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National City does not have a presence in NM. In fact many of the larger Midwestern and Eastern banks do not have operations here. Here's a list of a few big banks you won't find in ABQ:
Citibank
Chase
Bank One
Key Bank
RBS
Wachovia (although they do have an investment firm here)
Hmm.. Interesting. I wonder why. They already have the infrastucture, why not build out west? That's odd. Perhaps I should start a bank in ABQ. Give people 2% for their money and lend their money out to other people for 5%.. it's probably one of the best business models on the planet.
If you're wealthy (not NM wealthy but out-of-state wealthy.. multiple millions) the banks will not extend a line of credit without your life history and social security number, even if you have more than the entire line sitting in their vault.
All banks here care about are construction lending and home mortgages. The big banks look at NM as a backwater, and until more choose to locate here, that's all it will be as far as banking is concerned.
I challenge you to find any major commercial employer (governmental ones don't count) who uses a New Mexico bank.
If you've got money to lend, there are some excellent peer-to-peer lending organizations based on the internet.
Prosper, Lending Club, and Zopa can each get you far over 5% for your money, though it's not risk free.
By diversifying your investment among numerous lendees, you can mitigate your risk and still get sky-high returns (10+%). Not as liquid as a savings account, but not much worse than a CD.
I worked at WaMu for years in the area that decided on where to build bank branches, where to expand, etc. There are SEVERAL reasons why they don't go into a market - one of the main reasons is population - there isn't enough population to support a large bank infrastructure, especially if they are competing against the 'home town banks'. To enter such a market they would normally go in and buy up the smaller banks - cheaper to do that than build/establish new. I think Wells Fargo did that in TX a few years back (And WaMu did that several years in TX, and both coasts by buying several large, established banks). There are several demographics that are studied when determing a market presence: age of the consumer, owner occupancy, income, businesses/industries in the area & household growth (I'm sure there are other factors that I've missed but these are the ones I remember. They also look at the market share - is it pretty spread out amongst other banks/CU or does one have most of the market.
They cannot knowingly look at an area and say "hmmm - its poor/povery ridden" or "has too many of this or that ethnicity" - I'm not saying they don't but that is what used to be called Redlining and is VERY illegal. Banks also cannot go into a low-income market and then when the bank isn't profitable, just close it. There are lots of regulatory hoops they have to jump through - especially if there are no banks to service those people within a certain distance.
There's also a whole lecture on chartering - state vs federal, FDIC vs OTS regulators - but I didn't do as much on that end, so I'd rather not speak to that.
I opened a Compass account before I came out here, they're not bad. Online banking is decent, and the accounts are free. I like that I can upload my logo to my checking debit card, great way to promote your business if you're self employed. I wish they had more locations, however. My other account is with a national credit union that doesn't have an office here (yet). I love my credit union My office has their account with Bank of the West, so I've been in there a few times to cash checks, and they're always nice. Lots of locations, too.
JP Morgan Chase bought Bank One in 2004, I don't think it does business under the Bank One name anymore.
My wife and I were with First Stae Bank for many years (they are now First Community Bank). We love that they are a local success story... hopefully they will have branched to Denver by the time we move.
I've been with Wells Fargo for years, first in Colorado and now in New Mexico. They have a free account you can sign up for. Plus they have ATMs everywhere, which are free. AND they have branches in supermarkets which are open all day Saturdays.
Note: Wells Fargo banks are not Everywhere as I found out when i went to the south a few weeks ago on vacation. They are nowhere in that area. But, for ABQ, they are pretty much everywhere. Same goes for probably 95% of the country. I have Wells Fargo and have been very pleased with them, but then I don't do anything outside of the average banker: I deposit my paychecks there, use my debit and credit card for many purchases and frequently withdraw cash from an ATM. Outside of that, my banking rituals end lol.
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My office has their account with Bank of the West, so I've been in there a few times to cash checks, and they're always nice. Lots of locations, too.
