Dumping the BIG BANKS and joining a Credit Union/Local Community Bank

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A year and a half before the Occupy Movement, I planned to go to a Credit Union, but never got around to it, was dragging my feet.

After being a good patron and loyal customer to Big Bank, they showed me they had no loyalty to me , I am just another number.

I kinda already knew that, but they did not even pretend they were trying to assist me in MY hour of need, which was only a 3 month stint.

Only needed time to organize and straighten out some very, basic services and discrepancies and they could not even do that.

With a very high credit score, overly solvent accounts and transactions for years, etc., they showed me their true colors, in 3D.

I got everything straightened, without their help, and back to where I was.

Once I find a Credit Union to join and get accounts established, I plan to close ALL my accounts at BIG BANK and credit cards related to them, and if cost me some points on my credit score, I'll Gladly Eat It, whole, without chewing.

Then, I will may also find a local community bank, not tied or affiliated with Big Bank or ponzi scheme wall street institutions, check their rating on BankRate, and proceed.

More people, in droves, are willing to go to Credit Unions if only their freakin membership eligibility were not so tight.

Even before the year and a half of attempting to commit to joining one, I was inquiring on and off for 10 years BEFORE that of Credit Unions, but again, their memberships eligibility always slowed and delayed the commitment.

These local community banks and credit unions need to join together and have a clear to understand and comparison of their services versus the Big Boys to solicit more members, they could EASILY steal , without breaking a sweat, 40% share or more of the Big Banks monopoly of customers, and I believe I am being conservative on that percentage.

They also need to make it easier to shop and figure out which Local Bank and/or Credit Union is perfectly tailored for a particular customers needs, a clear and actionable process.


The 13th Warrior
  • Profile picture of the author The 13th Warrior
    Found this while I was looking:

    "What is a Credit Union?"

    a) "While we may look similar and offer the same products and services, there are crucial differences between credit unions and banks. The difference is in ownership, rates and in use of services."

    b) "Credit unions usually serve groups that share something in common, such as where they work, live, or go to church"

    c) "You own your credit union. Credit unions are member-owned not-for-profit financial cooperatives dedicated to improving members' lives"

    d) "Credit unions usually offer better rates. Credit unions price loans, pay interest on funds you've deposited, and charge nominal fees to provide you with high-quality, low-cost services. Banks generally price products and services to make a profit."

    e) ***"Credit unions are the only democratically controlled financial institutions in the United States. You and other members elect an unpaid volunteer board of directors to oversee the credit union."

    f) "You earn more on your savings--in some cases up to one percentage point or more--at the credit union"





    ***Funny how people talk about democracy and yet, our biggest and most powerful vote and power is where we put our money, yet, we troll along like lemmings, sleepwalking into relationships with commerce institutions that are totalitarian in nature, but we think we are doing normal, everyday, daily routines of business and errands.

    Money TALKS, both ways.

    Sort of makes you wonder what other simple, very small things we DON'T do and take for granted as everyday errands to emphasize and enforce our power.


    The 13th Warrior
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
    I bank at Chase. I have never incurred a fee. They have been responsive to my questions. I usually securely e-mail them through my online account.

    - Every Walgreens has a Chase ATM.
    - I have moved or had extended visits to 5 different cities in the Eastern US this year. No problem with banking.
    - Beginning next year I will begin extended travel outside the US. Chase has a worldwide presence.

    So far they have been an asset to me and my business.

    I may add another bank (International?) later, but as long as Chase continues to give me their current level of service, I'm staying.

    But that's just me.

    Joe Mobley
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      Good reply Joe
      I deal with the local banks myself, but not because I'm against the big banks.
      I do have my mortgage with a big bank and have had problems, but the problems where with their overseas customer service people.
      The main reason I like the smaller local banks is because I don't keep any money in the bank. I put in enough to pay my bills and make on-line purchases and that's it. In fact right now my bal. is less the $10.
      I don't think a big bank would want my business, or lack of it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
        Thank you Thom,

        I'm not really for or against any financial institution per-se. I would encourage anyone to find a bank that is a good fit for them and their lifestyle.

