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I had First Union. First Union was bought out by Wachovia so now I have Wachovia! Wachovia has been bought out by Wells Fargo so soon enough, I'll have Wells Fargo!
In all those years, I've been very satisfied with my banking; however, I've never gotten a car loan or a mortgage loan with my bank because I always found their rates were not that great.
I'm also a member of NC State Empolyees Credit Union (NCSECU) but I don't believe anyone can join unless you work for a specific company?
Be prepared...you cannot compare banks in NJ to banks in NC. For the most part, banking hours are 9-5 Monday through Friday, with a few branches open for a few hours on Saturday. I used TD Bank in NJ and here are my thoughts on banking here:
-- SECU is great if you qualify for membership. Good rates, great customer service, few fees. We don't qualify, so this wasn't an option for us.
-- Wachovia has great online banking and lots of branches throughout the area, and the country. Fees kind of suck. For example, if you use an ATM that has no fees (think Wawa, even though we don't have them here) Wachovia will still charge you $2 for using a non-Wachovia ATM. Online banking payments arrive almost immediately with most national creditors. I also like their ATM's for deposits, which has pretty much replaced all banking with them for me.
-- Bank of America. Horrible, IMO, no matter where you live.
-- USAA. Great customer service, excellent online banking. Anyone can be a member for banking. You have to get used to not having any branches, but since the ones down here have such horrible hours, you get used to it pretty quickly. You scan your checks and then send them in postage-paid envelopes. Super easy and convenient.
Those are all of the ones I've tried. BB&T doesn't have many branches in the areas I frequent, so it wasn't much of an option for us. Good luck!!
Yeah, I got hit with the banking hours thing this morning. I had to get some money out the bank this morning to pay a bill due. Got there and couldn't go in b/c they don't open up till 9. Dang that sucked. Guess I'll go back at lunch.
I was with Wachovia from 2000 to 2010. Got hit with some fees I didn't like after Wells Fargo took over. I'm now with a credit union, one based in another state at that! I rarely ever had to go in a branch though...do everything online and ATM, so this works for me. I did try Suntrust briefly and have no complaints...though they don't have as many branches as Wachovia. If I were eligible, I'd def. go with SECU though.
MainLineMommy's post seems informative and consistent wrt SECU from what I've heard but I dont qualify.
BB&T is who I've been with for 12+ years and have a Wachovia account as well for 18 years. I started the BB&T after a riff with Wachovia.
Both have Saturday hours (though limited) and though you could walk-in till 5pm, BB&T (and I believe Wach/WF) has drive through hours till 6pm on Thur & Fri.
Wach/WF ATMs dont require an envelope for deposits down here, dont know about up there, but I imagine BB&T and others will get those ATMs at some point.
Have had my mortgage with BB&T and do bill pay with it = no complaints.
I'd also look into a community bank for myself but dont know which are "community" banks any more.
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