Banking

[WaywardWaylander]

I currently bank with Wells Fargo. Looking at their location map, they have locations in all but 10 of the lower 48 states plus Alaska.

 

I'm curious as to where current Full Time RVers bank. I'm considering a move to an online bank or a credit union, but I can't overlook the nearly nation-wide location coverage of my current bank.

 

So... Where do you bank, and why? If you don't mind me ask'n...

[youngfulltimers]

We still use our federal credit union from Austin TX. They have partner credit unions all over the country, so we can deposit/withdraw money as needed from those branches. They also have ATM fee reimbursals, so there really was no reason to switch.

[pkeeffe]

We have been on the road almost 4 years. We have done all our banking at Wells Fargo with no problem. Most of our tranactions are online except an occasional stop at Wells Fargo to get cash.

[Jim & Alice]

Alliant Credit Union has performed well for us on the road. We use it for pension & SS deposits, debit card, ATM, and HSA activity. Their on-line services are excellent.

[Vladimir]

Credit Union plus Wal-Mart and Safeway. You get better service from a credit union on the phone than being physically present at a money center bank.

 

Our primary credit union is 200 miles from we live now. We have NEVER lived in Spokane, but always within a couple of hundred miles. We are coming up on our 40th anniversity with them in a couple of years.

 

You don't need a bank unless you like a place where you can stand in line!!

 

PS. Be careful about Ally Bank.

 

They are the old General Motors Acceptance Corporation which financed auto's for GM. During the financial meltdown they "became" a bank so that could qualify for the Federal bailout of banks. This was separate from the bailout of GM.

 

I got a small car loan from them and wanted to get a print out of interest and principal payment amounts. They told me to calculate on my own!! I said fine. I assume that you will use MY payment schedule.

[gjhunter01]

We use Bank Of America. The plus being branches all over the US, you can have a savings account with BOA and transfer funds for CC payment, cash back points which can amount to a couple hundred $$ rebate per year. The cons are they are a large non consumer friendly bank. We had our account compromised three times last year and was cancelled mid travel once. They instantly shut off the account leaving me standing at the fuel pump and then want to mail you a new card which is a problem when travelling.

We asked if a new card could be sent to a nearby branch, BOA said they couldn't send cards to branches anymore????? We had to make arrangements with a CG 3 days out and it worked out OK. But couldn't get BOA to help or budge in any way and I told them I was so close to cancelling the accounts and walking, they didn't care. Strangely, we are still with them, but looking elsewhere. We maybe go to a branch office once a year.

Greg

[nana25k]

Doesn't matter what bank you chose. Go for customer service. We use same small bank we always use, never set foot in it anymore. If I need to derpisit a check I just mail it to them. Cash comes from WalMart or other grocery stores

[Biker56]

Bank Of America used for Debit card, Checking, MM and CC card with 3% Gas/Fuel, 2% Grocery's 1% everything else.

But last time I was in one of their branches/banks was a few years ago. Any check deposits done with my iPhone.

 

Get all my cash from Walmart when needed with BA Debit card.

Never had a account account compromised with them. But have had that happen twice with Discovery CC.

 

Also have no CD's with BA. They are cheap on interest rates and I have my CD's with Discovery Bank, Key National(also CK, MM Debit, Credit) and Salin Banks that have higher rates.

[Big Greg]

We don't have a bank and see no need for one, haven't used one or an ATM in over 9 years. We use Fidelity. If we need cash we use the debit card at a Wal-Mart or grocery store. Everything is done online. Greg

[Kiltedpig]

Have BofA and have had my card compromised a few times. I called them and they said to go to the nearest branch and they would give me a replacement card. I also had them e-mail me when they cut off the card if compromised so i have a heads up before I use it and get denied. So far no problems.

[Vladimir]

There is one major advantage to our credit union.

 

Why you call the 800 number with a question, even on the VISA card, a person in Spokane answers. That is worth a lot.

[scouserl41]

This is from our direct experience.

We have a credit union account on the west coast from when we lived there.

We also have a bank account with a bank exclusively on the east coast from when we lived there.

We considered closing one when we went full time but it got put off for a while.

 

Last year while looking at our accounts online I noticed a withdrawal from the east coast account that neither of us recognized. I called the bank and they said 2 more had been made in the meantime. Somebody had hacked our account!

The bank jumped on it and froze the account, they moved what was in it to our savings account.

Unfortunately to reinstate the account we have to visit a branch of the bank and we won't be near one until June.

 

Fortunately we still had the West coast account and rearranged all the standing orders, pension payments etc into it.

 

As a result of this I would recommend:

Firstly a credit union which should be associated with other credit unions nationwide for fee free cash withdrawals.

