What Bank?
What bank do you use? Why?
I’ve been a Wells Fargo customer since 1989. I have been decently happy with my service, but occasionally when something wierd is going on with my accounts, I don’t find out until a couple of days later, and a whole bunch of charges happen. I’ve got a couple of checking accounts, a savings account, and multiple small business accounts. In the world of business, I’d say I am a pretty good customer.
But they keep screwing me.
Why can’t I get a text message (or a phone call) when something wierd is going on in my accounts? On the SAME DAY.
Why can’t I get a secure RSS (I know the spec is evolving..yeah yeah) feed telling me everything that is going on in my account. I could read this feed in my browser, my RSS reader, and on my Treo if I should so desire.
Wells Fargo has undergone 3 iterations on their website in the last five years, and not one of them has made the site more usable or displayed all of the information for all of my accounts in an intuative fasion. In fact, the last design is worse than the prior one. AND, they’ve got billboards up in San Francisco hailing the brilliance of their tabbed design.
Why is it that banks can build magnificent buildings, but not a usable website?
I’d love to hear what bank you use, why you love (or hate) it. Does the online banking work? Do they notify you when things are going on with your account that you should know about? How easy is it to manage your money?
May the best bank win.
(I’m leaning towards Bank of America right now, with their fantastic new “Keep the Change” program.)
November 1st, 2005 at 10:41 am
I’m still back at Helena Community Credit Union. Although I’m sure it may not be able to manage quite what many people need it to, they’ve been great for me. I find in the area of travel abroad, I’ve had very few problems, they give me an amazing exchange rate, and it was very simple to call to have any changes to my account made prior to me leaving the country. They also don’t charge me a currency exchange or any ATM withdrawal fees (unless it’s the withdrawal fee of the specific ATM, but none on top of that). I think after being a part of a credit union, I will never not be a part of one. The only hard part is sometimes the long distance, but even that is nicely assuaged by direct deposit or great customer service. Oh, and they also notified me when a system was hacked into and I needed a new debit card, and they went ahead and got everything in order for me. Any other problems, I may not be notified right away, but they are generally no problem to fix.
November 1st, 2005 at 11:49 am
They don’t tell you what is going on with your account because banks are there to make money. It doesn’t matter how good of a customer you are, customer service is not something they care about. These institutions are nothing like other businesses that actually want to make their customers happy.
Bank of America isn’t much better either. They are full of hidden charges, minimum balances, charges to see a teller… etc.
I recommend that you find a credit union. They aren’t allowed to post profits, so you’ll save money in the long run from not paying fees out the wazoo to pad the pockets of the ceo. You may also try a local bank that isn’t spread out across the US. They tend to have more contact with the customer, a lot like smaller classes being better than large ones where you get lost and turn into just another number.
The US is one of the only countries that charges ATM fees so you won’t have to worry about that when you travel abroad.
Bottom line- don’t expect a bank to be nice to you. They really want your money and they’ll do anything they can to get it.
November 1st, 2005 at 8:44 pm
Dave-I just got done having the same conversation with my father this past weekend! I agree wtih Jess, in that banks are companies and are in the business of charging you.
The only solution I can see to the problem is what I’ve started theorizing as the “online bank.” No brick and mortor locations, only online. Problems obviously arize in the how do you deposit money, but if your employer provides direct-deposit that is one step in making it happen. I realize this may sound like “.com hype” considering it is attempting to replace physical stores, but there is some validitity to it. Maybe it could be more of a service that individual banks (Bank of America, or Wells Fargo) would enlist to run their online banking? Just a thought.
Again, I agree about the SMS and RSS feeds. Transactions, problems, deposits, withdraws, errors and (heaven forbid) overdrafts could be delivered via all of the techie communications platforms we rely on.
Case in point, I just got back from my bank after depositing my paycheck and they just installed a “new and imporved” software system that none of the tellers could figure out. I spent 20 minutes of my lunch break just waiting for them to hand me the reciept for the transaction. It does have online banking, but it is slow and a pain to use. It could really use some Ajax, but that’s another story all together.
The current banking industry in in usability shambles and it pisses me off everytime I’m forced to interact with it.
Of course there is no incentive for banks to be quick. They aren’t Walmart where getting people effeciently checked out it is a plus, because the banks already have your money and it is way to complicated (read difficult) to transfer funds to another bank in order to correct the problem everytime you get screwed by the bank.
Anyway, just my two cents…glad to see you’re back to blogging regularly!
November 2nd, 2005 at 12:34 am
Well Dave, I have Wells Fargo so I decided to comment on this. I have had a great banking experience with Wells Fargo.
My favorite feature is the Billpay which I get for free since I am a student. Maybe this is sheer laziness, but all I have to do is set-up the different companies which I have to pay bills to. Whenever, I get the bill, I go online to WF Billpay…type in the amount and press send. And the bill is paid! They send it to the right place, in your name, and they include the account number. No writing checks and wasting time with going to the Post Office because Wells Fargo does it all for you.
