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Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

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Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#21

Post by spking »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

You're in luck:

"USAA's investment products, most checking and savings products, credit cards, life insurance, and shopping and discounts are available to other individuals."

This was a somewhat recent change to expand eligibility.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#22

Post by ambiate »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

My coworker just got back from an internship at USAA. She mentioned you no longer need to be related to a service member to open a checking account.

Hands down, they are an amazing bank. I've had Paypal issues which they reversed within 2 days. No ATM charges and monthly refunds for any charges. Monthly interest refund. Great services overall by the people and the web.

I believe you can also take out a credit card. Insurance is only for military members.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#23

Post by ROFISH »

navyrain wrote: post #5

I fail to see why anyone selects a big bank like BofA/WellsFargo/Chase for their personal accounts, when they are known to have a plethora of fees and dubious ethics, and there are almost always better options in regional credit unions. What am I missing?

I'm with BofA simply because they have branches everywhere. I was in a situation where I needed to deposit checks in six wildly separated cities.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#25

Post by steadicat »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

You no longer need any relation to the military to join USAA. That said, I recently switched from USAA to Ally. Same features, better rates, and better support. Both banks have decent web sites, and let you withdraw for free at any ATM, so for me they beat even BoA for convenience.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#26

Post by Lewisham »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

I really like Ally. I was a little hesitant about them based on their GM past, but now I've switched I'd never go back to a brick and mortar.

People always ask me the same questions: Q: How do I get money out if there are no ATMs? A: I use any ATM, Ally refunds the fee, so even those sleazy but oh-so-convienent ATMs are great.

Q: What if there's a problem? A: When is the last time you saw your bank manager? I never spoke to mine at BofA. Whenever I had anything more than a trifling issue, the teller directed me to call the BofA phoneline anyway. I may as well endrun the whole hassle and talk directly to Ally (who also have very quick wait times).

The only thing Ally doesn't do yet is scanning checks. I haven't got a physical check for a while now, but if I do, I put it into my BofA account (which is otherwise entirely dormant) and have Ally debit it out.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#27

Post by nhangen »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

I got my USAA account before I joined the military, and I know for a fact that you don't need to be in the military to have an account. Best customer service on the planet.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#28

Post by palish »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

PNC bank is fucking awesome. I'm not creative enough to think up enough good things to say about it: they just rock.

PNC has a great website, the people are great (at least at my local PNC), they're very professional, and they're pretty smug about being the only bank left that has "free checking".

http://www.pnc.com

They even refunded me the $17 they charged for a box of checks. (I had gone in and asked for a truly-free checking account, and felt tricked into the $17; so I went back and they genuinely felt sorry for the mixup, and made sure I was satisfied in every possible way.)

~~~

EDIT: incase you're wondering how PNC bank's website looks, here ya go: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/315/random_pics/pnc.png (also shows you the formats you can export your data in.)

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#29

Post by steadicat »

Lewisham wrote: post #26
natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

I really like Ally. I was a little hesitant about them based on their GM past, but now I've switched I'd never go back to a brick and mortar. People always ask me the same questions: Q: How do I get money out if there are no ATMs? A: I use any ATM, Ally refunds the fee, so even those sleazy but oh-so-convienent ATMs are great. Q: What if there's a problem? A: When is the last time you saw your bank manager? I never s…

Ally is rolling out the eCheck deposit feature: http://community.ally.com/straight-talk/2011/04/ally-bank-in...

In the meantime, you can simply mail them your checks, using their free pre-stamped envelopes. It only takes a couple of days for your money to show up. Faster and easier than going through a brick and mortar bank.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#30

Post by _delirium »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

This page lists a few of the (dwindling) large-ish not-online-only banks that still have fee-free accounts: http://www.pfstuff.com/checking/

Chase is also semi-ok if you keep a decent amount of money lying around; it's fee-free with a $1500 minimum balance, or w/ direct deposit.

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