Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-09-2011, 12:18 AM
 
270 posts, read 838,185 times
Reputation: 136

Advertisements

Hi,

I'm going to be moving my money to a new bank. I'm looking for

1) Free personal checking accounts with no minimum balance requirement
2) Many branches in the So Cal area

**I'm not interested in banks/credit unions with only a couple branches or ATM locations


What do you guys recommend? I'm considering Union bank and Bank of the west at the moment.

Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-09-2011, 02:47 AM
 
Location: Sacramento, Placerville
2,511 posts, read 6,297,381 times
Reputation: 2260
I suggest looking for a credit union.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-09-2011, 04:37 AM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,610,392 times
Reputation: 5184
Most banks have removed free checking as it cost them too much.
I have free checking with Wells Fargo but because I have more than three accounts. Mortgage, checking and savings plus a couple more.

Some banks are offering a cheaper account that you have to pay if you use a clerk, all transactions have to be done at the ATM.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-09-2011, 06:20 AM
 
270 posts, read 838,185 times
Reputation: 136
It seems that thanks to these guys: CUServiceCenter.com

about 3000 credit unions are now "shared branches"

So I'll go with one of them. Nice!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-09-2011, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,226 posts, read 36,864,430 times
Reputation: 28563
You can always look into online banks like Ally, Schwab, and USAA who all offer free checking, and no fees to use any ATM (or fee reimbursement).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-10-2011, 05:48 PM
 
Location: Southern California
38,880 posts, read 22,864,124 times
Reputation: 60057
Quote:
Originally Posted by AD1985 View Post
It seems that thanks to these guys: CUServiceCenter.com

about 3000 credit unions are now "shared branches"

So I'll go with one of them. Nice!
Someone else suggested credit unions, and that would be my suggestion also. Especially since you have access to over 28,000 ATMs surcharge free through the Co-Op Network. That's more ATMs than the biggest big box banks.

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-10-2011, 06:02 PM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,761,775 times
Reputation: 1927
If one of those fails, Wells Fargo is free with direct deposit and has plenty of branches in So Cal. I prefer a CU, but not everyone has access to one
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2011, 07:57 AM
 
Location: A bit further north than before
1,651 posts, read 3,697,189 times
Reputation: 1465
Physical branches are over-rated, I'm not sure why that would be one of your criteria?
We've been with USAA for a decade now, they don't have ANY physical branches and we haven't missed them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2011, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Yucaipa, California
9,894 posts, read 22,021,443 times
Reputation: 6853
I prefer to bank with a bank in my area (3 miles away). The local credit union (arrowhead) no longer has totally free checking. I bank at US BANK & its been free checking for me so far (8 months). I qualify for one of their programs. If us bank was to start charging a fee i would go to bank of america which has totally free checking if you use the atm only which is fine with me. I prefer atm banking anyways + plenty of us bank branches & atms in the nation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-12-2011, 12:00 AM
 
954 posts, read 1,280,644 times
Reputation: 384
We have free accounts with ING, Chase, and Wells Fargo, I'm trying to convince my wife that we can drop Chase and WF for ING, but she wants physical branches... I can't even remember the last time I used an ATM, let alone went inside a bank.

Anyway, I like ING the most because it gives us the best freebies and highest interest rates (which still aren't much, but all the same...).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top