Good local credit union in downtown SF and/or near Rockridge? (Oakland: car, refund)

[mayorhaggar]

At the very least I'd like to be able to use a debit card anywhere at any other banks' ATM without paying fees. What I'd also like, though I'm not sure I'd find it, is a credit union that pays interest on a checking account, or at least that has savings accounts with pretty good rates.

I don't have a car so it would have to be somewhere I can easily get to in downtown SF (where I work during the week) or else somewhere in the Rockridge area, like around Berkeley or other parts of Oakland, so I could drop in on a Saturday if I had to. So it can't be somewhere up in the hills or in some far-off town that would be inconvenient to get to like Concord or Alameda or whatever.

Again I'd like some bank or credit union that is local (but not a fly by night operation) rather than some giant bank, I already bank with a giant bank and all they do for me is send me massive amounts of junk mail and charge me fees when I use other banks' ATM's.

Thanks if anyone has any tips.

[jade408]

Try Patelco. It is actually pretty big. There is one in downtown Oak, around 19th I think. And 2 or 3 in SF. Either below mission or fidi. There are also quite a few in the burbs.

I have an HSA there and a few friends bank there as well. Really convenient, lots of locations.

[mayorhaggar]

Thanks, they at least have checking accounts with interest (though the interest is pretty low) but it looks like they don't let you use any ATM for free, which is something I'm interested in. They have much fewer locations than my current bank so this is kind of a dealbreaker.

[lmk1707]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Thanks, they at least have checking accounts with interest (though the interest is pretty low) but it looks like they don't let you use any ATM for free, which is something I'm interested in. They have much fewer locations than my current bank so this is kind of a dealbreaker.

Try Pacific Service CU. I've been banking with them for years, they have an interest-bearing checking account option, free ATM usage (as in they refund you 3rd party bank fees you incur), low fees, and very good customer service.

[mayorhaggar]

^
Looks interesting but they only pay interest if you keep more than $7500 in your account, and for ATM rebates they pay "up to $3 per transaction and $15 per month"...a little low but not too shabby I guess since I don't use ATM's that much, I'll check this bank out.

I'd also consider First Republic which rebates all ATM fees but you need a minimum balance of $3500 to avoid monthly fees.