Trustworthy bank in North Port area? (Sarasota, Port Charlotte: mortgage, credit, loan)

[jmqueen]

I try to avoid big national banks as much as possible, and here in CT I have accounts at a local credit union. I'm open to a bank or credit union that's fairly local and has convenient ATMs. (My credit union has one office and no ATMs, so it's a bit inconvenient in this day and age.)

Good customer service goes without saying.

Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[jmqueen]

Wow, no one likes their bank?

[nphomeowner]

Well, I have a big name bank which you said you didn't want so I didn't reply. When we moved here I also wanted a credit union but found none close by so just went with the big name.

[mr&mrssunshine]

I can heartily recommend Englewood bank, they are awesome....but not in Nopo..............if you don't mind the drive however ................

[SoFLGal]

My husband has Charlotte State Bank, which is on the boarder of North Port and Port Charlotte. He's been with them since 1992 so he must think they're OK. He doesn't do a whole lot of banking there though.

I've heard decent things about Sarasota Coastal Credit Union.

[jmqueen]

Thanks team! Much appreciated.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Hubby and I shopped 10 banks for a commercial loan. One seller gave us a list of local banks cause they were so much easier to deal with. We had been finding national banks to be rude, rigid, and frankly down right crazy in the things they were saying to us. Go local was one of the best pieces of advice we got.

We picked Insignia and have been treated with friendly, efficient, flexible consideration. Decisions are made locally instead of thousands of miles away. It is so nice to have a personal bank that it not caught up in red tape. The other bank we liked was Sabal Palm.

But neither of these are close to your location. But I think the advice is still the same--go local. Technology has reached the point that with electronic banking and sharing ATMs, it is no longer important to pick a bank that has branches all over town.

[TamRE]

I use a national bank also. They have them all over the country and when we go to NY to visit family/friends, they have them there too. Also with a national bank we don't pay any fees for checking, banking, etc. And they are less likely to go out of business or change their name, which many banks down here have done.

Credit Unions in the area:
Achieva in Venice
Sarasota Coastal is now under Achieva too

Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union - Port Charlotte

[jmqueen]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

Hubby and I shopped 10 banks for a commercial loan. One seller gave us a list of local banks cause they were so much easier to deal with. We had been finding national banks to be rude, rigid, and frankly down right crazy in the things they were saying to us. Go local was one of the best pieces of advice we got.

We picked Insignia and have been treated with friendly, efficient, flexible consideration. Decisions are made locally instead of thousands of miles away. It is so nice to have a personal bank that it not caught up in red tape. The other bank we liked was Sabal Palm.

But neither of these are close to your location. But I think the advice is still the same--go local. Technology has reached the point that with electronic banking and sharing ATMs, it is no longer important to pick a bank that has branches all over town.

True. I'm used to not having any local ATMs -- my current credit union has none. And after all we went through here with the buyer's large mortgage company being COMPLETELY inept, while the small company that swooped in to clean up their mess was OUTSTANDING, I'm really leaning local.

Also feeling burned by BofA. As TamRE says, they're everywhere, which is why I also have an account there, but boy, their customer service sucks, their lending practices are rigid and crazy as you said, and I'm just really pissed off at them.

Originally Posted by TamRE

I use a national bank also. They have them all over the country and when we go to NY to visit family/friends, they have them there too. Also with a national bank we don't pay any fees for checking, banking, etc. And they are less likely to go out of business or change their name, which many banks down here have done.

Credit Unions in the area:
Achieva in Venice
Sarasota Coastal is now under Achieva too

Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union - Port Charlotte

Thank you, TamRE. I know there are lots of advantages on both sides of the question …. but I'll probably go local at the moment, just because BofA has completely traumatized me.

[mr&mrssunshine]

hell will freeze over before I ever deal with BofA again...we even refuses to deal with buyers who have finance through them

I can use my Englewood debit card at any ATM