Banking Local????

It depends. Savings rates suck everywhere right now. A couple of years ago though some of the big online banks were paying over 5.00% interest. I don't know of any local banks that even came close at the time, so back then the answer was pretty simple. Now I'm not so sure.

I've been banking with small locally or regionally owned banks almost exclusively for my entire life, and it's because of the accountability and personal service that are not available with bigger banks. Same reasons I shop with locals/mom and pops as much as possible. Better service and accountability that you simply don't get when there are absentee investor-owners reaping the profits.

I suspect there is a similar multiplier effect at work when you bank locally as when you shop locally. Coupla sowallers I know have done some research about the local economy thing... maybe they will chime in with details.

I have banked with the same bank since I was 16, First National Bank of Atlanta. I am moving as it has now become Wells Fargo.....too big. Going with a credit union since so many smaller regional banks here have gone bust.

There are a couple of local credit unions that are generally quite good- the ones that started out military had to compete with the well-regarded USAA and it shows.

I've been banking with small locally or regionally owned banks almost exclusively for my entire life, and it's because of the accountability and personal service that are not available with bigger banks. Same reasons I shop with locals/mom and pops as much as possible. Better service and accountability that you simply don't get when there are absentee investor-owners reaping the profits.

I suspect there is a similar multiplier effect at work when you bank locally as when you shop locally. Coupla sowallers I know have done some research about the local economy thing... maybe they will chime in with details.

That's funny, I don't recall the last time I even set foot inside a bank or even my credit union for that matter.

Actually it's probably a good idea to have several accounts with some kind of online linkage so you can move things around as necessary. I would not necessarily dump the big bank. They may offer unbeatable rates one day that your credit union can't match. A couple of years ago when my big online bank was offering 5.05, my credit union was offering a paltry .9%. In fact, the credit union rate on CDs was about 3%.

Credit Unions, to our family, are the way to go. LS is right about the interest rates paid but the overall service is great. I belong to two and one is the Army Aviation Federal Credit Union which is open for all residents of Walton County to join. There are many benefits to a credit union. It is worth your time to check them out. I haven't used a bank in over twenty years.

That's funny, I don't recall the last time I even set foot inside a bank or even my credit union for that matter.

Online banking - who needs the actual bank? I don't know of any regionals that support good online services. I have visited occasionally, for a home loan in 2001, and to visit my safety deposit box, but rarely do I do any real banking at a physical bank.

Generally though, be careful who you ostracize, a number of the larger banks/investment firms were forced by the FED to take money they didn't need it in order to provide cover for those that did.

Online banking - who needs the actual bank? I don't know of any regionals that support good online services. I have visited occasionally, for a home loan in 2001, and to visit my safety deposit box, but rarely do I do any real banking at a physical bank.

Generally though, be careful who you ostracize, a number of the larger banks/investment firms were forced by the FED to take money they didn't need it in order to provide cover for those that did.

Thanks. I was hoping you would chime in. My thanks button is out, but I'll catch up with you later

Credit Unions, to our family, are the way to go. LS is right about the interest rates paid but the overall service is great. I belong to two and one is the Army Aviation Federal Credit Union which is open for all residents of Walton County to join. There are many benefits to a credit union. It is worth your time to check them out. I haven't used a bank in over twenty years.

Thanks, Andy

This actually brought to mind a question thats been nagging me - do folks down here have safety deposit boxes in local banks on the peninsula? Ever since Katrina I've been wondering if I should move my keep sakes to a branch farther north.

Shockaroo - I do most of my banking at the same small home town bank where Mama Scooterbug opened accounts for us when we were little kids.

It's a quality of service issue - when I call, I speak DIRECTLY to a human (after hours I leave a message or send an email that is returned within an hour of the bank opening), can schedule payments or transfers and check my account info over the phone or online 24/7, and pay far less for fees (trying to think of one I DO pay) and get great rates for services and accounts.

And if there is some sort of problem, I immediately get a phone call from them to alert me and a swift resolution...................not a letter days later, fees, or an inactive account or card.

P.S. Guess whose bank was NOT involved in subprime lending and was opening a new branch while the big ones were begging for government money?

This actually brought to mind a question thats been nagging me - do folks down here have safety deposit boxes in local banks on the peninsula? Ever since Katrina I've been wondering if I should move my keep sakes to a branch farther north.

Yes, but waterproof items just in case (Ziploc or 2). That's a good safeguard in any safety deposit box, not just for hurricane zones.

And have a copy of important info somewhere else just in case - email yourself some important numbers (like your insurance policy number etc.), or scans of important documents.