        Joe Mobley



        Originally Posted by ThomM View Post

        Good reply Joe
        I deal with the local banks myself, but not because I'm against the big banks.
        I do have my mortgage with a big bank and have had problems, but the problems where with their overseas customer service people.
        The main reason I like the smaller local banks is because I don't keep any money in the bank. I put in enough to pay my bills and make on-line purchases and that's it. In fact right now my bal. is less the $10.
        I don't think a big bank would want my business, or lack of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Chase is wonderful. I had a card with then and when my business was doing ok I was making $500 a month payments and my interest was set at about 10%.Of course remember this was about 2006.
    But then I got sick and made 2 payments late. My rate went from 10% to 28%.
    Screw Chase.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I've used a credit union and a regional bank for years and very happy with them.

      These local community banks and credit unions need to join together
      If they did that - wouldn't they be just another big bank?
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      • Profile picture of the author The 13th Warrior
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post


        If they did that - wouldn't they be just another big bank?

        I meant getting together as far as educating the public more clearly and getting the message out to put a dent in the Big Boys propaganda advertisement by counteracting information.

        These people being happy with banks, banks invest in more stuff to stick it to the public, leave us with the bill.

        "Well, they are screwing everyone else but they done right by me" just does not cut it.

        Hitler and Mussolini was nice ..., extremely nice and overly generous to some....., so what?


        The 13th Warrior
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    Originally Posted by The 13th Warrior View Post

    A year and a half before the Occupy Movement, I planned to go to a Credit Union, <snip>
    Good plan. Big banks are despicable looting entities.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I've been using a credit union exclusively for well over 20 years. Why do you even need a bank?
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    • Profile picture of the author mojojuju
      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      Why do you even need a bank?
      ... because when you open up an account at a major bank they'll give you a free tote bag. Did YOU get a tote bag when you signed up at your credit union? I didn't think so..

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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by mojojuju View Post

        ... because when you open up an account at a major bank they'll give you a free tote bag. Did YOU get a tote bag when you signed up at your credit union? I didn't think so..

        Nope.

        All I got was a free pair of 32 ounce insulated mugs, a free deck of cards, and later on, a free merchant account (no sign up fees, no registration fees, no set up fees, no per transaction fees).

        That, and lower interest rates somehow fooled me into being happy with that . . . but a free tote bag, dang! I don't have anything to tote, but I could have stuffed it with paper and pretended I was important!
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        • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
          Wow. Tote bags, mugs, not bad. All I got was $125, but that was over a year ago.

          I was surprised to see the promo running again. Here ya' go... 125 bucks to open a Chase account.

          https://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?...na/BankAccount

          (All that extra code is from Google, I guess.)

          Joe Mobley


          Originally Posted by mojojuju View Post

          ... because when you open up an account at a major bank they'll give you a free tote bag. Did YOU get a tote bag when you signed up at your credit union? I didn't think so..

          Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

          Nope.

          All I got was a free pair of 32 ounce insulated mugs, a free deck of cards, and later on, a free merchant account (no sign up fees, no registration fees, no set up fees, no per transaction fees).
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  • Profile picture of the author Patrician
    I had my car loan through a wonderful credit union. very low interest and long term - I finally paid the car off this year, never a late payment.

    Unfortunately they cut off the relationship when that loan was paid - (I did have a checking and savings with them but never used it because the ATMs were few and far between) -

    so whatever their group is I am not in it. no surprise.

    I have always used the ATM and POS free of charge (sometimes only because my ATM card has a Visa logo) with the Biggest Bank.

    However Biggest Bank USA is now going to add a $5 a month fee to use the ATM - still a big savings - less than 2 transaction fees at a 'foreign' ATM.

    ... I have 2 checking and an e-checking - all fee free with minimum balance and the e-checking i can't use the bank or paper anything.

    I had a regular checking for 'e-checking' before they had 'e-checking' so it worked out fine.

    In this case what I called e-checking was an account I only keep $100-200 in for online purchases/Paypal, etc.

    That way if I get hacked or whatever they can only screw me up for that much. Of course Biggest Bank refunds 100% of online fraud but it is still an uncomfortable mess to get through it all (money is back instantly but then there is red tape before it is cleared out of the system).

