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Could someone explain it to me?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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. I…
Is that in writing anywhere? The USAA website suggests otherwise. https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/pub_eligibility_task_entry Who is eligible? Active, retired and honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military. Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS). Adult children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product. Widows and widowers…
https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/why_choose_usaa_main
USAA's investment products, most checking and savings products, credit cards, life insurance, and shopping and discounts are available to other individuals.
The catch is that the remote check deposit feature is only available to people who are eligible for USAA auto/property insurance, and the criteria for that are the criteria you linked above. Not having remote deposit kind of limits the utility of the account.
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?
ATM locations, mostly. Chase has an ATM on every street corner in NYC (OK, an exaggeration, but only just). I know plenty of credit unions refund a certain number of ATM fees, but you can't do thinks like check deposits at them any more.
Maybe it's because I don't buy much stuff, but I never understood the point of using credit for small purchases like getting a cup of coffee. I don't understand why people would use cash for that either (unless the coffee shop only takes cash/ charges more for debit). The same goes for checks. Could someone explain it to me?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some banks and credit unions are adding "online checking depositing": you upload a photo of the check to their website. They OCR the photo and process the check. No signature endorsement necessary. Also, a good way to avoid ATM fees is to get "cash back" when using a debit card at the grocery store.
Might not be the case anymore, but I remember hearing in the late 90's that some banks would charge you fees for getting "cash back" with your debit card at a merchant. This is probably bank-dependent though.
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?
Ally: http://Ally.com
INGDirect: http://INGDirect.com
Fidelity: http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/aong/fcma_learn.shtml
Schwab: http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking
Everbank: https://www.everbank.com
Alliant FCU: http://www.alliantcreditunion.org
Incredible Bank: http://incrediblebank.com
Salem Five Direct: http://www.salemfivedirect.com
Bank of Internet: http://www.bankofinternet.com
PerkStreet: http://www.perkstreet.com
Personally, I'd go with Ally. Free ATM rebates. Competitive interest rates. Easy to set up automatic transfers to savings. Free ACH transfers. Remote deposit being rolled out now.
You can't go wrong with any of the other banks either (ING and Schwab are great also), but Ally really has a nice offering.
Also, be careful when and where you use your debit card.
If someone gets a hold of your debit card info, they are accessing your cash directly. With a credit card, they are creating a future liability (no cash out of your account). Further, the consumer protections are not nearly as good on debit cards as they are for credit cards.
I talk about this at length here: http://www.seedlingfinance.com/443/why-i-always-use-a-credit...
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?
Schwab is awesome . If you're so inclined, it's easy to do (reasonably priced) stock trades. As far as pure checking goes, they've got everything you would expect, but get this: no ATM fees. At all. Any fee charged by any ATM will be refunded to you at the end of the month. Plus, they do it internationally, too! If I recall correctly, they have effectively zero currency conversion fee, as well. Capital One also has s…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that in writing anywhere? The USAA website suggests otherwise. https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/pub_eligibility_task_entry Who is eligible? Active, retired and honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military. Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS). Adult children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product. Widows and widowers…
Yep, it looks like anyone can get a USAA bank account even if they are not military or a spouse/child of a USAA member. https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/why_choose_usaa_main USAA's investment products, most checking and savings products, credit cards, life insurance, and shopping and discounts are available to other individuals. The catch is that the remote check deposit feature is only available to people who are eli…