I need a new bank

[Rookie Yinzer]

For those living in the Southeastern United States, are there any banks you would recommend?

I want nothing to do with Sun Trust, Wells Fargo or Bank of America.

[WritOfCertiorari]

Have you tried a credit union?

[Rookie Yinzer]

Have you tried a credit union?

No. I think I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

[RINO Tom]

Have you tried a credit union?

No. I think I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

*Tom pukes*

[Mr. Smith]

Why not go for something local?

[RINO Tom]

Why not go for something local?

*Tom applauds*

[Rookie Yinzer]

Have you tried a credit union?

No. I think I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

*Tom pukes*

Care to explain? I have literally no experience with banks/credit unions, etc. other than the account I got in high school when I first got a job as a teenager. I am 24 now. So I am admittedly... ignorant to the pros and cons of a credit union.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

In general, credit unions will give you the best deal, but I wouldn't recommend them if you need more than local banking services.  I'd give a shout out to TD Bank since they currently have some good offers for starting an account online if you have some cash to keep in there and can do direct deposit, but I don't think they're in Georgia, tho they are here in South Carolina.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Have you tried a credit union?

No. I think I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

*Tom pukes*

Care to explain? I have literally no experience with banks/credit unions, etc. other than the account I got in high school when I first got a job as a teenager. I am 24 now. So I am admittedly... ignorant to the pros and cons of a credit union.

They're really irritating to deal with if you aren't somewhere where they are. Unless you need a big loan, I'm a proponent of brokerage services like Fidelity in lieu of a classic bank.

[RINO Tom]

Have you tried a credit union?

No. I think I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

*Tom pukes*

Care to explain? I have literally no experience with banks/credit unions, etc. other than the account I got in high school when I first got a job as a teenager. I am 24 now. So I am admittedly... ignorant to the pros and cons of a credit union.

I am partly kidding, but as someone who works in commercial banking, I am not a fan of credit unions, specifically the big ones.  They started off with a noble cause (restricted to employees of an organization pooling together their money during the Depression, and that's why they all got non-profit status and avoided taxes), but now they've all pretty much become banks.  Anyone can "join," most don't have any connection to the original organization and yet they still get to avoid taxes (hence your "better rates," which are - by no coincidence - JUST high enough compared to area banks to make them attractive but absolutely no higher so the credit union can still make a profit, the exact thing they claim to not be interested in).  Take the following example from where I currently live, Iowa City:

The University of Iowa Community Credit Union (UICCU) is the largest credit union in Iowa, has over 3 billion in assets and has the largest market share in Johnson County.  It is being forced to change its name because it has had LITERALLY no connection to the University of Iowa for over 15 years.  They put their rates just a tad higher than local banks (when they could afford to make them absolutely insanely high but choose not to) while still raking in millions in profit.  They're at the point where they're financing things that are just straight up irresponsible for a credit union.  This is the corporate headquarters of this organization that markets itself as "for its members, unlike a for-profit bank," LOL:



Not saying there aren't good credit unions out there, but ones like UICCU need to start paying banks' taxes if they're going to effectively be banks.  Period.  For an organization like that to turn an insane profit, pay their executives a ton of money and then barely raise their rates above local banking competition to maintain a slight edge with the extra money they should be paying in taxes is just crazy, IMO.

[Mr. Smith]

Why not go for something local?

*Tom applauds*

Huh...this is unusual.

[Green Line]

BONY

[DC Al Fine]

In general, credit unions will give you the best deal, but I wouldn't recommend them if you need more than local banking services.  I'd give a shout out to TD Bank since they currently have some good offers for starting an account online if you have some cash to keep in there and can do direct deposit, but I don't think they're in Georgia, tho they are here in South Carolina.

If you are looking for nice stable Canadian banks, RBC is big in the Southeast.

[WritOfCertiorari]

I don't necessarily disagree with what Tom said. I really don't. I'll even point out two problems with credit unions. They don't have as many ATMs, meaning you have to pay the fees, and their credit cards aren't usually as good. But, for someone who is starting out and needs a bank account mostly to use for debit cards, direct deposit, maybe writing checks, there isn't anything wrong with the typical credit union.

I really like the suggestion that Mayor Bloomberg had about the brokerage accounts. Hell, you can write checks out of them, and some even have credit cards where you can do cash back and it gets deposited into your brokerage account or IRA. Some brokerages even have debit cards. Don't feel like you need to do everything in one account. It can be useful to shop for the best benefits, and cash in each account is insured up to 250k (FDIC for bank accounts/credit unions, and SIPC for brokerages).

One last thing... these cash back cards that are on the market now are interesting. I don't know if these rates will last, but I would scoop them up while you can. 3% cash back? That's pretty much free money, in my book.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Thanks for all the input. Interesting info!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I just left Wells Fargo over their activism in favour of TD Bank last week. Looking like a great decision. But I am keep the WF account just to write checks because like why should I pay for the shipping on new ones. Please! I'll just keep the minimum balance and transfer when I write one.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

In general, credit unions will give you the best deal, but I wouldn't recommend them if you need more than local banking services.  I'd give a shout out to TD Bank since they currently have some good offers for starting an account online if you have some cash to keep in there and can do direct deposit, but I don't think they're in Georgia, tho they are here in South Carolina.

If you are looking for nice stable Canadian banks, RBC is big in the Southeast.

It must be a while since you were here. RBC sold their US bank to PNC several years ago. Also they never had but a couple of branches in South Carolina and still don't.

Besides TD Bank, the other major banks with a reasonable number of branches here are Wells Fargo, BB&T, and Bank of America, tho B of A has sold off a number of the ones they had.

[Santander]

I'm a bank.