Secondly a second bank account at a major bank "just in case".

 

If we hadn't had the second account with the credit union we'd have been hurting.

 

BnB

[sandsys]

USAA Bank in San Antonio, TX. We have never been there. We do everything online or by phone. Used to use mail, too, but with photo deposit of checks now we don't even use that. We get cash using a debit card at Walmart or a local bank's drive-though. The last time we actually went into a bank it was to get a signature notorized and that was prior to going full-time in 2008.

 

Linda Sand

[JRP]

I was with Wells Fargo for 30 yrs before retirement and saw no reason to change when fulltiming. If you set things up using direct deposits, electronic transfers, online bill payments, and ATM cash back wherever you shop, you have no need for physical branches. I haven't been inside a real bank branch in several years.

 

 

 

I currently bank with Wells Fargo. Looking at their location map, they have locations in all but 10 of the lower 48 states plus Alaska.

 

I'm curious as to where current Full Time RVers bank. I'm considering a move to an online bank or a credit union, but I can't overlook the nearly nation-wide location coverage of my current bank.

 

So... Where do you bank, and why? If you don't mind me ask'n...

[2gypsies]

We don't have a bank and see no need for one, haven't used one or an ATM in over 9 years. We use Fidelity. If we need cash we use the debit card at a Wal-Mart or grocery store. Everything is done online. Greg

This is our way, too!

[Dutch_12078]

We handle about 90% of our banking online through the PenFed Credit Union, although we do maintain a small account at a regional bank near our vacation cottage that we use for some online purchases, transferring money in as needed from PenFed. As best I recall, the only time we've been in a sticks & bricks bank since I retired 11 years ago, has been to "buy" some gift quality bills for birthday cards and such. That we could do at pretty much any brand of land based bank. I think my wife might have stopped in once to get something notarized as well. Another thing that could be done many other places besides our own bank. As others have said, grocery stores, Walmart, etc, serves us well for pocket cash replenishment using our debit cards. The occasional paper checks we receive are photo deposited with either PenFed or our regional bank.

[Zulu]

So... Where do you bank, and why? If you don't mind me ask'n...

 

Wells Fargo

[vermilye]

I have a credit card & checking account at Capital One. The credit card provides 1 1/2% cash back on all purchases, no surcharge for Canadian purchases (and a good exchange rate) and the checking account reimburses all ATM withdrawal fees and pays a better than average interest on funds in the account and does not charge any fees even without a direct deposit.

 

Since I already had set up on line bill paying through my home town bank, I still use them for that.

[theboondork]

Wells Fargo. Their online service is easy to use, and when you do need some personal service, you can find a bank almost anywhere.

[LFDR3116]

We use the credit union we had before going full-time. 98% of our business is done online. Once in awhile we have a check and we just mail it to deposit it. Even collected rent from our tenant by electronic deposit into an account set up just for the rent at the same credit union. I could then access all accounts online and move money as needed. We use our debit card and get cash back if needed when shopping at Walmart or other grocery stores - beware - some places like Dollar General or Family Dollar charge a fee to get cash back. We have most things auto deposited and use the online bill pay for any payments we need to make

[Kirk W]

We have been with Wells Fargo since well before we went on the road and we still are. Any bank that has online banking will work just fine. With a debit card you can get cash at any grocery, Walmart, or chain store pretty much anywhere. As mentioned before, if you do happen to use an ATM, Wells-Fargo will refund the fee that ATM charges you. We rarely have that need but did use a "foreign" ATM just a couple of weeks ago and the fees are still refunded.

[SWharton]

We ended up with BOFA since they took over Merrill Lynch. Haven't had any problems, service(when compromised) has been great. We only go to them about once ever 3-4 months(ATM) to get a chunk of cash. Deposits are made automatically or by phone. All our bills are deducted each month.

[WaywardWaylander]

This is pretty much the response I was expecting. Looks like there's no one right way to do banking when full-timing, just what's right for each situation. Good to know.

[Kirk W]

As long as your bank is happy with the mail service address and supplies both internet banking and debit card service, it really isn't a big issue today. I continue to bank in the place that we started before going on the road, even though I now have a home-base once more and it isn't located near that physical office. Our bank does have branches, like most do but the nearest to us is nearly an hour away but with deposit by phone app, as Wells-Fargo and many others now have, there is no need to visit a physical branch.

[Aggie79-82a]

We would use an online bank for everything BUT getting actual cash is limited to your ATM card daily amount. Sometime we need more cash than the ATM card limits will allow. This is the only reason we use Wells Fargo. Sometimes, cash is still the king.