As others have explained, our CU has agreements with CU’s all over the US and you can just look up where you’re going to be and you can look up the area. Also, 7-11’s can be used, as noted. The personal customer service that is free (with some BOA accounts you have to pay a fee to talk to a teller) is worth it alone. For D we’re considering one of those online bank accounts like Ally Bank when she goes to college. She does everything online as it is, that seems like the logical next step.
We’ve had good luck with Wells over the years. We have a lot of branches (and ATMs) in SoCal and our local ones are very good. No fees because of our balances.
Just make sure the funds are FDIC insured, or NICU for credit unions. Some online banks? No. Others are great.
The ATMs in 7-11’s usually do have free transactions for credit unions, but some don’t take deposits. ATMs not at banks are also more likely to have issues with fraud or skimming. 7-11 is not the owner of those ATMs, and is not responsible for any of the problems.
I’d bet all the online banks are FDIC insured as well. I use Fidelity.
From their website:
FDIC insurance Coverage up to $1,250,000—five times more than the typical bank
Google “Bank of America is evil” and you will get many, many hits. My beef with them came from how often they would challenge doctor visits as part of our FSA. They seemed to have it in for our pediatrician. We don’t bank with them in any other way.
We use a credit union I started as a teenager. You may get reciprocity at other CU ATMs, and you can always use the Atm at Costco for free. I had to get D3 a cashiers check for a landlord when we were across the country and a local credit union was able to help me with one visit.
There’s only one credit union in my neighborhood. I must live in a stuck-up place. The credit union doesn’t have an ATM. I would have liked to avoid big banks and support a credit union. Back to Wells Fargo or Bank of America. It’s for basic checking nothing else. We have other accounts. Do they have fees for paper statements?
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“The ATMs in 7-11’s usually do have free transactions for credit unions, but some don’t take deposits. ATMs not at banks are also more likely to have issues with fraud or skimming. 7-11 is not the owner of those ATMs, and is not responsible for any of the problems.”
I wouldn’t trust an ATM at a 7-11. I would only trust the ATM run / maintained by the bank in question. 7-11s are also inconvenient IMO - every other place I can drive up.
i ended up with WF after they gobbled up a bunch of banks and i’m none too thrilled with them. i had historic accounts 9(that WERE free) that were switched over to “their products”, all of which nickel and dime you to death–or worse, are dependent on having another type of account to even have. i swear, i have like 10 accounts with them, mostly because i needed something else to have a similar (old) account.
afaik, no, there is no charge for the paper statement, but there is a $2 fee for “returned check images”. they no longer send your original checks back, just a photocopy so that’s where the $2 comes in.
as you saw, the minimum balances are pretty high for their basic checking–i think one of mine is like $1500 or $2000 and the fee for below min. is i think $7.50/mo.
since their are a gazillion accounts, I’ve have always had overdraft protection. i just made a bonehead mistake and was short $5 on a checking account-what should have been transferred for nothing cost me $12.50–i have no idea WHY–i’m probably below min. on the account i have linked to it.
i needed an account for my teen so she could learn to use a debit card and no, it couldn’t just be one checking account-she needed a savings account tied to it, so we have a $50 balance in a random savings just because they made us. there is absolutely no other reason for this particular account.
so my point is, be very careful.
i personally hate them. i honestly would like to close 1/2 these random accounts and move my money to chase. unfortunately, its a colossal hassle for me since we have direct deposits, rep payee accounts, and other things i’d need to rearrange. the only good i CAN say about them is that i do like their online portal and tend to do a lot of stuff online instead of going to the branch.
if you are just looking for a basic checking account i would look elsewhere.
If the account is for basic checking only why can’t you just continue to use your current bank?
I have no experience with Wells Fargo but I absolutely hate BoA! I had to deal with them for years in handling an estate and they were such a pain. We set up the estate account with them in one state (where my sister lived) and I, the executrix, used it in another state. We had all sorts of small problems at first and finally some snotty woman told me that we had set up the wrong kind of account. Ah, no- the BoA person in the other state did that. It was just always painful to deal with them and I dreaded it. I couldn’t wait to close that account and I am very thankful that our family accounts are in a credit union and a small town bank. Both of which belong to a network of ATM’s.
If you were moving to another state and needed to get a driver’s license, you would find that paper statement to be a very helpful document.
@Onward, I had a similar experience handling an estate as co-executor with my sister. I live in Maryland. She lives in California. BoA serves both our communities, so we thought it would be a good idea to open the estate account at a BoA branch. It did not work out well. Bank personnel didn’t understand what we were trying to do (ensure that both of us had full access to the account). Misinformation flourished. Checks bounced. Chaos ensued.
My husband and I have a BoA checking account because, well, we’ve had it for 15 years and we’re used to it. But I’ll never use BoA for anything complicated ever again.
Wells Fargo rather than B of A!!
But I recommend Chase if available, great customer service.
@Marian : I can always print a statement were I to need one. 
They are regional, no branches beyond our area. Foreign ATM, they charge $6.
For all my finances, I’d like to keep hrad copies.
@kac425 Do you mean you couldn’t open a checking account without also opening a savings account? That’s no good.
Somehow I wound up with BB&T . . . they bought my bank after I had been a customer for many years.
They are OK, not too enthused either direction with them. I was planning to see if they have a branch wherever DS ends up going to college, probably Tuscaloosa or Gainesville.
My husband likes Chase (his mom and he are on an account) and after reading up-thread maybe we should look more at them.
PS: BofA got on my husband’s nerves years ago but I can’t remember why.
If a credit union is out…why not the Schwab or Fidelity account mentioned? My D did a study abroad last year so we were looking into something with no foreign transaction fees. We ended up opening a Schwab account for her. She was able to use any ATM worldwide with no fees. In fact you get a lot of features for free.
They’re both about the same, but I prefer Wells Fargo since they are more popular here in California.
My only complaints are that their interest rates are laughably low, and it’s just another typical ‘full fare’ bank (i.e. you pay for everything, no free lunches, no perks like you get at some credit unions)
On the plus side, it is a big, stable bank, that has nationwide coverage.
I use Citibank and their customer service is excellent IMO. Example: I wanted to get foreign currency to my D in Boston for a trip to Europe. At first I tried to see if she could pick it up at a Citibank in her town but she would have needed to have opened up an account, which she wasn’t going to do as she already had an account with BofA which was closer to campus. At no cost to me, they asked for her address and fedexed the foreign currency to her dorm.
Where do you all live where Wells Fargo is common? I rarely see their banks here in Chicago. I’m not even sure if they are here to be honest. But there is a Chase, PNC, Citibank, B of A everywhere you turn.