I think its all in what you need from a bank. I'm with 30AShopper - the small local banks just don't offer the kind of online services I need - which is total online everything (bill pay, direct deposit, QB & Quicken compabibility - seamless downloading etc, transfers, and everything automated in the most efficient way for both personal and business banking. A larger bank (such as Wachovia/Wells Fargo) provides a comprehensive range of banking services, but mostly it offers what I need - the local office branches are very tiny and the folks there definitely know me and take care of whatever I need. I've worked with the same folks for several years. They totally go out of their way to provide the services I need. but the main thing is that due to online services I hardly ever have to enter the bank for any reason -which is key for me.

But, I can see how each person has different needs so you just have to go do your research! as in any other kind of financial decision.

Full, reliable online services for both personal and business banking is really necessary for most folks these days I do believe. Many smaller banks may offer online services but they may be limited in ways that really matter to your needs (this is what happened in my case with a local bank). check it all out.

I use USAA exclusively, and have for at least 10 years. I have never been in a USAA branch. I am not sure if they have any.

Here are the ways they make it easy:

- Timely direct deposit
- The ability to deposit at home using a scanner -- it takes only minutes and the deposit is credited immediately! For the rare checks that my scanner does not work with, I mail it in and it shows up in 2 days.
- Now you can use your iPhone to make a deposit by taking a picture of your check! I have not tried this though.
- Free checks
- Every month they refund up to $15/month for ATM fees from other banks.
- Small amounts of interest on checking, just as a nice bonus.
- Full, reliable online services

Bottom line: Banking this way is convenient and I never am charged fees for anything! If you can find a small or online bank that can do these things for you, you will never ever miss your branch. I really dislike most of the big banks.

P.S. USAA is now open to ALL former military.

We always discuss how buying local impacts our community. How does banking local impact our community and is it something we should strive to do if possible?

We spent 15 years with Bank of America (BOA)and its predecessors...until they started arbitrarily raising our interest rates on credit cards most every quarter beginning about three years ago. We were not paying late, credit scores were fine, etc.

The BOA branch manager we had worked with in Destin admitted that local BOA managers no longer had the ability to make many decisions - everything had become "corporate". The shocker was when we found out that when customers came into a BOA branch and needed decisions regarding loans, interest rates on credit, etc. often the BOA branch managers were calling the same 800 phone numbers that customers were told to call. Local decision-making had been taken away.

Oh, and don't get me started about the phone rooms in India that Bank of America farmed out customer support to. "Helloooo, my nem ees "Jack", how can I 'elp yew" got to be routine...and this was Bank of America?

We interviewed 7 banks, including Regions, Suntrust, Wachovia, Whitney, Trustmark, and some smaller community banks. We chose Trustmark because their branch manager and even regional VP took the time to come out and get to know us and our business; they understood the seasonality of our income; they offered reasonable interest rates; and most importantly to us, they still had local managers who could make a decision.

It's been over a year now and everything about Trustmark has proven to be the best banking relationship we've ever had. They even helped us get an SBA ARC (small business stimulus) loan completed, which had tough qualifying guidelines that Bank of America could not begin to fathom on our behalf.

We have a SoWal friend (thanks BB!) to thank for recommending Trustmark to us, and we would recommend them to anyone looking for a bank that can "keep it local" even with their regional presence.

Wow, can't believe how from the heart I just wrote that!

Do other banks actually need time to do a direct deposit transaction/transfer funds? It just takes seconds if you have the right numbers.

Dunno about using Quicken etc. or scanning in checks as I don't need to do those things, so dunno if my bank has it available.

Do get interest on my checking acct - along w/ some sort of refund points system for how much I spend w/ my credit card that I can redeem for cash, prizes, gift certificates etc.

Beach Bimmer - I have a local account w/ Trustmark too. Not as great as my bank back home, but a nice 2nd and a FAR cry above the corporate evil that is Bank of America!

Trustmark is a fine local bank as so many around here will attest.

We spent 15 years with Bank of America (BOA)and its predecessors...until they started arbitrarily raising our interest rates on credit cards most every quarter beginning about three years ago. We were not paying late, credit scores were fine, etc.

The BOA branch manager we had worked with in Destin admitted that local BOA managers no longer had the ability to make many decisions - everything had become "corporate". The shocker was when we found out that when customers came into a BOA branch and needed decisions regarding loans, interest rates on credit, etc. often the BOA branch managers were calling the same 800 phone numbers that customers were told to call. Local decision-making had been taken away.

