i agree Wanderer. I'm now looking for a Credit Union close to our place where I could join...

krave - thanks for the info. Back to the credit unions and local and regional banks. In my many years of life, I have found my best customer satisfaction being the smaller banks. They have pretty much what I needed for services and showed me respect. I never bothered much with the big boy banks until I took the big tank. Also, today pretty much everyone has debit/credit cards, online, bill pay, checking, savings, investment products, cd's, insurance (door opened with the elimination of the Glass Seagal Act in 1998) and so on and so on so why the big boys?

The Least-Trusted Banks in America

by Jennifer Saranow Schultz
Tuesday, February 9, 2010

provided by

Customers of the biggest banks in the United States are the least likely to believe their financial institution does what's best for them as opposed to what's best for the bottom line, according to a new report from Forrester Research.

The report, Forrester's annual Customer Advocacy rankings, ranks nearly 50 financial services firms in the United States by the percentage of each firm's customers who agree with the statement]http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/108801/the-least-trusted-banks-in-america?mod=bb-checking_savings[/URL]

Yeah, but wasn't they in the process of returning their borrowed stimulus package? Bofa, yeah I can say that they have treated some of their trustworthy customers pretty bad, but still in all, I have to say that when it comes to banking, I don't think I am leaving them anytime soon. Been with them for over 20 yrs now, I guess I am too used to them.

Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc had their outlook lowered to negative by Standard & Poors Rating Services. It seems there is doubt on whether they would receive further support from the US Government. Source the Wall Street Journal 02/09/2010.

No idea but, a bank generally has the right of "offset". If they do and you have a loan with them they can offset your savings, checking, CD's and/or whatever to pay the loan. This could include your credit card depending on the relationship between the bank and credit card issuer. So in one way that is quite true.

Something also to look for is many Banks offer accounts for veterans. I have an account with 5/3 bank which offers free checking and other benefits that some may not know about.

https://www.53.com/wps/portal/pv/?New_WCM_Context=/wps/wcm/connect/FifthThirdSite/Personal/Checking+Accounts/Military+Banking+Benefits/

I think one fo the problems I have found is training of bank employees. I know what bank branch to go to and not got to. I went to the Chase branch next to where I work and asked to have them make it so I could see my Chase Visa when I log on to my checking account. This had been done already with a previous cc from them at another branch with no problems. After a half hour with a bank manager he couldn't do it. I had to go to other branch in the next town where it had been done before and no problems.

Also something else to consider which I learned 10 years ago, I had a credit union account with my payroll going to them. Once I got laid off and they did not see my dd for one month they did not want to cash my checks anymore and put a hold on them. I was like WHAT?, I had been depositing more than $6000.00 a month and now was being treated like I had committed some crime. Later on a financial advisor told me it is always best to never have your loans with the bank you do have your dd with and have another bank account open for that. I don't know if anyone else has had this happen. but now after going back to school and starting a new career I have really changed the way I do my banking after all this.

Todd

What do you think the best and worst banks are, rated by you, by experience?

Generally speaking usually subprime banks are worse then the prime banks.

Sub prime:
First Premier Bank
First Bank of Delaware
Applied Bank
Some HSBC(Orchard/Household) and Some Capital One
Barclays Bank Delaware

Prime:
Bank of America
Citibank
Chase
Discover
Amex
US Bank
Wells Fargo
Some Capital One
HSBC (actually branded as HSBC and not Orchard/Household, GM Card)

It all depends on who you ask and what the criteria are though. A lot of people hate on the sub-prime banks because the fees or APR's are too high but the bank itself has actually done nothing wrong. Other people here will tell you horror stories of Chase, Bank of America and Amex.

For me personally, I have found Discover, Amex and Citibank to have the best service, though Citibank has some pretty high APR's (they may not start out high but Citibank loves change in terms). I loved Chase before they merged with Bank One now I am indifferent to them. Bank of America...well, their service stinks to be honest, but their products are great.

In terms of where you are in your credit, I would say Capital One is pretty hard to beat. And if you treat them right they will change with you. My first card was Capital One. It had a lousy $300 limit and 19.8% APR, now it is a Platinum with a $10K limit and I have been at 10.9% APR fixed since 2000.

I generally advise people to avoid the sub prime banks all together. If you must, open one (preferrably Capital One) and use it for a year or so. If your credit score is still questionable then I advise people to open a securred credit card from Bank of America, Citibank, US Bank or Wells Fargo. You are going to pay fees for "unsecurred" cards from the sub prime banks anyway, so you might as well take your money and deposit it for the securred card to get your foot in the door with a prime bank. They generally unsecure the card within a year to year-and-a-half and you get your money back (with interest at Citibank).

I definitely suggest a credit union. All credit unions are non-profit. CU services has really made credit unions convenient, if your shopping for a credit union make sure they're apart of the CU services (most are). If their in the CU network than you can bank at any participating CU credit union. Also enjoy free ATM usage at the CU banks/ ATM machines (including all 7-Elven stores).

My credit union is clear downtown; however, there is a different credit union down the street from me that I bank at more, and it's not even my bank! The feeling is weird. Also keeping in mind, credit unions have lower VISA rates, auto loan rates, and home loan rates. If your having trouble getting VISA cards, banking with a credit union might be worth it. Often times they are small, and will look at your relationship you've had with them the past few months. They look at different things when deciding to approve you for loans - things like length of membership, direct deposit, etc. I'm not saying they don't check your credit, but they're just willing to work with you more than a large bank.

What do you think the best and worst banks are, rated by you, by experience?

That does seem kind of scary hjm, I see what you mean. But what about a company where you give them all your credit card info, and just in-case you loose your wallet or if it is stolen, you call this one number and it will cease them all at once? I have heard about it, but forgot who it is. I will come back and fill this gap in.

Bank ratings are available on Bauer Financial Service bauerfinancial.com/home.html and click on "Bank Star Rating" off the menu. You will get a real handle on where a bank stands. Note, the FDIC does NOT allow banks that are going to be closed out in advance for fear of a "run on the bank". Also the FDIC closes banks on Friday's with the new banks generally re-opening them on Monday's. Exceptions are when a replacement bank hasn't been found. Then the FDIC has to run the bank.

I would cancel the service ASAP and just check your accounts online or by the phone.

I'm still on the fence myself. It doesn't require any account numbers or full names. Only your zip code, and the online log-in user name and password to the accounts. I asked my credit union, and they had only briefly heard of it -- they did not object in anyway. :\

I wouldn't trust my personal info with sites like that.