Chase Banks are popping up everywhere. Any reason to switch? (Boston: flat fee, mortgage)

[bostonguy1960]

Obviously, it's from the New York City area, and I believe has been a staple in that region almost forever.

But the Boston area hadn't seen any until just a few years ago.

Now my North Quincy location has just opened, replacing a gas station; and TD Bank opened across the street only three years ago, also replacing a gas station. Webster Bank closed nearby.

Normally I don't think many of us want two new banks, opposite each other, in our community but they sure beat having gas stations around when there's still a Speedway down the street.

Anybody recommend Chase over whatever bank they've had locally? I don't have much money to invest now, so I wouldn't be using their investment services and frankly know little about money, which is shameful. If I did want to open a small investment account when I'm more financially stable, hopefully later this year, is a bank any different than Fidelity, Putnam, etc.? Any reason to choose one over the other?

[massnative71]

I've seen some pretty competitive high yield savings accounts there. Not sure how that would work with these online accounts, but the idea of having a local branch alongside that is attractive if you could access that money in person.


I've never heard of anybody investing through them, or know anything about what kind of services they offer.

[bostongymjunkie]

They were recently offering $300 to open a checking and another $200 opening a companion savings with minimum of 15K if you keep it open for a minimum amount of time. If you want an easy $500, it may be worth it. You can always close it if you don't want it after. Their savings rates suck just like other big banks. Even the best savings rates right now are less than 1%. The service tends to be better than average if you need to go into a branch. I'm not a fan of big globalist banks, but I will take their money.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Their savings rates suck just like other big banks. Even the best savings rates right now are less than 1%.

You're right I must have been thinking of Citi. But all of them are in the toilet right now.

[Igor Blevin]

Chase is generally ranked very highly by customer reviews.

If I had Chase Banks where I currently live, I would definitely be a customer. If Boston is getting more Chase branches, consider yourself lucky.

Hopefully they are not expanding too quickly so as to lose their fine service.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by massnative71

You're right I must have been thinking of Citi. But all of them are in the toilet right now.

Yes, Citi was one of the banks that had an online savings offering better-than-average rates.

[id77]

They have good mortgage rates and credit cards. In-branch service is also good.

I wouldn't run to them for just a checking/savings accounts as, unless you plan to park CPC amounts of money with them, they're nothing to write home about. If you do have a mortgage and/or credit card with them, then the checking can also be good as they tend to occasionally incentivize you to use it to make payments to the card and mortgage.

Locally (sort of), I still use DCU as primary checking and savings for the first $1,000. Surprisingly, their Earn More (dividend) checking is among the highest rates out there right now, and even beats their savings once you hit the $1,000 for their 6%. Since they reimburse ATM fees, I don't even care that the nearest branch to me is 30+ minutes away.

[jayrandom]

They're a bank. We had our mortgage with Chase until we refinanced last year and my wife has a credit card account. I wouldn't warn you away from them and it's probably a fine-enough place to have an account, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to switch unless I were having an issue with my current bank.

[CaseyB]

When we had a mortgage on the house it was through Chase. They were fine.

We have our current savings and checking through TD Bank. Their customer service is really good.

We also have an investment account through them but mostly use Fidelity and a couple of others.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

If I did want to open a small investment account when I'm more financially stable, hopefully later this year, is a bank any different than Fidelity, Putnam, etc.? Any reason to choose one over the other?

Chase's investing platform is not too different from other self-directed places like E*Trade, Schwab, Fidelity, Merrill, Vanguard. I'm not sure where you're getting Putnam from but I would advise you staying away from places like that who are investment managers (and there are plenty in Boston). They charge high fees or have investment minimums or both.

If you need help with financial matters and don't mind doing a bit of learning, I suggest looking up the Bogleheads forum. If you do decide on looking for an advisor, look for someone who is "fee-only" (flat fee for advice) as opposed to "fee-based" (charges % of assets under management).