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What would prompt you to change your bank?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?


@KLEXH25 wrote:
I’m in the process of leaving Wells Fargo. The funny thing is that it has nothing to do with their incompetence or fees (I’ve had no issues personally). I’ve had the same checking account number for 20 years now, but it’s been 3 different banks. What it comes down to is what can they do for me? And the answer is....NOTHING. I’ve opened accounts with three other banks because of better interest rates and offers, and it made me realize that there really is no reason to keep my WF account except for the fact that it’s the only account number I have memorized. So, it’s time to move on.


Wells Fargo will give you $400 for opening a checking account with them.   That's one thing they can do for you.  

 

If you close your accounts, you'll be eligible for the promotion a couple weeks later.  Close, open, then close again later this year.  Still doing the same thing, just grabbing $400 on your way out the door.

 

Message 21 of 31
KLEXH25
Valued Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?


@Anonymous wrote:

@KLEXH25 wrote:
I’m in the process of leaving Wells Fargo. The funny thing is that it has nothing to do with their incompetence or fees (I’ve had no issues personally). I’ve had the same checking account number for 20 years now, but it’s been 3 different banks. What it comes down to is what can they do for me? And the answer is....NOTHING. I’ve opened accounts with three other banks because of better interest rates and offers, and it made me realize that there really is no reason to keep my WF account except for the fact that it’s the only account number I have memorized. So, it’s time to move on.


Wells Fargo will give you $400 for opening a checking account with them.   That's one thing they can do for you.  

 

If you close your accounts, you'll be eligible for the promotion a couple weeks later.  Close, open, then close again later this year.  Still doing the same thing, just grabbing $400 on your way out the door.

 


I just checked and it's not being offered in my area. It's a shame because I was seriously entertaining the idea, but it would have been a pain to change my direct deposit twice in a month. Participating areas are:

  • Dallas, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Houston, TX
  • Miami, FL
  • Orlando, FL
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Seattle, WA
  • Washington, DC


Message 22 of 31
MySunrise271
Established Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

Well I opened a Chase checking account last year when they reached out with the $300 bonus offer.  I still have my credit union accounts (checking, savings, credit card) and they are still great. But wow, Chase has real time account balance updates, Zelle Quick Pay, and an ATM on every corner. Not to mention my 3 credit cards with them. This makes things super convenient.  So my Credit union holds my mortgage and goodness knows I am grateful to them for being there for the last 15 yrs and when I lost my job in 2014 and my savings were little more than fumes. Never took a hit on my CR, never missed a payment because they worked with me to keep the lights on and the roof over my head. Therefore, they are in my camp for a minimum of the duration of my mortgage 🙂.

Message 23 of 31
Andypanda
Established Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?


@KLEXH25 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@KLEXH25 wrote:
I’m in the process of leaving Wells Fargo. The funny thing is that it has nothing to do with their incompetence or fees (I’ve had no issues personally). I’ve had the same checking account number for 20 years now, but it’s been 3 different banks. What it comes down to is what can they do for me? And the answer is....NOTHING. I’ve opened accounts with three other banks because of better interest rates and offers, and it made me realize that there really is no reason to keep my WF account except for the fact that it’s the only account number I have memorized. So, it’s time to move on.


Wells Fargo will give you $400 for opening a checking account with them.   That's one thing they can do for you.  

 

If you close your accounts, you'll be eligible for the promotion a couple weeks later.  Close, open, then close again later this year.  Still doing the same thing, just grabbing $400 on your way out the door.

 


I just checked and it's not being offered in my area. It's a shame because I was seriously entertaining the idea, but it would have been a pain to change my direct deposit twice in a month. Participating areas are:

  • Dallas, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Houston, TX
  • Miami, FL
  • Orlando, FL
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Seattle, WA
  • Washington, DC

It’s also available here in Sacramento CA.

Message 24 of 31
Andypanda
Established Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

Fees, or terrible customer service.For savings, i have Cd’s at a couple of diffrent cu’s, but for for everyday checking i have wf, and i have enough money in the brokrage acounts, I don’t pay for anything, not even checks,and no min. Debit card use. Akso due to high balance they don’t screw around with me, and go out of their way to help me out. I do understand that have screwed people, and they should get what they deserve for it, and if i had less money with them, I wouldn’t be so lucky.

Message 25 of 31
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

I left Wells Fargo because of the fees and they were just a pain to work with. My next major account was with Washington Mutual, which I was very happy with until it was taken over by Chase. Never really had a problem with them except some of their policies. Decided I wanted to use a credit union because I was rebuilding and thought I could build a relationship with them to make it easier to get loans a cards. I was wrong. While sdccu is the biggest and highest rated cu here, they're just as bad as big banks. Their best card is only 1% cb and it appears that years or relationship isn't enough to get an auto, personal loan, or even their basic credit card. To top it off, they're big advertising push is for having no fees of any kind, except, they do have fees. Just received a fee for using my card on a website which I didn't know was overseas, and was charged an international transaction fee. Not to mention, them randomly declining charges and holding my deposits because of suspected fraud. What fraud? It's PayPal and the money came from eBay!  Recently, I opened some NFCU accounts and am debating moving everything there. I'm also debating on going back to Chase, which I kept open 

    
Message 26 of 31
joltdude
Senior Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

Banks iv left over the years or reduced my banking.....

Citizens Bank.. Forget when i last had them.. but they went fee-happy and I went packing... Was pretty quick about cashing checks even via ATM and was polite and such.. They even captured a fraudulent paycheck presented to them and I was no longer a customer at the time... they escrowed it and wouldn't release it.. Someone tried to open an account and deposit the check... But they didn't do a great job finding me to notify though.. Forget the minutia but actually went in branch and was called back to research the check and they found it... but had to drive an hour out to go to the branch that captured it... 

