7 Answers

• Reputation: 959 Q&A: 19 0 5 517 38 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Tom Sackett

  4 0 There was a discussion of credit unions in an early question (about the best bank for newlyweds). Credit unions are "not-for-profit" organizations. It's not the same as non-profit, but it does mean that they are not looking for ways to trick their customers out of money. They have all the usual fines that banks have, like overdraft fees and fees for depositing checks that bounce, but they don't invent new ones. Their accounts are usually very simple: you get a savings account and a checking account (usually called "share" and "draft" accounts). Both are free. You have to keep a small minimum balance, usually under $50, in the share account to maintain your ownership stake in the credit union. Credit unions also offer credit cards, CDs, loans, etc, as well as financial advising. The rates are generally good, but the credit cards don't have extra rewards. Credit unions generally don't charge you for using other bank's ATMs. Each credit union only has a few ATMs, so the trick is to find ATMs that won't charge you fees of their own. You can usually use any credit union's ATMs for both withdrawals and deposits. In addition, some credit unions (like Watermark) let you use the ATMs in 7-Eleven stores with no fees, giving them a huge network of ATMs. I bank at Watermark, and have liked it a lot. Tom Sackett answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by Kip Waddle… 0 0 I just switched banks last may and, after extensive research, chose watermark. So far the experience has been outstanding. I just got a new car loan there and it was a great deal and super easy. Kip Waddle commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 2675 Q&A: 45 2 29 1204 139 18 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 soundslikepuget

  2 0 Credit Unions are the way to go. B of A is the evil empire. Yes, Credit Unions charge fees but the fees are smaller. My credit union charges $13 for an overdraft, B of A is $35. Most credit unions offer "shared branching" so you can do limited transactions at other credit unions in the region. Most of the credit unions in Seattle are linked to those in Everett, Bellingham, Vancouver BC, Portland, Spokane etc. but it's more of a regional network, not national. That is the one redeeming quality of Bank of America: they are in all 50 states. Also, most B of A account contracts have a hidden provision that they can (and will) charge you $25 to $100 for CLOSING the account. It's in the fine print. So, I do all my business through my credit union, but I still have an open B of A account with like $20 in it. That way, if I'm in California or Maine or Texas I can walk into a B of A branch and cash a check drawn ON MY CREDIT UNION. Because I'm a B of A Customer, I can cash checks from my credit union account at any B of A branch in all 50 states and they can't charge me a damn thing. I'm an asshole like that, and B of A hates me. And that makes me smile. soundslikepuget answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report 4 comments by asteria, soundslikepuget, and Luckier… 0 0 I had an account with BoA before, but there were no closing fees - where did you see that? I just went into my branch and closed my accounts, didn't have to pay anything. It was just a few months ago. asteria commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 A guy I work with now used to work there. He said it's in SOME contracts. Because they are in all 50 states, and they are actually "Bank of America, NA" (NA = National Association) they do business under several different conglemerated legal entities. From the retail side you would never know the difference. But from the legal side, some contracts are different than others. Depends on where your account was opened and what type of account. soundslikepuget commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 We have a similar account with a UK bank for when we travel overseas. Watch out for B of A's minimum balance fees coming soon, though. Luckier commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 The credit union shared branching works really well. I bank with BECU, but have accessed relatively large (couple of G's) cash/cashiers checks from my BECU account as far away as downtown NYC via shared branch arrangements. I was told I could access up to 10K remotely, if thats important to you.... the dud(e) commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 2589 Q&A: 52 0 4 1611 142 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2

  2 0 BECU is a good option; if you qualify, so is the State Employees Credit Union. I'm a member of both: have been BECU for more than 30 years and SECU for more than 10. SECU has slightly better rates. Geni answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 4209 Q&A: 121 4 6 1581 87 19 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 5

  2 0 Tom is right on as to the nature of a credit union versus a bank.The members are technically the shareholders of the credit union and now with changes in the laws in Washington, membership is open to all. Consider there is a wide range of them. Very well known, of course, is the Boeing Employees Credit Union (known as BECU) and quoting their site: "BECU has more than 180 ATMs in the Puget Sound area, over 28,000 surcharge-free CO-OP ATMs, more than 40 BECU Neighborhood Financial Centers and over 4,000 CU Service Center locations nationwide." Just to list another option. Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 1 Q&A: 0 0 0 1 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 0 Hi, Olive, My name is Shannon Perry, I work for Salal Credit Union. The posters below have given you very good answers, and I'd like to add one thing: Shared Branching. With Shared Branching, you can walk into any credit union in the same network and conduct a lot of your business, even though it's not technically "your" credit union. You can also do a lot of your banking, for free, at those big kiosk units in most 7-Elevens. That extends our free ATM and branch reach to at least as far and often much further than even the biggest banks. And of course, we have members, not stockholders, so our profits are returned to our members in the forms of better rates and lower fees, rather than pocketed by investors. And most CUs in WA are "open charter," meaning you only have to live or work in WA to be eligible for membership. To find a CU near you, this is a good tool: http://www.creditunion.coop/cu_locator/quickfind.php and of course, we'd be happy to talk to you here at Salal CU! Salal CU Shannon answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 93 Q&A: 0 0 4 14 1 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 westcoastin

  0 0 I was skeptical of credit unions for years. I thought they weren't a "real" bank. But after trying and loving a few of them I am definitely a convert. I have had BECU accounts and credit card for about 4 years. You just need to be a resident of Washington to qualify. They gave me a really great rate on the credit card and if I pay a couple days late they don't charge a fee as long as I don't make a habit of it. BECU is all over Seattle and is part of a co-op system that allows you to use other credit unions' services (not just atms, but actual face-to-face banking) all over the country. Additionally, once you are a member, you remain a member until you close your accounts, even if you move out of state! They have online banking thats really easy to use and great customer service. Big name banks are like the Walmart of the financial industry. They're just trying to get all the money they can from their customers. At a credit union , you are a member, not a customer. It seems like a negligible difference but as a result they aren't trying to screw you for every last dime. westcoastin answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 1421 Q&A: 44 0 4 469 28 4 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 asteria

  0 0 I think credit unions are way better than banks, especially if you don't have a lot of money. They have members, not shareholders, so they pay more interest on savings and checking than most banks and they're not always trying to rip you off. From your point of view as a member, they work exactly like banks except instead of paying monthly fees to have an account you just need to keep some money in your savings account. At BECU it's only $5. And because there are so many credit unions around Seattle you can usually find a free ATM when you need one. The other cool thing is that you don't have to only go to your credit union - you can go to any credit union that participates in shared branching; see cuservicecenter.com. I'm with BECU, but they don't have tellers at most of their branches and that doesn't work for some people. If I need to cash in my spare change, for example, I can go to WSECU on Eastlake and use their coin counting machine for free. There's actually a credit union geared towards low-income people - Expresscu.org. I haven't heard or seen any reviews about them, but I like that they try to help people set up checking accounts instead of paying fees at check-cashing places. asteria answered in Personal Finance about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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