Monday, 04 January 2010
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Big Banks vs. Local Banks: Would You Move Your Money?
The Huffington Post is currently pushing a new initiative called "Move Your Money." Inspired by the banking bailout and executive bonuses, they want people to move their money out of the big national banks like Bank of America or Citibank and into local community banks and credit unions. They want to support the lending policies of the little guys instead of supporting the practices of the banking giants.
It got me thinking about where I hold my money and why I keep it there. I actually split between a local credit union and one of the "big guys." I've had the credit union account since I was 14, and I've held onto it because the credit union has the best rates around, is much easier to get various loans from and has pretty much no banking fees and minimums. So in theory, I much prefer banking locally. Not only are the fees and policies much more fair, but you really do get a personal connection with the employees there. My mom still has several different contacts at our credit union after 20 years.
But I have to admit, I appreciate the ease of banking with a national bank, especially when traveling or moving. I'm always guaranteed to have an ATM or bank branch nearby, which isn't the case with my credit union. Unfortunately, I have to pay for those conveniences with more fees and loopholes. Not to mention the lack of personal interaction. Some banks are actually instituting fees for visiting a teller! My bank has even started "strongly suggesting" that you cash checks at the ATM now instead of making the deposit with the teller .
So for now, I'll stick with doing main banking with the local credit union and then maintaining a national bank for mobility.
How about you? Do you bank locally or with a national chain? Would you ever consider changing? Why or why not?
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- From: Cara
- Name: Cara
- About Me: I'm a 24 yr old back in the Midwest for law school. I've survived the first semester as a law student after working as a paralegal for two years. Let's see how the rest of the time goes!
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Comments (14)
I love my local community bank
I used to bank with a local one, they were awesome. They knew who I was personally. But it closed down
and Regions took over, so now I bank with them. My bf makes fun of me cuz he banks with Bank of America but i refuse to bank with them.
yes. I plan on moving my money this month.
It was the big banks that screwed everything all up. Notice that none of the little banks needed a bailout.
I use a local bank.
We use a credit union and a national bank for military members (USAA).
Very good idea, but i notice in the HP they advocate using a site that recommends local banks to the user. The site grades them and has the default set-up organized to only show you banks/c.u.'s which the creators deem as "b" or better. I would be cautious about using anything like that, because of the potential for whomever is behind the website to aide their investment friends who may own these smaller institutions. Remember, in this day and age, there aren't that many people whom own a whole lot, and they often have stock in all sorts of large, mid-sized and seemingly small corportions. An example of this would be Warren Buffett, whose Goldman Sacs stock papers sit side by side with Netjets stock papers. How many here have heard of Netjets? Plainly, i say do it, just do a little more research on your own(most c.u.'s/community banks aren't hard to track down in your area, anyhow).
I'm do things a bit non-traditional. The majority of my banking is done through ING Direct. Not a small bank, but it's also not brick-and-mortar like the others. I don't have to deal with checks, but it's also a hassle to deposit anything.
For my business I go through US Bank, but that's because they gave me the best mortgage offer, and the best auto loan. They beat the competition by a full percent or more on the auto and were very competitive with the mortgage.
@Seen_More_Spine_in_Jellyfish@xanga - From someone with a relationship to both banks I would suggest Regions over Bank of America any day.
stick with nationals
you bring up good points. why not just keep both?!
I bank with a national chain and i can't stand them. I have a bit of loyalty since i've been with them for a while... but the fees and loop holes are too much. I can't take it anymore.
I bank locally and I don't do a lot of travel or moving, generally. So, I don't have to worry about not being able to find an ATM or bank branch for the most part. :p
local :)
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