I've been with a CU since I was 17. I don't know why anyone would bank with a "bank." I always hear people talk about ATMs that are accessible - I can't remember the last time I used an ATM (I always pull cash at the grocery store if I need it), and CUs let their members use other CU ATMs without a fee. My CU doesn't charge me for anything, they have the best rates around, and they have terrific (and local!) phone customer service (plus branches).

I also HATE the condescending ad campaigns by Chase and BofA that run in this area. "Now you have a good bank in the area" and "Check out our fancy ATMs!" ads that just make them sound ridiculous, arrogant and ignorant.

I am thrilled with PNC also. So far, they have said they have no intention in implementing this type of fee. Let's hope they keep it that way. I will run it as a credit or use cash only, or go back to writing checks or switch to a CU otherwise.

I have been with a credit union since 1981 and would never switch back to a bank. I did change credit unions about a year ago when the one I'd been with for 25 years closed the branches in town and left us with only shared banking locations. I love the CU we're with now. Better service and more branches.

Ditto on the CU. Make sure it's federally chartered, though, vice state-chartered.

Also, if you have a family member who's been military, see if you qualify for USAA banking. Deposit-at-home, FANTASTIC service, and about every amenity you could want.

USAA is just all-around awesome!

Starting October 1, the government will regulate how much banks can charge merchants for debit card transactions. This is the so-called Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory act passed by the last Congress in 2010. I think the debit card fee is a reaction from the banks to the lost revenue due to the new law--a law sold, by the way, as "consumer protection." I think you can view this as an unintended yet inevitable consequence of the government intervening in the market. Fees that previously were paid by the merchants have been shifted to the consumer, which seems to be a rather perverted kind of protection.

I noticed it, but not so much until they showed up consecutively. So I asked my bank about them, and that's when they told me. Yeah, it is ridiculous.

This is just kind of random in regards to the banks, but has anyone ever heard of those catalog shopping scams through the bank? They send you a $10-$20 check in the mail telling you that it can be cashed at your bank. Once you cash it, it automatically enrolls you in some 3 month free trial shopping membership program. Once the free 3 months are over, it charges your credit card/debit card/bank account $49.95. It happened to me. I canceled it when I saw the charge on my bank statement. If you call before the month is over, they'll refund the money back on your account. Then they go through the "save a customer" line. I'm glad I caught it, because I know some folks who didn't catch it until the first month already processed. By the time they canceled it, they were already charged $49.95. It pays to read the fine print on everything with these banks.

I've never heard of that. The only catalog I've seen even at any of my bank's branches are for checks. Thankfully I have a great local bank that I've used since 1998 that has never given me a single problem or tried to get me to have certain accounts I dont need. They have ATM's & branches all over the city and a few of the smaller cities outside of Lexington here too. I have free checking with no minimum balance. I think I pay something small like $5-10 per year for unlimited debit card use. They dont send me junk in the mail asking me to take out a new credit card every other day either--like Chase, Capital One, & Bank of America.

The non-regulation led to the insane interest rates, crazy over the limit charges (sometimes 3-5 times the amount you went over), the shady practices banks used in processing transactions to their advantage, etc. Banks are constantly looking for ways to get money from the little guy without the little guy realizing what's going on. If they'd stop trying to rip people off, the regulations wouldn't be necessary.

Not to mention the insane mortgage lending to unqualified people that got us into the current crisis. :mad:

It never ceases to amaze me how many people fail to read initial documentation for financial transactions, and how many simply discard the additional information that comes from the banks. If people paid attention, and voted with their pocketbooks, you'd find a lot less of the need (well, some call it "need") for these regulations.

A large number of CU's participate in "shared branching", wherein you can use the ATMs or physical locations of other CU's for basic stuff (deposits and withdrawals, mostly).

I have an account with BofA, but I also have one with Suntrust. I was thinking that it would be no biggie - I put everything on my credit cards and pay them off at the end of the month anyway, since I have a UPromise for personal use and a BankAmerica Cash Rewards for business use, so I get cashback rewards anyway. I figured if I ever HAD to use debit, I would have my SunTrust debit card. I GOT A LETTER FROM SUNTRUST YESTERDAY THAT THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING!

Oh, well. Back to the dark ages of check writing (in situations where credit cards aren't accepted but debit are), I guess.

I'm with Wells Fargo and haven't had to deal with any of this. I have a different type of account though b/c my hubby & I keep our balances above a certain amount so we get the free checking & savings account and use of our debit cards. Of course, I realize not everyone is in the same position as us to keep certain balances in their accounts for this to be helpful but if WF started charging us regardless of balances, I'd leave them and go to my local CU as well.

Once again, a government program gone wrong. I recall it being the Bush Administration that fought to ease lending requirements to individuals..including individuals who had no means to pay a mortgage. As for the high interest rates the sub primer's got, I really can't blame the banks for that. High risk loan= high interest rate. It's always been that way.