Recommendation: Banking (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga: co-op, credit, loans)

[Leilanio]

Hi! So after four years of back and forth searching and exploring in our TN travels we are in escrow to get our retirement property. As this forum was a wealth of info I am seeking opinions for a local bank in which to open our accounts. What do you recommend and why? Thanks

[Jumeby]

I look at the financial health ratings including annual financial reports of financial institutions first then I look at services offered and customer services ratings. I also looked for a bank or credit union that provides a national CO-OP network where I can transfer funds between existing accounts at other financial institutions. After the 2008 financial crisis and now the national economic shut-downs due to Covid-19, some financial institutions are not financially healthy so it's important to research this information.

[JRR]

We mainly deal with American Bank & Trust of the Cumberlands. Really nice people who are easy to work with.

[Leilanio]

Thank you both....I did check out the ratings and it was apparent there are only a few that stood out as pretty secure but I also wanted to know about customer service and not being nickel and dimes over everything. Thanks both of you. I appreciate the input.

[Bamaman1]

I suggest you waiting until you move and then find the bank that's closest to your home.

The city has a couple of big banks like Regions and First Horizon, and a bunch of local banks I've never heard of.

I try to bank at credit unions, but only if they have a good computer system with bill pay.

[scorpsman]

We moved from Texas a few years ago. We loved our credit union there. Still have that account open. We were looking for a credit union that had a similar offering of free checking with interest bearing on the balance if you use a debit card X times a month, have direct deposit, e-delivery of statements, etc. We couldn't find that in the 2 local credit unions we tried: The Tennessee Credit Union and Ascend Federal Credit Union.

We tried TTCU first, and they were very friendly and mostly OK. Not many fees. They recently upgraded their online banking presence and it was a mess. So many bugs and mistakes even after months with the online banking, that we got fed up and closed our accounts.

Ascend FCU was OK too, but too many fees for things that we though shouldn't be fees. It felt too much like a bank. People were friendly however. We closed our account in 6 months time.

We finally found what we were looking for at Wilson Bank and Trust. They have a Kazaa checking that is the same as our old CU in Texas. Free checking with interest if you meet the monthly qualifications. They even had a promotion of free $400 when you open an account and keep it open for at least 3 months. We are happy with them so far.

It seems like many people have different banking needs and wants, so do a thorough search and hopefully you will find what you need / want. I hope this was helpful, and welcome to the area.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Bamaman1

I suggest you waiting until you move and then find the bank that's closest to your home.

The city has a couple of big banks like Regions and First Horizon, and a bunch of local banks I've never heard of.

I try to bank at credit unions, but only if they have a good computer system with bill pay.

There are a bunch of banks in Cookeville, that's for sure. Here they are with their local deposits as of 2019, the latest year available:

Bank...HQ city...local branches...local deposits (x $1000)
One Bank...Cookeville...6...344,488
First Horizon...Memphis...2...314,993
Regions Bank...Birmingham...4...300,240
First National Bank...Livingston...2...232,493
SouthEast Bank...Knoxville...2...195,910
American Bank and Trust...Livingston...2...121,325
Putnam 1st Mercantile Bank...Cookeville...3...108,105
Wilson Bank and Trust...Lebanon...1...98,126
First Freedom Bank...Lebanon...2...75,615
US Bank...Cincinnati...2...64,450
F&M Bank...Clarksville...1...58,671
First Volunteer Bank...Chattanooga...2...57,218
Citizens Bank...Carthage...1...51,921
Smart Bank...Knoxville...1...40,900
FirstBank...Nashville...1...36,647
FSNB...Lawton OK...1...1,569 (this is the "Walmart Bank")
TOTAL...33 bank branches, 2,102,671 in deposits (14th in the state)

For credit unions, I don't have time right now to look up their local deposit information, but here's a list of the ones with branches in Cookeville:

Ascend Federal Credit Union (1 Cookeville branch, HQ in Tullahoma, $2,703,643,545 in deposits)
Middle Tennessee Federal Credit Union (3 Cookeville branches, HQ in Cookeville, $41,078,138 in deposits)
The Tennessee Credit Union (1 Cookeville branch, HQ in Nashville, $334,697,637 in deposits)
Upper Cumberland Federal Credit Union (1 Cookeville branch, HQ in Crosvillle, $77,984,622 in deposits)

[Jumeby]

Some credit unions cater more toward certain occupations. TTCU is an example where it caters or initially catered toward education occupations. My thinking is that teachers probably have pretty good job security so the customer base it pretty secure.



As someone mentioned, TTCU did upgrade the website interface and it did have a few bugs initially but those were all fixed fairly quickly and no longer an issue today.

[justindb29]

I'm from East Tennessee so my wife and I settled on SouthEast Bank when we left the big banks behind. They have branches in East Tennessee if I am there, and they use the AllPoint ATM network so I can withdraw cash from any of those ATMs around the country for no fees. My accounts don't cost anything and I don't usually incur any unusual fees



I use the 10th St location and most of the staff call me by name, every time, even though I don't go by the bank too often.



I use Middle Tennessee FCU for loans.

[Leilanio]

Originally Posted by scorpsman

We moved from Texas a few years ago. We loved our credit union there. Still have that account open. We were looking for a credit union that had a similar offering of free checking with interest bearing on the balance if you use a debit card X times a month, have direct deposit, e-delivery of statements, etc. We couldn't find that in the 2 local credit unions we tried: The Tennessee Credit Union and Ascend Federal Credit Union.

We tried TTCU first, and they were very friendly and mostly OK. Not many fees. They recently upgraded their online banking presence and it was a mess. So many bugs and mistakes even after months with the online banking, that we got fed up and closed our accounts.

Ascend FCU was OK too, but too many fees for things that we though shouldn't be fees. It felt too much like a bank. People were friendly however. We closed our account in 6 months time.

We finally found what we were looking for at Wilson Bank and Trust. They have a Kazaa checking that is the same as our old CU in Texas. Free checking with interest if you meet the monthly qualifications. They even had a promotion of free $400 when you open an account and keep it open for at least 3 months. We are happy with them so far.

It seems like many people have different banking needs and wants, so do a thorough search and hopefully you will find what you need / want. I hope this was helpful, and welcome to the area.

Thank you for your input. This is helpful. And for the warm welcome. We are so ready to start this next journey! We will most likely keep at least one of our accounts out here since it is free everything with my husband being former military, but we do need a local one for ease of banking needs for non-online matters. Thanks again