The Gun Counter

The vast majority of my money will still be with Navy Fed, but I'd like some good recommendations for a national "chain" bank, so I can get some bank related-things done at them (cash money orders, withdraw money from ATMs, get things notarized, etc). The closest Navy Fed to where I live is hours away.

I'll probably open an account with a few thousand, but that's the limit.

Any suggestions?

I suggest avoiding Wells Fargo, Citibank, and most of the others. Have you looked at USAA Bank? They're pretty darn good and are spreading offices around. I use a local credit union but have a savings account there and use their credit card. They've been super. You might also look at American Express though.

I've had decent luck with BOA and Chase.

TD doesn't suck. That said, we're not with them anymore.

I never had problems with Citi as a bank, but I won't do business with them willingly because of some CC shenanigans they pulled.

No USAA bank locations around here, unfortunately. That account is already linked to our Navy Fed account, which would have been awesome.

I opened a Wells Fargo account because I needed a bank with branches in ND and TX at the time, back in '02. With direct deposit, I have no fees on my checking account. I've had exactly one fraudulent CC charge, two months ago, for $200, and they investigated and refunded the $200 the next day and I had a new debit card a few days after that. I have honestly had no other problems with them in that time, and their customer service has always been excellent.

I started with Wells Fargo about 20 years ago. Had some fraudulent activity on the accounts, both checking and savings, this summer. A bit frustrating, but they sorted it out, refunded the money, opened a new account, that is linked for me. I can still do bill pay, but select the account the money is drawn from.

Biggest plus, for me, with Wells Fargo is that they are all over the place.

Opened a business account a few years ago with Chase. They were very nearby and it was convenient. I would tend toward Chase over Wells Fargo if I had to choose one.

Both recognize Veterans and discount/eliminate their fees for Vets.

Chase notarizes documents free of charge. You don't even have to bank there.

Rumpshot wrote:I started with Wells Fargo about 20 years ago. Had some fraudulent activity on the accounts, both checking and savings, this summer. A bit frustrating, but they sorted it out, refunded the money, opened a new account, that is linked for me. I can still do bill pay, but select the account the money is drawn from.

Biggest plus, for me, with Wells Fargo is that they are all over the place.

Opened a business account a few years ago with Chase. They were very nearby and it was convenient. I would tend toward Chase over Wells Fargo if I had to choose one.

Both recognize Veterans and discount/eliminate their fees for Vets.

Chase notarizes documents free of charge. You don't even have to bank there.

Nice. I was actually looking at Chase due to their prevalence around here. And if a bank said anything about "fees", I would laugh and walk out. Guess I've been spoiled by the nice folks at NFCU.

My wife has had good luck with Chase for the past decade or longer. No issues at all.

My wife and I have separate accounts, a vestige of being divorced, being single, and getting "burned" during a breakup with a joint account. We've always had separate accounts and it works well for us.

She likes Chase. She's been with them since the last breakup she had, and is very pleased, she recommends them highly.

I was with BOA for about 20 years but they've become hard to work with. They've "automated" customer service and eliminated tellers and people you could talk to who new what they were doing at their branch banks. The online computer and fraud detection still works but I really don't like the direction they are going..
Some times the free checking at the banks is only worth what you pay for it. I'd go into the branch office that you were going to use and check out the attitude and knowledge at that location. Talk to locals. I'm cynical and think they all suck these days you just have to find the one that sucks the least.