMU account in February. There are pros and cons to both, but one of the big pros (IMHO) to WAMU is the fact that you can see your pending transactions on the net. With BofA I have to call in to customer service and their system has only gotten worse over the years. It keeps you in the automated system, with no way to get out until it's done giving you a bunch of information you don't want.

I haven't had to call WAMU's customer service people so I can't speak to that aspect. I will give huge kudos to my branch manager for taking good care of me when I recently had an overdraft situation arise due to a combination of forgetfulness and the fact that my computer was down. I believe that the reason they took such care of me had more to do with the fact that I've been banking with them for years than anything.

One other note: I like the fact that my WAMU debit card is a rewards card versus my BofA card with no perks to it. But that's a small thing when compared to the bigger picture.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

@Anonymous wrote:
I've been with BofA for a long time and just opened up a WAMU account in February. There are pros and cons to both, but one of the big pros (IMHO) to WAMU is the fact that you can see your pending transactions on the net. With BofA I have to call in to customer service and their system has only gotten worse over the years. It keeps you in the automated system, with no way to get out until it's done giving you a bunch of information you don't want.

I haven't had to call WAMU's customer service people so I can't speak to that aspect. I will give huge kudos to my branch manager for taking good care of me when I recently had an overdraft situation arise due to a combination of forgetfulness and the fact that my computer was down. I believe that the reason they took such care of me had more to do with the fact that I've been banking with them for years than anything.

One other note: I like the fact that my WAMU debit card is a rewards card versus my BofA card with no perks to it. But that's a small thing when compared to the bigger picture.

Huh, that's weird, because I can see all of my credit card transactions via BofA online banking as they hit the account, including pending ones. I never need to call customer service.

My BofA online banking shows 6 different credit card accounts, in addition to my checking account. This includes transactions, rewards points accumulated, credit lines available, credit used, etc.

Have you gone through the process of linking them in?

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2008

Huh, that's weird, because I can see all of my credit card transactions via BofA online banking as they hit the account, including pending ones. I never need to call customer service.

My BofA online banking shows 6 different credit card accounts, in addition to my checking account. This includes transactions, rewards points accumulated, credit lines available, credit used, etc.

Have you gone through the process of linking them in?

Hi,
I don't have any credit cards with them. I only have the checking account/savings account combination. On my checking all I can see are the posted items, no pending items - and I can see the balance plus available balance, which typically reflects pending transactions taken out - but no way to see what they are online. It sounds like they are more up to speed on the credit card side of things...