best bank to make a savings/checking account with?

[scion of ys]

i was wondering what was the best bank to make a savings/checking account with. who gives the best interest rates and other types of perks.?

[mtxbass1]

ING or HSBC. I personally use ING. As a matter of fact, I'm closing my other Wachovia savings account this week and moving it over to ING.

[darthbudge]

I like Chase Bank just cause they are around every corner. However they don't have alot of frills.

[un_plug]

Bank of America or ING. Aviod Chase, Wachovia and Citibank.

[whoknows]

I have chase because they gave me $75 to open an account.

After I've had it for a year though I may switch over to wells fargo

[Deadpool]

You are usually better off getting into a credit union. See if your work has connections with any.

[aacdeln]

You are usually better off getting into a credit union. See if your work has connections with any.

Agreed.

http://www.ncua.gov/

National Credit Union Agency - You can search for credit unions in your area that you are eligible for.

[djkunai]

Savings- ING
Checking- Wamu

[elmyra]

You are usually better off getting into a credit union. See if your work has connections with any.

YES. I would never go back.

[banpeikun]

most of it depends on where you live for accessibility. for example, in texas, (like darthbudge is), chase is best because of the sheer number of locations they have.

[scion of ys]

i don't understand this credit union thing. is it some sort of bank runned by the goverment?

[puternerd]

i don't understand this credit union thing. is it some sort of bank runned by the goverment?

No it's a bank run by you and the other account holders.

From Wikipedia:

A credit union is a cooperative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative) financial institution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_institution) that is owned and controlled by its members. Credit unions differ from banks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank) and other financial institutions in that the members who have accounts in the credit union are the owners of the credit union.
Credit union policies governing interest rates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_rate) and other matters are set by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by and from the membership itself. Only a member of a credit union may deposit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit_account) money (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money) with the credit union, or borrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loan) money from it. As such, credit unions have historically marketed themselves as providing superior member service and being committed to helping members improve their financial health.

[Filbert]

It's socialist money at its finest. I'm a member of CU myself. They used to only be affiliated with the employees and family members of those who worked at a local plant but now are open to everybody.

[phreak5k]

I personally use USBank and have never had any problems with them. I did have about $3000 stolen from my bank account through some overseas transaction (they got my numbers or something, never found out exactly). Anyway they replaced all my money and all was good. I've never had any hidden fees attached to my checking account either.

I had a friend who used WaMu and my girlfirend just opened an account. He never complained and said they were great but my girlfriend got a weird service charge for a balance inquiry at an ATM, don't know what that's about but just to let you know.

Stay away from Bank of America, there are hidden fees around every corner from what I remember. I think they charged you a teller fee if you did any person to person transactions (like depositing or withdrawing money from your account).

[zionoverfire]

Washington Mutual is great, free accounts, no fee to speak with a teller and the staff is generally friendly.

Avoid Bank of America at all costs, they'll fuck you over just because they can.

[tsmvengy]

I have also heard people who use WaMu rave about how great it is. I think they've run into some trouble in recent weeks (maybe having to do with the subprime lending crisis) that is hurting their profits. Not sure but maybe somebody else could comment on that.

I feel like I always have to come to Bank of America's defense in these situations - I've used them for over a year and have been pretty satisfied. They have never screwed me over with fees or anything, but then again I am always careful to not overdraw my accounts or miss payments (financial sense FTW.) Seriously, any bank is going to fuck you over with fees if you do dumb shit. They have tons of ATMs where I live (DC area) and offered me $100 to sign up, so that's why I chose them.

[freshzen]

I personally use USBank and have never had any problems with them. I did have about $3000 stolen from my bank account through some overseas transaction (they got my numbers or something, never found out exactly). Anyway they replaced all my money and all was good. I've never had any hidden fees attached to my checking account either.


US Bank fucked me a few years ago when I lost my job and by accident I spent $10 I didn't have in the bank on grocerys. I found out a few weeks later that I overdrafted the account and was being charged $2 a day for ever day I was in the negative. US Bank is horrid.

[rdwd39]

US Bank for me. I have both checking and savings with them. Their online banking is the feature that would make me never even bother looking at any other banks. From there I can see my bills, send payments to those bills without fees (and it saves a stamp) check my balance in my checking and savings accounts (which is updated as soon as money comes in or goes out). Plus they are everywhere, give u 4 free no fee atm usages at any other atm every month, and have great customer service. If the person above me checked their statement every other day online then there would not have been a problem. Also, if you have ok to good credit, you can apply to get a checking account loan credit which just means that if you overdraw your account, money will be transferred from this line of credit into the overdrawn account which saves you from late fees and bounced checks. Pretty sweet in my opinion. No high yields on interest but other than that, it's great!

[Karuto]

@ freshzen - I think you fucked yourself, buddy. ;)

I have USBank for my Checking, and it's great! Very user friendly site, and their customer service is very friendly and efficient. I use Veridian for savings, but I may have to check out some of these other posts for other options, since there aren't many frills with that credit union.

[Deadpool]

US Bank fucked me a few years ago when I lost my job and by accident I spent $10 I didn't have in the bank on grocerys. I found out a few weeks later that I overdrafted the account and was being charged $2 a day for ever day I was in the negative. US Bank is horrid.

Must be nice, i got charged $25 a day for a month. For overdrafting .30cents!!! And why only .30cents? Because they sent me checks automatically that i didn't need and charged me for them.

I hope that place fucking rots!

[H-Town Info]

I love ING

[homeland]

Always get overdraft to protect yourself so you don't get hit with those penalties.

As for a bank? No matter what you do for a regular bank put your money in a savings account in ING. i have just 5k in my savings and made $20 just in interest last month! Its just free money!

[PawnTakesKing]

As someone who has worked for two "major" banks and one credit union, I can wholeheartedly agree with those who said to join a credit union.

If you're determined to go with a bank, however, Bank of America is the lesser of multiple evils.

[msdmoney]

I use bank of america for my checking.

I use GMAC bank for my savings, because I get a ~5% interest rate. Fatwallet has a good financials subforum which includes a thread on banks and their interest rates for savings.

[DrunkTigerWoods]

Commerce bank, simply because they are everywhere.

[crystalklear64]

Usaa.

[Resette]

One more here for ING. Their savings accounts really cannot be beat. You'll get 4.5+% annual interest because they're online only. The money they save by not having brick+mortar facilities they give back to you in the form of a high interest rate.