    The only thing that makes me want to leave the bank is that they also have my piddly (after the repression (recession/depression) what is left of my pension plan.

    Their stock was in the $70s when I got it and is now under $7 - as it looks like even the biggest can fail, I am nervous about keeping all my eggs in one basket - pension and liquid assets.

    So I am looking for another bank to put something in, just so I wouldn't be out in the cold if Biggy does fold.

    I know there is insurance but we have seen everything else break and I don't want to just trust that the FDIC won't tank if a bunch of really big banks go under at once...
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Wilkinson
    I bailed on Chase the day after they took over (kind of) WaMu. I'm now with 5th 3rd and love it. Its the 22nd largest bank but only 5% the size of BoA. The branch manager calls me by my name when I go in there. They even understand online marketing and gave me a separate checking account to attach to my Paypal account.

    Thomas
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
    US banks sound like UK and Spanish banks in that the big banks seem to have lost their identity. Whereas even 10 years ago I had a business manager assigned to my business bank account in the UK now it's pretty much computerized and no one seems to bother as long as the computer is happy with the answers. The spanish banks seem to work in the same way which is a shame.

    Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
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    "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. -- Mark Twain

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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Credit scores -- brought to you by the very people who thought up credit cards. What? No credit card? We'll never let you borrow a cent if you don't willingly submit to our credit scheme.

    I have never owned one. Will never do so. My vehicles have always been paid for in cash. I don't have bad credit. I have no credit -- and many places run from that simply to punish me for not participating in their financial take over of a population. I was fortunate enough to have had a grandfather that understood the money slavery system that FDR installed on top of us and taught me NEVER to own a credit card. He was a self-made multi-millionare and for my money was worth listening to.

    With our finances having been taken over by a corporate/gov industrial complex - it gets almost impossible to live without one sometimes - but I will never willingly participate in the usurpment of public wealth, even though I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one left.
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    Sal
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      • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
        Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

        The story said it's most likely a very temporary situation.

        TL
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        "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. -- Mark Twain

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        • Profile picture of the author The 13th Warrior
          Why give a Dragon sharper, more indestructible claws(your money)??

          He may not shred you now, but it is a plan on the table for future plans.

          The Dragon just missed with the ATM fees...,they'll plan something else, more sneaky and subtle.

          They really and truly give you nothing in return for using our money, we pay for them holding our money, making buckets off it with NO return worth mentioning.

          We are fending off more attacks and sneaky, trojan horse "fine print" policies to screw us , progressively, quietly,more and more, as much as they can get away with.

          Why wait for the next scheme?


          The 13th Warrior
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    • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      Credit scores -- brought to you by the very people who thought up credit cards. What? No credit card? We'll never let you borrow a cent if you don't willingly submit to our credit scheme.

      I have never owned one. Will never do so. My vehicles have always been paid for in cash. I don't have bad credit. I have no credit -- and many places run from that simply to punish me for not participating in their financial take over of a population. I was fortunate enough to have had a grandfather that understood the money slavery system that FDR installed on top of us and taught me NEVER to own a credit card. He was a self-made multi-millionare and for my money was worth listening to.

      With our finances having been taken over by a corporate/gov industrial complex - it gets almost impossible to live without one sometimes - but I will never willingly participate in the usurpment of public wealth, even though I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one left.
      The Fed Reserve system was put in place in 1913.

      FDR didn't come into power until 1932.

      IMHO...

      Thanks in large part to the tone & direction he pushed the county towards, after WW2, we created the largest ( in terms of raw numbers and percentage of population )...

      ... middle class in the history of the world.

      We were the first middle class nation in history.

      The situation began to slowly go south in the late 1970's and really accelerated to where we are today - in the last decade.

      That's just my humble opinion.

      TL
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      • Profile picture of the author HeySal
        Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator View Post

        The Fed Reserve system was put in place in 1913.

        FDR didn't come into power until 1932.

        IMHO...

        Thanks in large part to the tone & direction he pushed the county towards, after WW2, we created the largest ( in terms of raw numbers and percentage of population )...

        ... middle class in the history of the world.

        We were the first middle class nation in history.

        The situation began to slowly go south in the late 1970's and really accelerated to where we are today - in the last decade.