Peoples United... Fees kept going up, service kept going down.. and I never overdrafted, and also had no interest in helping me build credit from a 0 score.... I wasn't really their ideal customer, since they were after the small biz sector.....As well as charging me 2$ for using a debit card at Costco... and I got a ... Well run it as a credit card.. Uhm... their debit card is/was network incompatible.... as well as deposit going to the wrong account in-branch and was unable to pump a tank of gas on debit... Also twice they locked me out of ACH transfers and the first time it took hours in-branch to get it released... even the banker had issues finding someone who was in that dept, plus I wasn't enthralled that they wanted my statements from the sending account to unlock an *incoming* transfer ...Goodbye... 

MIT FCU.... Fees have climbed to be almost as bad as a major bank, CS at the time was incompetent and took multiple calls for an account issue where they made the error in transferring funds not I... Also was disinterested in helping me build credit or offering me even a secured product... Goodbye....

Oddly enough iv had better luck with Hanscom but I'm not enamored with some of the things.. Don't love their online banking app/ui.. but its functional.. and they finally have gotten onboard with a lot of the mobile features like Apple/Android Pay, and EMV (they were kinda late to the EMV migration party).... they have some quirks with transactions posting and such at night and if someone transfers you have to logout and login to see it... and their after-hours CS is not very useful and not very good... 

 

Still havent found a CU or Bank that really wants my business but Hanscom is close.. but they still heavily rely on paper and are conservative amongst other things... No Zelle, No Chip+PIN on EMV, FTF is passthrough however... which isnt bad.. (also user to user transfers are a bit wonky) Might like Contactless as well... 

 

Sigh.. its like buying a car.. you can get 2 out of the 3 things you really want, unless you want to pay a fortune for it.. if its avalible 

Message 27 of 31
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

Here's my take on the OP's original question.

 

For me, the word "change" doesn't apply, since it suggests a person who had one bank, became dissatisfied, and as a result chose to move to another bank.

 

In my case, I am opening at least 2-3 bank accounts each year and also closing about that many, chiefly to get signup bonuses.

 

So for me the question becomes "What would prompt you to keep a bank account open?"  Here is my own process.

 

If I have already obtained a signup bonus from that account, I always keep it open for a full 7 months (from Date Opened).  At that point my default is to close it.  Here are some reasons I would continue to keep it open:

 

(1)  If keeping it open continues to make me money.  Example: my BOA savings pairs well with my BOA Better Balance rewards card.  I make an extra $20 a year (tax free) by having the savings account.  ($120 vs. $100)

 

(2)  If the primary reason I opened it was not to get a bank signup bonus.  Example: I just opened a savings/checking with Navy Fed.  My reason was to become eligible for Navy's CC bonuses.  And down the road when my existing Share Secure Loan (from Alliant) closes, I'll also be eligible for Navy's SSL -- and they are one of the only institutions we are confident work using that technique.

 

(3)  If closing it will not make me eligible for future money.  Example: I opened my three different Discover bank accounts to grab signup bonuses at their peak.  But Discover has a once per liftetime rule on SUB eligibility.  So closing it will not help me get the signup bonus in the future.  (As opposed to Chase or Wells Fargo or others where closing it will enable you to get the SUB again in the future.)  I like Discover (no minimum balances, free paper checks, good interest rate on savings, etc.) so I keep the accounts open.  If I saw no nice feature, or if there was a cost, I'd close it of course.

 

(4)  If it has a unique really nice feature.  Example: my oldest bank account is with the credit union of my place of work.  That's nice because there is a branch within 100 yards of my desk at work.  That's great for depositing cash or paper checks and for withdrawing cash as well.  At my other banks I'd have to drive somewhere to do it  And again, no minimum balances or fees.

 

I think that is it though.  I am otherwise always closing accounts -- I never keep them open more than 7 months if the above four exceptions don't apply.

Message 28 of 31
800who
Regular Contributor

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

My parents grew up with Citizens Bank, they had a savings account for me as I grew up, so when I got into my teens I opened a checking with Citizens due to lack of knowing any better. I got a job at a local CU, that gave me a lot of incentive to open an account there. Super laid back work environment, great team I worked with, everyone truly cared about what they did, I found just about the same as I went to other branches. I made and still hold a lot of great connections with employees there, if I ever have an issue I know anyone would be way beyond helpful. I don't ever see my self switching institutions, unless I moved out of the area... if that's the case I'll find another CREDIT UNION. Big banking is a joke, you're just a number to them.

Message 29 of 31
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What would prompt you to change your bank?

Man it seems like there are just not really any great banking options these days... reading these stories just makes me cringe. I guess I should be fortunate that my bank only ever charged me $10 a year for a debit card and let me cancel it to opt out of that fee earlier this year. I haven't really had any other problems with them, there's just no real relationship growth potential.

 

Meanwhile I have three credit unions - SSFCU, NFCU, and DCU, all with their own quirks that I don't have to deal with right now but two of them with better features and obviously they have all extended me credit as well, but there is a major problem that would be an obstacle to me banking with them regardless that I don't have with my current bank like DCU's lack of Zelle plus their lack of 24 hour customer service and NFCU's bill pay apparently having a tendency to send paper checks plus their unacceptable amount of downtime on the app and website.

 

I will be the first to admit that my complaints with 1stBank are petty compared to most of the issues you all have had with various financial institutions. I do think that the horror stories about problems people have had with banks and CUs is what makes me so apprehensive about changing too. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess.

Message 30 of 31
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