One gripe I have about Wells Fargo is the ATM Fees. You get charged by two different banks for using a non-WF ATM (Up to $3.00 per transaction!).
My one problem I did incur the other day was when they charged me double on a transaction…I called up, told them what happened, they said it would be fixed by 9:00am the next day…and it was!
That “Keep the Change” program looks cool. Seems good for a college student who can’t save money for the life of them but Wells Fargo seems like the “grown ups” bank.
Maybe the solution is using several banks.
1) Bank (or Credit Union) that doesn’t charge ATM fees or that REFUNDS ATM fees. This could be used for the quick cash anywhere in the US.
2) Bank of America for normal debit use. This way with the “Keep the Change” program you can save that extra change.
3) Wells Fargo for everything else. I think that they do such a great job with everything else that you shoud stick with the big bank who does it best.
November 3rd, 2005 at 5:38 am
Wow, what a lame excuse for a “breakthru” marketing idea! And sadly, you are falling prey to it.
This program exits only to line the pockets of BofA. By exploiting the american public’s inability to save, they:
1) Increase their debit card use (which earns them more fee revenue) 2) Increase their customers’ savings balances (which will allow them to make more loans, thereby increasing profit)
3) Increase their bottom line when 50% of the customer signing up don’t see the fine print: “$3 service fee for accounts with daily balances under $300.”
Add all that, to the fact that the low percentage interest earned on these “rounded up” values will be far less than the average rate of inflation (not to mention taxes on those earnings every year). Someone truly trying to save would be far better off eliminating the $4 latte’s and $25 a plate dinners and keep all their change in a shoe box under the bed.
People tend to forget, banks are a “for profit” company and they exist to make money. Any new and exciting programs from banks should be examined with a magnifying glass, because the truth is, it will prolly benefit the bank ten times more than it will the customer.
The solution for saving? Pay yourself first. 1) Instead of using direct deposit for 100% of your paycheck into a single account, have the first 10% skimmed off and sent to a savings account, money market, or CD. 2) Go full tilt into your 401k. If your company matches 6%, thats free money for you. Plus, this is a pre-tax deduction, thus deferring taxes (and possibly lowering your yearly income tax rate) 3) Live below your means. Don’t buy the most expensive car you can find. (buy used and let someone else eat the depreciation). Don’t dine out every night. (learn how to cook, and make it a hobby. its cheaper) Don’t live paycheck to paycheck.
Basically, if you know how to manage money well, “rounding up” a handful of change is laughable and best left for the financially challenged.
December 6th, 2005 at 6:54 pm
Believe it or not, I love First Republic Bank. I agree that credit unions are probably fabulous, but First Republic is a small, SF-based bank. The best part about FR is the fact that they REIMBURSE you, yes– you read that right– for any ATM charges that you may incur by using other banks’ machines. It’s awesome. No matter where you are in the world, you know you are not paying $0.01 to access your own money. Also, I love that when you call a human answers the phone. No phone tree, no nothing. It’s a business bank that makes their money other ways besides preying on consumers. I’m never leaving!
December 7th, 2005 at 3:38 pm
URGENT URGENT URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart goes to the people who have been ripped off by Bank Of America and their Employees
I can not explain in right words what Bank of America has done to me
They have ruined my life; this Bank is full of CIRMINALS. Employees are looting, and those! BIG SHOTS are just watching and doing nothing.
We the people who put our trust in them to protect our valuables.
“WHAT A SHAME” Please raise your voice and join me. I will be holding Press Conference within two weeks. Send me your Email for the date and time.
Please go to my website for details regarding Bank of America!!!!!!!!!
http://www.bankofamericaextortioninsidejob.com
lailasltn@yahoo.com
Thank You
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:06 am
Here’s another heartwarming holiday story for you. I work in Albuquerque, NM (yes, the so-called “Land of Enchantment”, but that’s another story) and I was working in the “far heights” late this Friday evening, December 22, 2006, on an interior design project. With 15 minutes to spare in order to deposit checks totalling around $20,000 needed to cover business expenses and holiday purchases, I covered the distance to my nearest Wells Fargo branch at the corner of Juan Tabo and Montgomery Boulevards in just over ten minutes time on icy streets (no, I wasn’t going over the speed limit, there was too much holiday traffic), only to be stopped at a long red light at the adjacent intersection to the branch. Finally, I rolled up and parked in front of the front door right as a bank employee wearing slacks and a white or light dress shirt, dark curly hair, about average height (I hope this is enough of a description to get his chicken-shit candy-ass fired, but suppose that would be expecting too much from a corporation that clearly does not give a rat’s ass about its customers) strolled up and locked the door
while watching me wave. As he turned and strolled away without any acknowledgement, I checked my T-Mobile auto-updated cellular phone and saw that it was 5:58 pm, presumably two minutes before official closing
time. Thanks for caring! Here’s wishing for a lovely Wells Fargo bankruptcy in the coming year, you flaming assholes…