Mr. Savings
The last few months I’ve been extremely concerned with what the future holds for my current bank,
Washington Mutual (WaMu).
As most of the country found out during all the bank mergers in late 2008,
Chase Bank acquired WaMu and all of its debt.
The concern for me is whether or not
Chase is going to start charging WaMu customers a monthly fee like they do to their regular customers.
I used to have a Chase checking account but closed it after they started charging me ridiculous monthly fees for using the debit card.
WaMu was a great alternative with no monthly fees and no minimum required for the savings account.
Chase had a $500+ minimum requirement in order to keep the savings account and if it went below that, you had to pay a fee of $15.
WaMu branches are still open all over NYC, and I still use my WaMu debit card. Chase has sent notices saying it will stay this way for a few more months before finally making the transition to changing the WaMu names and sending me new a
Chase debit card.
I wonder what will happen. Hopefully they don’t change anything and I can use the new Chase debit card without any monthly fees.
Are you affected in any way by the banking mergers and acquisitions that took place last year?
If it is affecting you, how are you dealing with it? Does anyone know other banks that offer similar features to Washington Mutual?
Comments (5)
One of my friends and her husband worked for Wachovia, and they both lost their jobs when Chase took over :(
I don't bank with Chase or WaMu. However, if you end up changing banks, I would recommend that you look into joining a credit union. Usually it is just like opening an account at a bank, except that there are hardly any fees. Also, if you belong to a credit union you can often get loans with lower interest rates.
most likely it will not stay the same. Most likely you will have to follow the chase rules as it will no longer be WaMu but will be Chase
Commerce Bank was recently taken over by TD bank. So far there are no changes. From what I have heard (knowing people who work there) there wont be many changes at all.
They arent a nationwide bank. But they are in NY. Take a look at what they have to offer, if you are unhappy with changes Chase makes.
I think I will be fine with Bank of America. I don't think they will have any problems.
Because of the merger my secure credit card will be canceled. the card was linked to a savings account so that i could start building credit. put 300 into a savings then add money if i choose but whatever was in the savings was my credit and would be held until i had good enough credit to get a real credit card. any money in the savings will be used to pay off the current balance then a check will be cut for the difference.
its not a huge deal since im getting whatever is left over back to me and it will be paid off leaving no debt but it was nice to have a credit card for the "oh snap i need diapers and my checking doesnt have enough" situations.