        That's just my humble opinion.

        TL
        oops - Yep, you are right. FDR was the one that bankrupted us. In the 70's they stopped backing money with metal at all - remember bills that said "silver certificate" on the bottom?
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        Sal
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        • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
          Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

          oops - Yep, you are right. FDR was the one that bankrupted us. In the 70's they stopped backing money with metal at all - remember bills that said "silver certificate" on the bottom?
          Yea, but I never said FDR bankrupted us - I said just they opposite - that FDR helped create the first middle class nation in the history of the world.

          It was Nixon that stopped us from redeeming paper notes with gold and put the dollar on a floating exchange rate.


          TL
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          • Profile picture of the author The 13th Warrior
            Why not support institutions that do more to help you?

            Why help the Big Banks?

            I'm also looking into Ooma and Magic Jack, and try to get away from monopolies as much as possible.

            I've got one of the big telephone companies, and they are consistently "sneaking" in stuff, I am going to dump them, soon, also.

            Why not REWARD companies with our dollars that don't screw us as much and save a lot of money?

            Companies that give REAL power and RETURN to its customers, instead of new policy sneak attacks?

            When some technology or company or whatever breaks the hold cable companies have, they are going to lay a painful egg.

            If I could only get Verizon Fios in my area.

            Cable and High Speed Internet is still The Big Boys game.

            Credit Unions, Small Local Banks, Magic Jack and companies like that need to be more widely well known, listed and rewarded with our patronage.

            These big monopoly companies need to come down like the Berlin Wall.

            Why add more, fresh concrete(our money), to a Berlin Wall?

            The WalMart mentality is equally our fault as it is theirs.

            The 13th Warrior
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    I have a local bank here in Colorado.

    My checking account generates interest (low amount, but I've already made nearly $50 in "free" money this year alone).

    On top of that I get ALL of my foreign ATM withdrawal fee's back. And not just the ones the bank assess me, I get the other fee back as well. To make matters even better? One of the teller's is quite cute. I'm happily satisfied with my local bank experience.

    I do have a credit card through Capital One, so I guess that is attached to a "big bank."
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    • Profile picture of the author Kurt
      Originally Posted by BloggingPro View Post

      I have a local bank here in Colorado.

      My checking account generates interest (low amount, but I've already made nearly $50 in "free" money this year alone).

      On top of that I get ALL of my foreign ATM withdrawal fee's back. And not just the ones the bank assess me, I get the other fee back as well. To make matters even better? One of the teller's is quite cute. I'm happily satisfied with my local bank experience.

      I do have a credit card through Capital One, so I guess that is attached to a "big bank."
      Hey BP...

      Which bank? I'm looking for a new bank...If you don't want to post, can you PM me the name?

      thanks...
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    Here where I live, the small "home town" banks disappeared one after another. I can't find any more

    They were all bought out by bigger banks.

    I have not been a member of a credit union since I left the Navy. Perhaps it's time to take another look...
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    • Profile picture of the author The 13th Warrior
      Originally Posted by MikeAmbrosio View Post


      Here where I live, the small "home town" banks disappeared one after another. I can't find any more

      They were all bought out by bigger banks.

      I have not been a member of a credit union since I left the Navy. Perhaps it's time to take another look...


      I think I heard on Clark Howard that the Navy Credit Union is tops, you should probably really look into it..., good , top services, so its been said of it.

      Think they got good auto insurance rates too.

      I think one should have an account at both Credit Unions and small, local community banks, just in case a Big Bank buys out the local bank, you still got the Credit Union and can transfer your money there.


      The 13th Warrior
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  • Profile picture of the author LeeLee
    I find the fees imposed by big banks somewhat amusing. I worked for a number of years in a financial capacity and I remember one boss in particular practically wetting herself when she figured out a sneaky fee she could get away with.

    I was dismayed this month when I paid my Citibank credit card. I ordered something online from a vendor in Canada and I was charged a fee for a foreign transaction. I don't recall ever seeing that before. I've seen fees associated with exchange rates but never one simply for a foreign transaction. And it amused me. I suspect my former boss now works for Citibank.

    PS - I love everything about my credit union.
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