Popular East Coast Banks (credit, live in, moving to)

[Libertine]

I'm moving to DC next week and I was just wondering what some of the more popular east coast banks are.

[Stephen 81]

If you're talking national banks with a strong East Coast presence, I'd suggest Wachovia (RIP, soon to be Wells Fargo) or Bank of America. They're definitely the banks with the most local branches and ATMs.

TD Bank has recently become quite a large player here as well. It's a Canadian bank with a lot of branches from Virginia to Maine.

[HurricaneDC]

Citibank and Bank of America. PNC is also pretty popular in the Mid-Atlantic.

[juniperbleu]

Adding to the ones above, Suntrust is somewhat popular (though tends to be more in the Southern states), and if you live in VA you'll see BB&T

I use Wachovia/Wells Fargo and like it. I don't have a problem finding an ATM in the area when I need it, and I also find them easily when I go visit friends/family in MD, VA, NC, NJ, or PA.

[4895jac]

I am looking for an east coast bank with coverage on Cape Cod, MA and the Venice area in Florida and not interested in Bank of America

[paytonc]

The wrinkle for you will be Cape Cod -- New England (besides Fleet/BankBoston/BofA) hasn't seen the same degree of bank consolidation that the rest of the country has. TD Bank is one of the few non-BofA banks I know of that has branches in both Massachusetts and Florida, but not Naples. They are expanding quickly, though, and may eventually open a branch there.

You may also look into joining a local credit union. Many credit unions participate in "shared branching," which allows you to do banking at other credit unions nationwide. Plus, credit unions usually have more consumer-friendly rates and fees than banks do.