Oh, and don't get me started about the phone rooms in India that Bank of America farmed out customer support to. "Helloooo, my nem ees "Jack", how can I 'elp yew" got to be routine...and this was Bank of America?

We interviewed 7 banks, including Regions, Suntrust, Wachovia, Whitney, Trustmark, and some smaller community banks. We chose Trustmark because their branch manager and even regional VP took the time to come out and get to know us and our business; they understood the seasonality of our income; they offered reasonable interest rates; and most importantly to us, they still had local managers who could make a decision.

It's been over a year now and everything about Trustmark has proven to be the best banking relationship we've ever had. They even helped us get an SBA ARC (small business stimulus) loan completed, which had tough qualifying guidelines that Bank of America could not begin to fathom on our behalf.

We have a SoWal friend (thanks BB!) to thank for recommending Trustmark to us, and we would recommend them to anyone looking for a bank that can "keep it local" even with their regional presence.

Wow, can't believe how from the heart I just wrote that!

Do other banks actually need time to do a direct deposit transaction/transfer funds? It just takes seconds if you have the right numbers.

Dunno about using Quicken etc. or scanning in checks as I don't need to do those things, so dunno if my bank has it available.

Do get interest on my checking acct - along w/ some sort of refund points system for how much I spend w/ my credit card that I can redeem for cash, prizes, gift certificates etc.

Beach Bimmer - I have a local account w/ Trustmark too. Not as great as my bank back home, but a nice 2nd and a FAR cry above the corporate evil that is Bank of America!

Trustmark is a fine local bank as so many around here will attest.

Trustmark is on the list in the link that I first posted as is my bank, FNBT.

BB, your experience is very much what I was hoping to hear. I already bank local and have since I moved back in 96, but was curious if the movement was satisfactory for others, as well as a way to protest business practices against a few unscrupulous lenders. Thanks guys

This is for everyone reading this thread, the safest place to keep your money and valuables is under my mattress. It is local and I will guarantee you peace of mind and a competitive rate.;-)

Oh, and don't get me started about the phone rooms in India that Bank of America farmed out customer support to. "Helloooo, my nem ees "Jack", how can I 'elp yew" got to be routine...and this was Bank of America?

Oh, that comment touched a nerve. I tend to keep my checking balance to a minimum, skimming off excess income into other accounts. A few years ago I skimmed off too much and had an online automatic recurring payment kick in where the funds were short. BofA charged me a $20.00 insufficient funds fee! We're talking about a computer program running somplace that fires off a check. It could have simply sent me an email letting me know but instead it charged me a fee as if I had written a bad check!!

I called the bank up ready to raise hell, and was connected to some indian dude in calcutta who started lecturing me on how I should better manage my money! I just kept demanding to speak to supervisor after supervisor until I was finally connected with an American rep., who promptly undid the charge and apologized for my treatment.

(I should add though, that's the only negative experience I've ever had with BofA.)

This is for everyone reading this thread, the safest place to keep your money and valuables is under my mattress. It is local and I will guarantee you peace of mind and a competitive rate.;-)

:funn:

Mama Scooterbug spent weeks trying to simply close an account with BofA. She was on the account as the trustee of her mother's estate and wanted to close the account before the end of the year to avoid having to do the taxes/pay a lawyer for another year.

She could never talk to the same person, could never get a straight answer, even told them they could KEEP the money in the account (less than $10) if they just closed the damn thing.

It took her and I over 2 months, 40 phone calls, and 15 emails to get them to do a simple 30 second transaction.....................mainly because noone there gave a sheet.

Mama Scooterbug spent weeks trying to simply close an account with BofA. She was on the account as the trustee of her mother's estate and wanted to close the account before the end of the year to avoid having to do the taxes/pay a lawyer for another year.

She could never talk to the same person, could never get a straight answer, even told them they could KEEP the money in the account (less than $10) if they just closed the damn thing.

It took her and I over 2 months, 40 phone calls, and 15 emails to get them to do a simple 30 second transaction.....................mainly because noone there gave a sheet.

That's funny cause they didn't seem to have any trouble this spring closing my old BofA gold visa whch I never used, without so much as a letter letting me know. Big banks - they definitely aren't perfect.

Just to chime in here. I've dealt with a lot of big institutions online and on the phone, and 99.9% of the time their service is impeccable. I almost always get somebody with excellent communication skills and my issues are addressed extremely efficiently. I'm talking about banks, brokerages, legal departments at insurance companies, and yes, even credit card companies. It's usually the smaller two bit operations I have the problem with because they can't afford the salaries necessary to get good people.