Great Local Banks (Minneapolis, Wells: credit card, purchases, cost)

[buckeyechick]

Hey All, I'm moving from Columbus to Minneapolis soon. So I decided I'll need to change my brick and mortar bank as they don't have Chase Bank there. I decided on US Bank. Big mistake, this is my fault for not realizing they charge a $.25 fee for using your dang check card with a PIN to make purchases and charge a $2.50 fee for checking your balances. I should have read the fine print. But now that I know, I don't want them as a bank anymore. I do have an account with ING for the last 10 years, I love them. But I need a brick and mortar bank too. Any suggestions? I'm open to credit unions too. Thanks for the tips!

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by buckeyechick

Hey All, I'm moving from Columbus to Minneapolis soon. So I decided I'll need to change my brick and mortar bank as they don't have Chase Bank there. I decided on US Bank. Big mistake, this is my fault for not realizing they charge a $.25 fee for using your dang check card with a PIN to make purchases and charge a $2.50 fee for checking your balances. I should have read the fine print. But now that I know, I don't want them as a bank anymore. I do have an account with ING for the last 10 years, I love them. But I need a brick and mortar bank too. Any suggestions? I'm open to credit unions too. Thanks for the tips!

Honestly I think banks and credit unions are as individual as every human. Some really like the one they use and will refer others to that particular institution. There is always a chance that the one being referred is not happy with the services offered or the customer service. We have had the same bank for 8 years now and absolutely love them, that being said a friend of ours that we referred to our bank did not like them so much and after about a year they changed to a different bank and loved it. Unfortunately it really is a personal choice because of all the differences each human has within their financial wants and needs. I do hope you find a financial institution that you love, best of luck to you.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by buckeyechick

Hey All, I'm moving from Columbus to Minneapolis soon. So I decided I'll need to change my brick and mortar bank as they don't have Chase Bank there. I decided on US Bank. Big mistake, this is my fault for not realizing they charge a $.25 fee for using your dang check card with a PIN to make purchases and charge a $2.50 fee for checking your balances. I should have read the fine print. But now that I know, I don't want them as a bank anymore. I do have an account with ING for the last 10 years, I love them. But I need a brick and mortar bank too. Any suggestions? I'm open to credit unions too. Thanks for the tips!

yeah, opt for a no fee account at US Bank

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by buckeyechick

Hey All, I'm moving from Columbus to Minneapolis soon. So I decided I'll need to change my brick and mortar bank as they don't have Chase Bank there. I decided on US Bank. Big mistake, this is my fault for not realizing they charge a $.25 fee for using your dang check card with a PIN to make purchases and charge a $2.50 fee for checking your balances. I should have read the fine print. But now that I know, I don't want them as a bank anymore. I do have an account with ING for the last 10 years, I love them. But I need a brick and mortar bank too. Any suggestions? I'm open to credit unions too. Thanks for the tips!

In general, you will probably notice that fees are on the increase across the board. Most banks have things structured so if you have enough business with them, you don't get hit with fees so hard. The debit card thing is really not used in this region very much, most use the debit card as credit and that avoids the fee and need for a PIN. I don't see a real advantage of using debit as a debit card myself, but I may be missing something there.

My bank has no fee for its own ATM and will refund me up to 8 fees from foreign ATM per month. As far as checking balance, I use a smart phone app for that, and it is free. I can't speak to other banks apps, but I have a droid phone and the app works very well.

There are a lot of small banks around as well as the big ones - US Bank has a decent reputation. Wells Fargo is pretty much nation wide now, and TCF is fairly large here but carries a rep for preying on low end customers with high fees and such.

I would say make sure you get a credit card with decent rate like 7% or so. That right there can cost you way more than all the other fees if you get jacked for 15% or more. Small banks can be great, but ATM networks are not as good. I am pretty happy with Wells Fargo, but I am sure you will find that every bank has fans and non fans.

[Laggard]

I have never heard anything good about TCF.

[buckeyechick]

Thank you for all the helpful tips. You're right, I just need to read all my paperwork, I'm doing that later today and look at ways to avoid fees. I like using a debit card because the money is removed immediately instead of having pending transactions. Now that I know I'm being charged a fee for that then, I'll obviously quit if I stay with them. Probably won't be worth the hassle to switch.

[knke0204]

I like Highland Banks, there's only a handful of locations however. They are nice, never crowded, quick, convenient and free.

[daboywonder2002]

ive been with us bank since i moved to minnesota a year ago. i have nothing negative to say about them

[MnMomma]

I bank with Endura Financial Credit Union. If you have direct deposit and use a debit card, they refund fees and you earn interest on your checking account. They only have a few branches (but have reciprocity agreements with some other credit unions). I've heard good things about Wings as well. I was very happy to leave Wells Fargo and TCF behind.

[Beenhere4ever]

Two banks I like best are Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union and Park Midway Bank. In both cases, they've seemed standup people without the borderline fraud that seems to be spreading. I was at Associated Bank, but they started acting like a "big bank", and when I complained, they said "Oh, everyone is doing it". Well, I didn't want to bank with "everyone". They were the former Liberty State Bank. But management made decisions that seemed an attempt to emulate Wells Fargo, US Bank, and Bank of America.

So I strongly recommend going for a community bank. There is a revolt against nationwide banks, and community banks are deserving beneficiaries of that.