I'm in dire search of a new bank after for the 5th time now a "severe accounting error" has been made at BECU and made my account go -$400 instead of +$400. I won't go into the details of the error but I've had enough and looking at switching banks.

I do a lot of traveling and driving within Canada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and California so I will need a bank that is flexible and is located pretty well in major cities and such.

I'm also looking for dependable service and great customer service. BECU lacked that heavily in my opinion, some other places like Wells Fargo and B of A have been known for that but I haven't been with them in 6 years so I wouldn't know how they have been since.

Basically I"m looking for your experience at banks in the Pacific Northwest and your opinions on them and would you recommend.

Thanks a bunch!

 

I have Wells Fargo, BofA, & WaMu....

WaMu is by far the worst. They have branches that are open inside of stores/Fred Meyers that are open until 7 pm but if you have any questions/concerns about your acct, they won't be able to help you. If you have a problem with your acct you have to go to your "home" bank to fix it (and mine is the Downtown Seattle branch where they could care less about me because I'm not transacting in the thousands of dollars).

BofA is the good because its EVERYWHERE. I used it in NYC and Mo can use it in Great Britain and Pakistan (yes, they have branches there). They do have the best posting of information and when you ring up a charge it does show it to you in pretty much real time accuracy (so that you're not "in the dark" with what is about to go through). You can also print copies of your checks of their website.

Their downside is that they don't have the best tools (online & bill pay) for Washington customers because they have different regional "ownership" and business processes. Meaning...we haven't had the best customer service from them.

Wells Fargo is by far my favorite! They have the best online tools. I can move money between my credit cards, mortgage, auto loans, and various accts all online! They also have the BEST ebill pay!!! They are the same in their "processes" from state to state. They have always been good if there is any concern for my acct. Also, when I deposit larger checks, they don't put holds on them but instead call to verify funds so that they can post sooner. Their downside is that they aren't located nationwide (there was only 1 branch in NYC) and are pretty much a west coast institution. They are growing though but not quite enough for my needs sometimes. Their other downside is that their branch locations tend to be in odd places away from main shopping areas. For example..the Wells Fargo at the Southcenter Mall is 1 block east and 2 blocks south of the main shopping strips. Also, I wouldn't recommend their inventment or retirement services because I've had some negative experiences with that causing me $$ loss.

I hope that this helps! Maybe, like Mo & I, it might help to have a couple of different accts in different banks so that we can get the services we need depending on the situation (like when I need $ in another state/country).

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Also...WaMu has the highest fees (they are a subprime bank who gives free checking but "sticks it to the customer" in terms of backend fees) and they have, on a couple of occasions, misprocessed my direct deposits from work.

They also did this to Kelly once when they rejected her payroll check direct deposit and then they wouldn't remove the fees of the overdrafts it caused. It took a couple of weeks to resolve.

Just my $.02 cents.

 

i use Heritage bank. not bad for a little local bank but thats my one complaint, its little and local.

 

BofA I hear is rather good. I know a few people that use and love it.

I personally hate and despise Wells Fargo. They used to screw me over all the time.

Keybank is another one known for screwing over the customers.

I also have BECU and WaMu. I havent had an issues with either yet. But I have heard some stories bout BECU. I only use them for my truck payment.

 

Holy smokes, thanks a ton!! *jaw drops* you really need to be a review writer CorryAnn

 

Awe...back in the day that was what I did...I was one of the first couple of dozen employee of AtomFilms/Shockwave (#21) and I was the Film Acquisitions Manager for 2 years. My job was to watch 200+ films a week and see about licensing them. I had to learn real quick to write good/bad/and things to jog my mind...otherwise I'd get lost real quick.

 

Intense indeed. I don't know if I could watch 200 films a week. That'll be something though to tell the friends lol.

 

US bank has by far done and outstanding job with my funds. I had WaMu when I was younger so I didnt balance things well, I'm not so sure that I trust them, BofA was terrible for me. There were constant errors.

 

Sterling Savings here.... solid...

 

Bank? I keep all my money under my mattress.



j/k I use WaMu and haven't had any issues.

 

I am with US Bank but not for long. They have screwed up my account a few times and every time I end up having to explain what they did five times before they fix it.

If you travel you may want to consider keeping an account with a big bank and then doing most of your stuff with a small credit union. I did that for a while and just made sure to put money in my US account when I was going out of town.

 

I had BECU and left for the same reason back in 03. Stuck it out with WAMU for about 2 years. In December of 05 I switched from WAMU to BoA.

I left WAMU because of the so called human interest, well I suddenly got hit with an "overusage" fee for $5 each check I wrote. Yeah I was ____ed to say the least.

So far Bank of America has been great. Their online banking isn't bad at all for me, its not nearly as nice as WAMU (interface wise) but this will change in the next 12 months. Also you get to see copies of your checks just like BECU's online banking... which is nice if you forgot what check 3120 was written for. Also BOA is every where. Wells Fargo... well they are slowly coming more and more but I still have to try hard.

 

wamu has good customer service. i hear that bank of america has lousy service from my old college teacher

 

Coming from a navy family, my dad started a Navy Federal Credit Union account for me at or around my birth as our own trust fund-type of deal. When I started working at around 17, he let me take control of my account and it's the one I still use to this day.

Of course, I can't say the same about any other bank as I've never had any other accounts, but I like my bank. =P

 

I have been with a few banks my self and I tried BoA and it is deffently not FREE checking unless you have automatic deposit or its like 5 bucks a month. I have got to say that WAMU has been great

 

I am biased. I work at Wells Fargo. I also agree with everything Coryann said. Billpay is awsome and other online tools are good. Brokerage is still getting their act together and is more expensive than most. You get a better deal as a customer if you build a "relationship" with the bank, that means the more "products" you have the more discounts and waived fees you will get.

 

I have B of A and haven't had any problems with them. I like the online bill pay and use it often.

In my experience the bank usually isn't in error. Most of the time the consumer didn't read the fine print.

Good luck Brian.

 

On the online front...one can also manage transacting with other people's Wells Fargo accts.

Mo & I have a huge family who sometimes need "deposits" into their accts. We had them open up Wells Fargo and the online gives us ability to put money into their accts without giving us access to their personal info or ability to withdraw. It makes it easier for us to keep from having to run a deposit to a bank somewhere and tell cashiers "no its not my acct but I want to put money in it".

On the brokerage...I tried to open a ROTH IRA with them and it took over a month to get a call from their Investments/Brokerage folks...by then I had already rolled my 403(b) and my cash pensions into another banks products...too bad for Wells Fargo

 

I have Homestreet which is nice. Good online banking, auto bill pay, etc.. The downside is that there aren't many of them around. However, I swear there is only 10 of us who bank with them in the Marysville area and I don't even need my I.D., they know me so well, lol. I also have ran into problems with my account and they waived all the NSF fees, even though it wasn't their fault, it was Verizon.

I also use Frontier bank. They're everywhere and I haven't run into any problems or outrageous fees.

What I love about both these banks is that I can submit my hundreds of dollars worth of rolled coin each month and they accept it, no questions, no fuss, no address to write on each roll.