S1 recently asked me what I thought about this article, and if I had any recommendations about what bank to use:
I had never heard of most of the banks on this list. How does one know if they are real, long-lasting, legitimate banks in which one should put one’s money??
(S1 and his fiancee have an account with Wells Fargo, which none of us is particularly happy about.)
As long as your account is FDIC insured and within the $250K limit, I think I wouldn’t worry much.
It’s all about online banking these days. If you don’t currently have free checking, zero ATM fees worldwide (including reimbursing you for fees charged by others’ ATMs, zero to low foreign transaction fees, a cash back, no fee credit card attached to the account, you should be going elsewhere for a banking relationship.
Ally and Schwab are well known. Haven’t heard of all of the others. My kids bank at Fidelity where their Roths are located as well. Vey easy to use, zero costs, and as their assets grow, the full range of financial services is a plus.
Ally Bank is the new-ish name for GMAC which has been around forever. We had an account with them until last year. I never had a problem with them and only closed the account to consolidate our funds. I was getting way too many monthly statements to keep up with so needed to give up a few. I don’t know anything about the others, but I wouldn’t have any concerns about banking with Ally.
My son has used Ally for 5 years and likes it. They waive ATM fees at other banks. I don’t think he often uses ATMs though. If he owes a friend money, he uses Venmo. He can have the opposite problem of not being able to deposit cash, since you can’t put it in an ATM or go in person to a bank and deposit it if you bank with Ally. He has had jobs where he has earned cash.
I am really fortunate. My local regional bank gives me free checking, refunds other ATM fees, and has real people a mile away I can talk to if I have any issue or question (or want to deposit cash; it even has a free coin counter! 
). Both of my millennials have banked there for many years–we and my D/SIL also have our mortgages there.
Our credit union does all of that too.
My 21 year old son had to be reminded that they also have online check deposit with their app. They don’t deal with checks much.
I am REALLY fortunate. My bank is one block from my house, gives me free checking, no ATM fees world wide, and is an independent bank run by people I know. Both my kids bank there, and when my son, who lives 1000 miles away wanted to buy a car, but the guy would only take cash, he called the bank directly. The VP of the bank stayed on the phone with him while he drew out the daily limit on his ATM card. She then reset it and let him draw out another day’s worth and kept it up until he had what he needed. I asked her later how she knew it was him and her response was “Let’s just say I finally got the truth about what happened when he and my son were caught riding Razor in the school hallways.”
I have Ally and a credit union. No fees, love them both.
I also have a Roth at fidelity and Mr R has a 401k at Wells Fargo but I don’t have opinions about them.
I like having accounts where there are bricks and mortar places–just personal preference. I do have accounts at many local banks, some credit unions, and 3 brokerages–Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab. I have not done banking with an Internet only place.
Why so many places, @HImom? Have you thought about consolidating? Seems like it would make life more challenging to have assets spread out over so many firms. BTW, if you are investing with Vanguard, you’re doing at least some online.
FDIC insurance limits?
Yea, we do have small accounts at Vanguard. I’m not sure why we have so many accounts all over the place but yes, we have closed some and I am thinking about consolidating. It’s silly to have SO MANY accounts, tho each was opened for a reason. Intertia keeps us from closing things, but for simplicity it would be good.
That would be a heck of a lot of money uninvested, @BunsenBurner, then since non-checking/savings accounts are in actual assets - bonds, stocks. 
Plus, places like Fidelity use sweep accounts and a range of banks which would mean you are insured for well above the $250K limit at a stand alone bank.
https://www.fidelity.com/why-fidelity/safeguarding-your-accounts
Plus if you have a joint account, each person named on the account is insured for $250k and EACH of the accounts–savings, checking, etc.
I have only one checking account, dos. Just speculating why some might want to have many. I do know someone who highly likely has very large sum of $$ scattered around multiple bank accounts - for that particular reason. The person prefers to keep $$ instead of investing it. Buys everything for cash, including the house.
My kid had good success with the evil BofA. A few times going to a branch in person sped things up for her significantly. She has yet to write a single check, lol.
We have accounts for rentals, my nonprofit and H&I have one joint checking and savings account. We definitely have more accounts than we need!
I had 3 checking accounts for a while. I had a PNC account for years (started when it was Nat City), got an interest checking account when my mom moved to a small bank that had that, and then had a credit union account because I needed it for my credit card (CU is affiliated with my undergrad and I opened it when I moved out there).
I closed PNC when they started nickle and diming me. I closed the small bank account after my mom left since I had no reason to go out there anymore. Still have the CU account.
I opened up the Ally account because it’s out of sight, out of mind. Part of my paycheck is automatically put in there and the rest goes to CU.
I’m sure some do, @BunsenBurner, but there are easier ways like the Fidelity example I gave.
Should something happen to you, much easier to manage assets when not spread out all over the place, too.
This all reminds me of my D moving into first apartment while in college junior year. How do I pay the rent? she asks. I don’t have any checks and they don’t take PayPal or Venmo?
You just have to laugh and explain how old farts use paper checks and she is going to have to go into the bank and order a checkbook.
If these online banks don’t take deposits through other network ATMs, how do you make deposits? Snail mail? Or do you have to keep a small local checking account to make deposits into and then transfer to the online bank?
“If these online banks don’t take deposits through other network ATMs, how do you make deposits? Snail mail? Or do you have to keep a small local checking account to make deposits into and then transfer to the online bank?”
For checks, you use an app whereby you snap a photo of the check with your phone. You could do snail mail but no reason to do so. The only issue is cash as mentioned previously. Most people don’t receive gobs of cash these days. Small amounts of cash can just be spent on incidentals.