Bank of America or Chase (or something else)?

Speedman100 said:

I'm switching banks, and I want to make sure I switch to somewhere that has Apple Pay. I was looking at Chase and Bank of America. Does anyone have any opinions about these places? I mean, I'm pretty young still, so I'm not even going to get a credit card. I'm just going to use debit. I imagine it probably doesn't even matter which place I pick. I kinda like the name of Bank of America. It's like THE bank of America. But Case has cool-looking blue cards.

Okay, I probably sound stupid to you, but I just want to know if there's anything I should be aware of when picking a bank.

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I honestly say this: NEITHER.

Here's why. Who do you want your saved money to work for?

Sure, Bank of America and Chase have a ton of locations nationwide, but you know there is a problem when you need to pay them to hold your money. When you look at their terms/conditions, you'll notice that for a number of their accounts, unless you have Direct Deposit going into an account with them, they will charge you X amount of dollars per month to keep your account (they call it 'maintenance fees'). that could be anywhere from $5 to $15 per month. That's a pain.

Second: Dividends. When you collect interest on an account and that gets paid back in the form of a dividend, who gets it? Not the consumer, but the shareholders holding stock in the bank. Your money, going to someone else.

I was with Bank of America for nearly 15 years until I had that dropped on me, as well as the whole housing market issue (my house was part of the CountryWide fiasco). But the fees issue and dividends on savings being lost were enough to make me switch to a Credit Union.

The TL;DR of it: profits from a bank go back to the bank's shareholders. Profits from a Credit Union go back to the members of the credit union, as credit unions are non-profit.

If you are eligible for a credit union, I'd suggest going that route. You won't regret it.

BL.

I have not dealt with either but word to wise don't pick a bank on the color of their card or name.

I would stay Away from Banksters of America, as they recently settled with the United States Government for $17,000,000,000 for their part in the Housing/Mortgage Crisis that crashed the world economy in 2008. Think about that for a moment 17 Billion $$ for Mendacity and writing crooked Mortgage's. Unless of course you like your Bankers Crooked and thats the kind of people you feel comfortable entrusting your money too.

Well, I am on the other side of the coin.

While I would never do a mortgage with BOA, I have had my checking and savings accounts there for many many years with zero issues.

And to the one mentioning services fees, you can get an account that is free checking if you fulfil one simple stipulation. Have $25 or more auto transfer to a savings account each month.

And honestly, that to me is no big deal at all. You can always just rake it back in to the checking when you need it. LOL.

So I have been happy with BOA for a while now and their iOS app is pretty solid.

Not to mention there are BOA branches all over the place, which can be helpful when traveling.

bladerunner88 said:

I would stay Away from Banksters of America, as they recently settled with the United States Government for $17,000,000,000 for their part in the Housing/Mortgage Crisis that crashed the world economy in 2008. Think about that for a moment 17 Billion $$ for Mendacity and writing crooked Mortgage's. Unless of course you like your Bankers Crooked and thats the kind of people you feel comfortable entrusting your money too.

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JP Morgan/Chase were part of it as well, as well as the credit default swap issue, which was one of the things that brought about TARP. Washington Mutual got eaten up in the process as well.

Credit unions offer the same amenities as well as more than what you'd see from banks. You definitely can't go wrong with them.

BL.

I've been with both BofA and Chase. I am currently with Chase and am very happy. I'm enrolled under a college account with Chase so the checking and savings accounts are completely free for 5 years. They also offer high school accounts with no fees.

I've had a bunch of problems with BofA on the credit card side of things so that is why I took all my accounts to Chase.

Chase also has quick pay which is rather useful!

Chase is miles ahead of Bank of America especially when it comes to credit card offerings. Their Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards are amongst the best. They also have a bunch of airline/hotel reward cards. Depending on how old you are, I would look into opening a credit card (Freedom is a very nice card without annual fees) and start building that credit. Chase also has QuickPay which is useful. Both banks support Apple Pay. I would also check for ATM/branch locations near your home. Look at ones closest to your house and how many there are.

I just switched from TD to chase. Highly recommend them. Their fees or waivers aren't too bad and if your prior military, you get their mid tier accounts automatically with all fees waived. And yes, quick pay is awesome.

The name or anything like that doesn't matter, just what they offer and what you need or want or just might like.

I don't bank with Chase or BoA any longer. My business partner has had a couple of commercial loans with BoA and swears at them quite often. I was also part of the Countrywide fiasco, and IMO think their business decisions aren't very profitable.

