The other reason I wanted a local bank is I need to get stuff notarized regularly. Most banks will charge if you aren’t a customer. Of course my bank hasn’t had a notary for about a year. They keep telling me that someone is going to take the exam soon, but I’m losing my patience.
That’s annoying, mathmom. My mom is a notary and doesn’t work for one specific bank. She just gets notifications from banks and she goes in to notarize things. The bank (or company or whatever) pays her, not the customer. Most Notaries I know work in a similar fashion.
@romanigypsyeyes , we don’t have many credit unions in our area , but I can see why people choose them over banks. Wouldn’t work for us with all the transactions we do commercially. We have changed when the banks stop doing certain services ( we have to have the ability for international wire transfers that don’t use an intermediary bank ) Also, we do a lot of credit card transactions and banks trip all over themselves to get that business so we go with that flow to get funded faster and pay lowest fees.
ATMs are not a big selling point for us.
I am still on the bank accounts for all of my daughters, which is handy…I suppose that might change when my oldest gets married this year…not sure if she will close that account or not. I transferred money to her so she could pay for her wedding dress so even though I no longer oversee that account , it still has it’s benefits
The ‘notary test’? In most states, if they even require one, it is no big deal. I was a notary for years and it required I have a permanent address and buy a stamp. I think it was about $10/yr. It is now a little more difficult as there are some new rules adopted by the national association, but just a few years ago almost every secretary in a law firm was a notary.
Credit Unions are member owned. There are limits to things they can do as their charters come from different government agencies. They are not FDIC insured but NICU insured and have different limits to that insurance per account. For most people, the limits are enough to cover the accounts (which of course were the feelings of many bank customers with FDIC insurance before the 2008 bank failures when $100,000 per account wasn’t enough).
For most individual banking needs, CUs are fine. Most have credit card agreements with mastercard and visa logos. Most have CDs and money market account. Many do NOT have safety deposit boxes, trust departments, or complicated banking features that a commercial customer may need. The interest rates are not always lower, especially for mortgages, because the CU usually holds its own paper so must set rates for the long term. Some people prefer to pay a little more for the convenience of having their mortgages ‘stay local’ and not be sold to the big bad wall street.
CUs act more like banks now, with drive thru tellers, Saturday hours, different products. And they have lollipops.
“What’s TD?” @jym626
TD Bank, NA has over 1300 offices on the east coast. The TD stands for Toronto Dominion. TD purchased the former Commerce Bank in the NY/NJ area and several other banks in the mid Atlantic and Florida areas. TD Bank, NA is owned by the giant Canadian Bank but is a separately chartered US bank. TD also has a huge investment in TD Ameritrade, the discount stock broker.
^^ I have been with TD since they bought out Commerce years ago…the service isn’t as good as it used to be , but the convenience still can’t be beat in terms of having the most expansive hours of operation
I’ve never had to show ID to make a deposit at Citibank, but I don’t think I’ve ever deposited cash.
Here’s a question: if you’re depositing a check in somebody else’s account, and the bank asks for ID, what do they do? Take a picture of the ID and keep a record of it? If they don’t, just looking at it is pointless.
When I’ve shown my ID, they just looked at it and it seemed pointless to me.
For the record, I deposit cash at Citibank monthly and have never been asked for an ID.
Thank you, @ChicagoBear