Best bank(s) and FCU(s) in the area? (Pittsburgh: home equity, home)

[Bizarbus]

I'm from New York, recently moved to Pittsburgh (been living in the North Hills for a little over a week now...), and I need to switch banks. Apparently, Bank of America doesn't really exist here.

I'm not sure whether I want to open a single account somewhere or whether I want both an account at a FCU and at a major banks. For major banks I was looking at PNC, Dollar Bank, and Huntington Bank. For FCUs, I was looking at Pittsburgh, Greater Pittsburgh, and Central Pittsburgh. Any advice or experience with these (or other) banks would be greatly appreciated. I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

[Blackbeauty212]

PNC and Citizens are going to be your most convenient with ATMs and Branches...PNC has the area saturated in ATMs, Citizens has the Giant Eagles on lockdown, where ever a GE there's Citizens....

Dollar is the most consumer friendly bank....mean they dont play alot of games and are very straight forward, this is the bank I had before I left the burgh and loved them...but you will sacrifice convenience.

EDIT: I will also add that PNC is probably the more e-centric (ATMs, Online Banking, E-Bill Pay, Mobile Apps, etc) bank of the major pittsburgh banks...they have nothing on BofA who i use but their pretty good....

[onepoint]

I suppose it safe to say you can't really go wrong with PNC. Their Virtual Wallet service actually provides three separate accounts, with one being a 1.10% interest money market savings (not a 90-day promo rate). That's tough to beat right now.

[greg42]

If you're a heavy debit card user Dollar's free money checking pays you a dime every time you use your debit card (signature, not PIN-based), plus a nickel for every online banking payment. Dunno if the others do that, maybe they do. Also, in my experience, Dollar's online banking is more straightforward in telling you what's going to happen and how it works (i.e. how many days it takes the payment, etc.) compared to some others, although maybe others have caught up by now. With this account Dollar never charges you for ATM use, and it's not that hard to find what is a surcharge-free ATM for Dollar (doesn't need to be just a Dollar location, even around here there are others that fill in the gaps via Freedom ATM Alliance and Allpoint) although it's true they're not as plentiful as a Citizens or PNC. Generally it's just your luck the closest one is the wrong one anyway. ;-)

Dollar is more consumer friendly for a large bank. Unlike PNC for example, Dollar is mutually owned, no stock price to answer to every day, etc. But it's still a large bank. Sometimes you need an even smaller bank to be more aggressive. I'm closing on a home equity line tomorrow from Parkvale after Dollar was useless for that in my case. Even at work we finally needed a more aggressive bank than Dollar and switched. And the company owner had been fiercely loyal to Dollar for years. But for personal checking, I still think it works well.

If you know you'll be traveling frequently to an area where one of the banks operates (Ohio for Huntington, DC for PNC, Citizens for Philly/Boston, etc.) then that may sway your decision I suppose. Or, look at what is most convenient near home, office and/or where you shop most. For example, Dollar is actually good for me for near the office and near home/nearby shopping. But PNC or Citizens would work equally well, I suppose, by that criteria, in my case.

[raubre]

I belong to Dollar Bank and have no problems with them. There is a branch in McIntyre Square (McKnight Road.)

[PreservationPioneer]

I also have Dollar Bank and recommend it.

[John Dark]

Parkvale has always treated me right.

[mthomas184]

Originally Posted by onepoint

I suppose it safe to say you can't really go wrong with PNC. Their Virtual Wallet service actually provides three separate accounts, with one being a 1.10% interest money market savings (not a 90-day promo rate). That's tough to beat right now.

I currently use the Virtual Wallet and I must say, i am EXTREMELY happy with it. I used to belong to Citizens, Dollar and Parkvale before I settled with PNC. Never an issue with them

[Bizarbus]

The 1.1% interest money market account from PNC sounds excellent, but so does the $.10 / $.05 cash back rewards from dollar bank... I'm not sure which I'm going with yet.

My first big pay comes next friday, so I would like to figure it out by then.

[Benzman66]

BOA all the way!
There are full service branches here in Lancaster. Can't beat them for service and products. They are still working on moving branches into PA slowly.
BOA does have THEIR OWN ATMs in all Simon managed malls which include Ross Park, Century 3, and South Hills Village in Pittsburgh (some kind of agreement BOA has with Simon). They do not accept deposits at those ATMs, but you can still make no fee withdrawals, transfers, etc, so if you live in Pgh, you have to mail in deposits to Florida bank by mail address or have direct deposit, but as far as withdrawing, no problems at all.