I will recommend aligning yourself with a local credit union - I've been part of one for about 40 years and they're very good to me. I'll be talking with them for a small business loan in a few months. Put some funds in a savings account and leave the funds in that account, and open a checking account. My checks are free and any overdraft fees are far lower than any commercial bank have offered me.

I do have a Barclaycard VISA, mainly for emergencies and larger purchases. I got it through a no-interest account application when buying an Apple laptop - through regular above-minimum payments my limit has been raised a few times; I'm comfortable with the limit I have, but will not allow it to go higher - one doesn't have to accept credit limit increases.

One "bank" I'm looking to check out is the virtual bank named Ally, but I don't know anything about them right now.

One bit about JP Morgan Chase - they announced a few days ago that they're closing 300 branches (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/24/jpmorgan-investorday-separation-question/23927433), never a good sign...

bladerunner88 said:

I would stay Away from Banksters of America, as they recently settled with the United States Government for $17,000,000,000 for their part in the Housing/Mortgage Crisis that crashed the world economy in 2008. Think about that for a moment 17 Billion $$ for Mendacity and writing crooked Mortgage's. Unless of course you like your Bankers Crooked and thats the kind of people you feel comfortable entrusting your money too.

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Well, isn't that mostly from their aquisition of Countrywide, and since they bought them they are now liable for everything Countrywide did even before BofA bought them?

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At any rate, I am with BofA. Was originally with SecPac in California, but then BofA merged with them. Even though I now live in NYC, My account is still based in California and I travel back and forth between here and the west coast all the time and in CA there is like, a BofA on every corner. They are all over NYC too, so it's just the most covenient for me between East Coast and West Coast, I'm covered.

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Ther's always Wells Fargo, or Citibank. Which bank is the most convenient for you in terms of the ubiquity of branches and ATM's?

One more great bonus to joining a credit union - most of them, maybe all of them, belong to the "CO-OP Network" - which provides access to about 30,000 no-charge ATMs, including 7-Eleven, Costco, Walgreens, and other CUs. The Network has a portal to find locations, and also offers international no-cost options for getting at your cash.

Some of the Network outlets offer check and cash deposits, which can be handy when traveling.

Another thing about BofA: it is their policy that if you are travelling out of your normal residential area (1 state radius from the state the account was open in), if you make any transaction: withdrawal from an ATM or purchase, they will put a hold on any other activity until you call them and verify those transactions are valid.

Not ask you if they are valid, but you have to prove to them that they are valid. They say that it is to "provide security for your account", while it limits your access to your funds.

At the time, there was only one BofA ATM in my parent's town, and the 8 times I visited them while having an account with BofA, they did this. It's a major inconvenience.

That was reason #4 for dropping them.

BL.

Rather than give my opinion on a bank to use I would like to encourage the OP to apply and get a credit card. Ask the bank to lower the limit to something you can pay off in a month to keep the limit reasonable.

The advantage of a credit card versus an ATM/Debit card are delayed billing. This gives you a chance to review the charges as they happen letting you watch for fraudulent activity. Using your debit card you could easily have your account drained by bogus charges. The credit card gives you time for dispute while allowing you to keep your money in the bank. I only use my credit card for travel and pay cash for everything else.

USAA is great if you can get it, but you either need to have been in the military or have a parent who has a USAA account.

They're the best of both worlds because they're actually a good bank but they keep up with technology which a lot of the credit unions have trouble with.

Not an option for everyone, but wanted to mention it in case it does apply to you.

Weaselboy said:

I wonder if there was something unique about your area or activity that tripped a fraud alert, because I have a BofA CC and debit card both and used them on cross country trips three times and never once had a problem like you mentioned.

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Nope, nothing on that particular account, though I have to say that that account was opened in California, the same state as you...

However, on a separate incident, from a BofA account I had opened in Nevada 4 years prior, this same policy was in place, and didn't catch the fraud activity that occurred. I was the only name on the account, with the only card for the account, yet there were separate transactions, to the tune of nearly $13,000, happening at the same time with two separate cards; me in Nevada, the fraud in Simi Valley, CA. That account was closed immediately afterwards.

But it was that this was happening to me when I traveled out of town 'for my security', but their security failed me when it shouldn't have slipped through the cracks was the 5th and biggest reason why I left them.

They got the money back nearly instantly, but that and the housing issue pushed it over. They killed my trust in them, then screwed over millions with the housing debacle. No more for BofA.

BL.

Wells Fargo

I've been with Wells Fargo (Wachovia, First Union) for decades. Their Apple Pay support is top notch. They also have a great iOS app and their customer service has always been top notch.