So instead of derailing the HSBC thread I’m going to make a new one since I am sure it affects a lot of people here…
Starting with Jay’s post:
[quote=“JayS”"]
Their home banking interface is infinitely better than HSBC’s.
They offer free checking with home banking, bill pay included.
They’ve been hiring people in WNY.
They’re WNY based.
They’ve got lots of branches in the area.
I’d much rather be with a credit union, but my company is pretty ass backwards when it comes to payroll and we don’t have direct deposit. Because of that I need a local bank that has lots of branches to make depositing my check every 2 weeks as convenient as possible.
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The main thing I need in a bank is not requiring direct deposit and min balance for a free checking since I am in college and don’t have a ‘real’ job.
I liked HSBC because of their nation wide branches (afaik) and that they gave me a no hassle loan for my accord and 2 personal loans since. ($3-4k in 15 mins) while my other bank, ESL, has always been a hassle with sparse branches and they haven’t increased my cc limit in 8 years (best interest rate, though), and they always give me a hard time about getting loans. Blah blah I must have shitty credit or they would raise my limit etc but that’s not relevant. per say.
Plus I don’t like keeping all my cash in one bank.
Do you need a local branch? I did at one point but now that there is electronic check deposit and better accounts online, I moved to Schwab and signed up for the investor checking. Accounts pay .25% interest on checking and no min balance, free checks, and atm free refunds. With the iPhone check deposit ability, I don’t need to go to a branch anymore ever. Also, I do not keep am in balance or direct deposit. It sat for months with no cash in it.
I have key bank as my main account but as I am phasing them out since they actually charge you 1.50 a call after two a month into customer service, charge their own ATM fees on top of the non key bank atm frees, and just suck all around.
These two points really don’t go together. If you don’t have much money you’re way better off keeping that money at one bank so you’re less likely to overdraft your account. FDIC insures your deposits to $250k so until you reach that level of deposit there isn’t a safety issue with keeping all your funds in one bank.
I’ve never understood the whole, “I want nationwide branches” thing, unless you’re one of those people who travels constantly for work and lives out of a suitcase. When I travel for vacation or rarely for work I don’t think about my bank other than using my debit card.
Well I have a decent amount of cash saved up, and even if its only $500 in each I don’t want it all in one bank.
Case and point: I went to Toronto to buy my e30 IX. Well who would have thought that HSBC Canada HAD NO TIES to HSBC America (So much for being a world bank!). I could get my $600 or whatever the daily max was out of the ATM but they couldn’t do anything else for me, no withdraw from my checking/savings, nothing. I got pissed and even had a manager call the US side and there was nothing that could be done. I ended up using my ESL card to get enough cash out.
I keep a close watch on my accounts (check register in excel), and I’ve only over drawn twice ever, once when I was 18 and once recently because I paid an online bill with the wrong account.
And I guess if the bank refunds ATM charges and doesnt charge them selves then I don’t need a branch. It’s nice just to be able to go in and talk to someone if I need a loan or have an issue. Kind of hard when the branches are sparse or even non existant.
why would you go to canada to purchase a car and not have the cash rubberbanded to your sack, but rather depend on acquiring the money when you get there
I still don’t get why you would want $500 in one bank and $500 in another either.
I didnt want to deal with the hassle of having that much money on me when crossing the border. Regardless, the $500 was an example. I dont want to keep all of my money in one place, why is that such a big deal?
Anyways, lets talk about banks, not my personal finance decisions.
Same. And I was doing banking at a credit union in TOKYO, JAPAN because Cornerstone and the bank location I was using were both part of the Federal Credit Union Network… or whatever it’s called, lol. Zero charges or fees for being half a world away either.
I don’t really see a lot of use for banks in the long-term. To me they’re useless when it comes to long-term investing and whatnot. I just look for a bank with a free checking option and with a good ATM network. I use M&T simply because they have ATM’s everywhere around here. Their fees are pretty high though and their rates for things like mortgages aren’t very competitive. Citizens is pretty good, so are credit unions as long as they have a good network like the one Josh mentioned ^.
