Some banks have irrational appeal?

[FicoMike0]

I've noticed certain financial institutions seem to have an irrational attraction to some folks. Two are Chase and, even more so, nfcu. Many express a great interest in "getting in with chase". I realize they have several attractive cards, but it seems more like it's an exclusive club. Even more so with navy. I read accounts of folks who burned then in bk and now are paying them back to get in. What could navy offer that would be worth paying large to join? There are literally hundreds of other banks to chose from. I'm into subs, I expect them to pay me to join!

[CreditPoor]

Chase Bank and Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) have developed strong, loyal followings due to several key factors

Customer Rewards Programs
Brand Trust and Stability

Membership Benefits

Tailored Services for Military Members

Excellent Customer Service
Community and Support

But let's not pretend it's just those two banks that have cult like followers. You have peoples submitting personal private info to Amex just to get in that eco system to brag about how many cards they have and eventually how much their credit limits have been decreased 

[Thomas_Thumb]

A good topic for smorgasboard - imo

[pizzadude]

I can't speak to Chase but NFCU is one of the best lenders in terms of approvals / limits for customers who are rebuilding or starting out and given the demographics here in the forums it makes sense that it would skew towards them. 

They're also the largest CU in the US so that probably helps too

[FicoMike0]

After thinking about it, I'll admit I do like amex. I have bce and hilton. I was with a friend a while back at a restaurant. Someone had to pay, I volunteered. My friend later commented he was glad I paid with amex, he didn't want to use his Wal-Mart card, lol. 

Now, how much do I like them? Enough to accept the $200 sub for bce and enough to take $250 for their checking. Enough to pay them $695 for a platinum? Not likely.

[MissLiz]

I have to agree with @pizzadude regarding Navy and lol @FicoMike0 about Amex. 😂

[Jeffster1]

@FicoMike0  There's nothing "irrational" about people's loyalty to certain financial institutions. Most often, people's affinities for one bank over another has to do with the service that institution offers and personal experience. Who are you to decide that their loyalties are "irrational"?

[MarkintheHV]

I am in both ecosystems, and quite satisfied with both, more so than Chase, BoA etc.  I think a lot of it comes down to quirks of the institution.  I had Chase before (checking and credit card), and I grew weary of everytime I would transfer money they would mark it as fraud, thus forcing me to call to verify the transfer before they would release the funds.  BoA, well for some reason I want to like them, but, I cannot.  They seem to be trying to be "woke," and I dont want my financial institutions to do anything but manage money and be a bank.  For me, its the quirks that cause me not to like the others.  NFCU and AmEx treat me well, so I guess that's why I am with those two.  Citi, I am still debating on weather I am going to keep them around or not.  I want to like themm, but for some reason, I always reach for my AmEx for Flagship when it comes time to pay.  They really don't do anything for me, but, for some reason I keep them.  As you can tell by my signature, I am a less is more kind of person.

[Iusedtolurk]

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@pizzadude wrote:

I can't speak to Chase but NFCU is one of the best lenders in terms of approvals / limits for customers who are rebuilding or starting out and given the demographics here in the forums it makes sense that it would skew towards them. 

They're also the largest CU in the US so that probably helps too

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@pizzadude I echo your post I have no Chase cards but NFCU has been (knock on wood) the best for me of all the institutions I am affiliated with.

They gave me my highest limit cc and 6 months later gave me another card with 1000 limit increased to 2500 after 3 months.

Customer support has been great with any issues. No problems with payments or reporting.

[Pppoolboy]

Yeah I've never understood why everyone loves NFCU.  They've been total crap for me.  Their new web interface is horrible.  Their app is ok.  They gave me a card with a starting limit of $500 LOL which has since only been raised to $1500.  I never use it. 

I'm a sole proprietor and pay myself with direct deposits from my business banking account at another bank -- NFCU won't recognize the deposits as direct deposits.  They denied me for a personal loan.  They approved me for a pledge loan but gave me incorrect information and told me that the only one my CD qualified for was a 13 month loan even though I later found out I could have taken out a 24 month loan.

I received three stupid hard pulls from them in the span of a month for the above.

Just awful IMHO. 

Chase is slightly better but not much.  Their cards are OK.  Nothing super spectacular.  I had a checking account with them that I only wanted because of their massive ATM presence and my business gets a lot in cash.  The first month there was a fraud alert put on the account which took me an hour to resolve.  The second month an ATM ate one of my cash deposits and I spent another hour talking with some guy in India about getting a refund.  I closed the accounts.   LOOOL... never again.