Best bank/credit union (Sarasota, Venice: mortgage, house, transfer)

[JJGittes65]

I'm looking for bank or credit union recommendations for Sarasota, and particularly the Venice area.

Achieva seems to have a lot of branches. I'm looking for good service, low fees, and accessibility. Thanks

[K_geroud]

They're all pretty bad, whether Bank of America, or especially clowns they hire at JP MORGAN CHASE. The CU's are more responsive no doubt. The only regional bank that is reasonably competent around here is Iberia (as long as they don't have many hold-overs from Orion...lol)

[sware2cod]

I am happy with Achieva. Their branches are open on Saturdays which can come in handy.

[jean_ji]

We joined Acheiva and have been very happy with them. We still have a credit uiion we joined over 35 years ago in Indiana, we got our mortgage through them. They had the best rate at the time and could cross state lines, unlike our savings bank in NY.

I think there was a rocky period with less satisfaction when Acheiva took over Calusa Bank. I had read that in earlier reviews. It's unusual for a CU to acquire a bank.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by K_geroud

They're all pretty bad, whether Bank of America, or especially clowns they hire at JP MORGAN CHASE. The CU's are more responsive no doubt. The only regional bank that is reasonably competent around here is Iberia (as long as they don't have many hold-overs from Orion...lol)

Iberia is not a local bank, although they did take over a regional bank. Their main headquarters is in Louisiana.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Recently my Bank of America branch closed their drive-thru - which is very annoying because it was so convenient and worked well when I had my dog with me - they seem to offer less and less

[MattMN]

My wife opened a business account with Capital Bank in Venice. They are a regional bank. She likes them - very personal and friendly. Looks like they have 3 locations around Venice but none in Sarasota, and hours are only M-F.

When we moved here, I just transferred everything to an online bank (I picked Radius, but Ally also looks good) because the rates are so much better. It's gone pretty well, but I can understand wanting to bank locally. If it were up to me, I'd just choose whomever was closest to my house not named Wells Fargo, but certainly it depends how you want to use them.

[RThiede]

MattMN

Capital Bank in Venice was a smaller local bank, i.e. only in Florida with about 3 branches. It was PURCHASED this year by FIRST HORIZON CORPORATION, which was formerly called First Tennessee Bank based in Memphis TN. First TN now named First Horizon is a powerhouse of a REGIONAL bank. I know what I'm talking about, I have worked with the current CEO and many of the senior executives in Memphis. Capital Bank in Venice was permitted to keep using its previous name as a local FL bank but it is now part of a pretty strong truly "regional bank" and corporation named "First Horizon".

Your wife's business account is not with a local Venice Bank anymore. If they told her they are still "local", they are misrepresenting the truth, or the employees are too dumb to understand who owns them and who they work for.

[MattMN]

Originally Posted by RThiede

Your wife's business account is not with a local Venice Bank anymore. If they told her they are still "local", they are misrepresenting the truth, or the employees are too dumb to understand who own them and who they work for.

Great info. Yep, think I saw something about them being bought. I don't have a problem with that personally.

I don't think I implied they were misrepresenting themselves in any way, and in fact my post actually called them "regional," not local. But the people in the branch were friendly, personable, and helpful, and continue to be so. She's only been with them about 6 months.

When I said "I can understand wanting to bank locally," I just meant I can see why some people prefer to have a bank with local branches (regardless of ownership) vs. an online-only bank.

[MyITGuy]

If you don't have a need to deposit cash, then check out Charles Schwab.

Checks can be deposited via phone (Initially 2,500 limit per day but can be increased easily), otherwise you can get free envelopes/deposit slips to mail off to the processing center.

Any ATM fees charged by the operator are automatically refunded when your statement is generated.

No minimum deposit/balance requirements (Must be linked to a brokerage account, but again no minimum deposit/balance requirements).

Customer Service has always been easy to reach and resolved any issues quickly.

And I still earn interest (Chump change at 0.15%, but something is better than nothing)