I heard the news today, oh boy! (Beatles) About how my nemesis JPMorgan-Chase-WaMu-Chemical-MannyHanny-BankOne-BearStearns was slapped with a few million in fines by the SEC and FINRA. I am doing my part by finally moving my last remaining accounts, including a fat loan that pays them many hundreds of dollar each month, to a Federal Credit Union.
Check out some of the terms offered by a credit union and compare to your commercial giant megabank.
Home Equity Line of Credit - 2.9% first year. Prime plus zero thereafter with a 3.9% floor. Bank of America offered me 4.5% to start. My current JPM would not work with me at all.
Bounced check fee -$30 ($35 elsewhere)
Overdraft debit card purchase - under $20: zero, over $20: $10 ($35 elsewhere)
First set of personal checks - free
Ledger and business checks - free
Minimum Checking balance on interest bearish account - $5 ($500 or $1000 elsewhere)
Fee for interest bearish checking - zero
They offer everything the big bank offers, including online access to personal and business accounts all in one place for easy transfers. Their ATMs accept check deposits just like the big banks, too.
The only drawback is that the credit union does not have a branch on every corner, second only to Starbucks. But they have arrangements with hundreds of other credit unions so I can use their ATMs with no fee.
Buh bye, big bank. So glad we threw taxpayer money at a prehistoric business model.
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