I honestly only see banks as being good for two things - checking accounts and mortgages.
I’m with Summit Federal Credit Union, and have been since '98; still am even though I’m out in SLC, UT. They’re part of the CU Network, I can do almost any transaction at the CU I have out here in SLC (Mountain America CU).
I see no reason to have $$ spread around at multiple banks unless you’re at the $250k+ point for insurance purposes. I have 2 accounts because I moved and am keeping my SummitFCU account due to the loans and CCs I have with them, but wanted something local here for all the other bills and such.
i ditched hsbc in may when i lost my wallet on zee highway. really good excuse for me to switch over to m&t.
To start off, NO ONE at hsbc knew how to close out my accounts, the teller told me to go see the person at the desk, the desk person told me to go see the teller. All idiots. I had to go to TWO different branches to do this.
They also have TERRIBLE online banking, the accounts take like 2 days to update, it takes forever to get money in your account from paypal.
This is kind of my fault but i overdrafted like 3 times, they wouldn’t give me a credit card since apparently this is the only way to do overdraft protection. And they overdrafted my overdraft TWICE. i bitched and there was “nothing they could do”
They took FOUR WEEKS to transfer a check FROM HSBC into another HSBC account for an insurance check. How fucking retarded are you that it takes four weeks to see if a check will clear from an account from your own bank?
My experience with M&T now:
i have free checking (same with hsbc) and no min. amount required for savings account (same as hsbc)
I am also allowed i think up to 5 withdrawls from non m&t ATM’s free of charge per month because i have a student account
i have over draft protection linked to my credit card and my savings account now
I mainly use the Southgate m&t, which has like 6 drive thru lanes, and the inside is huge. im in and out within like 3 minutes usually. i would sit at HSBC for literally 20minutes before a car even moved in line. and this happened all the time, they’re always understaffed. the 3 hsbc branches i would use were the 1 on rt5 in hamburg by camp rd and the one in angola on rt 5, and the one at garden village plaza by dennys. ALL WERE TERRIBLE. Everyone inside sucked. none of the tellers were good looking lol
People shit in Bank of America all day long, but I haven’t had a problem with them. They have ATM’s in most areas of the country, and I travel quite a bit. I have never paid a fee, my account is free as long as I keep direct deposit on it. I use their online bill pay system all the time. I had one deal where someone got my debit card number and started charging up stuff. They solved the problem in literally one day, and I left the branch with a new temporary debit card to use instead of being stuck without one. I make my deposits at ATM machines, the only thing BOA is lacking is a quick-deposit system for checks with android or iphone’s.
BOA for me.
I have the keep the change and it pays the small bills every month.
online banking is super simple, overdraft into savings with no pentaly for 24 hours to correct it.
Usually only happens when I go into the gun store…
I have a credit union to, but hardly keep anything there as of now. just keep it open for loans. The banking there sucks
fyi i am pretty sure bao there is a minimum balance requirement
tried making a new account and depositing 20k check just to clear it and withdraw and they required a 1k balance
The HSBC Canda/USA thing is walled off on purpose to try and push the Premier accounts. If you’re premier you can hit any ATM or branch in the world in any currency and grab however much you need with no fees, but you also need 100 grand on deposit.
I have money in a ton of different banks. HSBC, M&T, PenFed, Key, ING DIRECT online, local credit union, and now I just moved all my money into Salem Five out of Mass. because they pay the highest interest rate.
If you don’t need physical branches and are cool with free use at any ATM check out ING’s Electric Orange online checking and savings accounts. Being in the industry I was pleasantly surprised at how little BS they give you, pretty much no nuisance fees or requirements.
JW, all of you switching, do you have previous bad experiences with First Niagara or just don’t want to give them a chance? You know your money isn’t going to disappear, right?
