credit union VS big bank (pay, rent, rates, deposit)

[Bettafish]

I've been using a credit union since I was in college.
Now I've moved to another city to work and thinking about creating a new account in Bank of America, or not.

CUs are small and do not have branches everywhere. However, many of them cooperate now and I can actually do almost everything at the local CUs here with my account. My CU reimburses ATM fees too, so that is not a problem.

Is there any big advantage to use a bigger bank?

[crescent22]

More complete on-line presence for bill pay, etc.

One-stop shopping if you want wealth management or a lot of mortgage options.

That's about it.

[bUU]

We just closed our accounts at Bank of America: They never expressed any interest in offering us reasonable mortgage rates, either when we moved or the two times we refinanced. They did offer wealth management services for a substantial and unjustifiable fee. They did have superior bill pay services - one of the few that allowed me to continue to use Quicken Bill Pay on their dime - but that benefit is balanced by other bill pay services being completely online, and therefore accessible without having to boot up software on a computer sitting in my home.

They did offer us the opportunity to keep an ungodly sum of money in a savings account making 0.01% for the privilege of them not charging us a ridiculous monthly fee. (I'm a little bitter - can you tell?)

Anyway, we went the route of having three separate banks, each one doing what it does best, rather than trying to find one bank that does it all. So we have savings at an online bank; checking and free, nationwide ATM withdrawals through our brokerage; and an account with $5 in it at a local co-op bank, simply to make ATM deposits (which then get swept via ACH transfer to the savings account) and for the occasional cashier's check we might need (funding it through an ACH transfer from savings, done a few days earlier).

[selhars]

I, too, have more than one financial services provider.

I'm with one national bank -- because it's big in my area with a lot of branches and ATMS.

I'm with an out of state credit union and for better rates and service.

[moved]

I also have three banks. A checking account with a large national bank (free) across the street from where I live that I mainly use for paying my rent (landlord sits on the rent check for 1 1/2 weeks); a savings account at USAA that has very little in it; and a checking account at a credit union that gets all my direct deposits, and I use it for everything else.

Any checks that I get, I deposit them into the credit union account with my SmartPhone, and the regular bank charges $.50 per transaction (I never use it). I rarely go into the bank anymore.

When I need cash, I get cash back when I shop, or go to a 7-11 since the credit union is on the co-op network.

[NJBest]

I have one large bank and one credit union. The credit union has perks (in terms of loans and insurance) but the large bank has it's own perks such as free ATM usage, better investment options, etc.

I have a small bank as well, but don't use it much. It was the first bank account I had and just have held onto it.

[ragnarkar]

I mainly use my credit union..

Since I pay for everything using credit whenever it's accepted, I rarely need to go to an ATM.

I also have a big bank account: an ING Direct online account. The only "perk" to this one is the feature to deposit checks via smartphone.

[Dennis P]

I do my banking with two large credit unions, both of which offer check deposits using your Smartphone.

I did have an account with a large bank at one time but closed it out when they started charging fees for checking accounts unless you had direct deposit or kept at least $1,500 balance each month. Banks seem to find sneaky ways to charge fees. I prefer using credit unions for their better service and wider availability of surcharge-free ATMs through the Co-Op Network.

[earlyretirement]

Personally although I do think having at least one account with a credit union is smart and having a good relationship with a credit union is very wise, I also enjoy banking relationships with the bigger national banks.

I think people make too big of a deal or exaggerate how bad these "big banks" are. Most of them, you can avoid monthly surcharges with a minimal account balance or setting up direct deposit or other things.

There are a lot of benefits of the major banks including having a really wide network of ATM's not only in your same city but when you travel or happen to be in another city. Sure there are a few credit unions that might rebate a few per month but I've always found it convenient to be in any city in the USA for the most part and being able to walk into a branch.

Also, there are some services that I utilize like having a public notary free at my bank, etc. I don't really use branches too much at all since it's all online these days. But something else nice since I have rental properties is being able to have them available for tenants to easily pay no matter where they happen to be.

I think the major banks take a lot of flack but they aren't as bad as people make them out to be.

[MrWillys]

I get 1.8% on my checking at a credit union. I also keep a US bank acount for travel purposes.