I moved my money @22 years ago- to a credit union. It just makes sense to put your dough in a credit union or locally owned bank. Believe me, First Bank and Wells-Fargo don't give a rat's ass about you or your community.

I switched to a local credit union about 10 years ago after being disappointed by wells fargo. The occasional lapse in service is easily offset by the fact I can call a real person and they will make an honest attempt to straighten it out.  

I kept a checking account at wells fargo with the thought that it might be nice to have access to the bank while traveling. So far all it's been good for is a large stack of statements with a balance of $13.31.  That and the satisfaction of making them pay postage every month.

Local Credit Union seems good for me.

Beacon Bank for me 3% interest on my checking account.

This and voting out career politicians.

I made the permanent switch to local banks about 15 years ago when I applied for a biz loan from Norwest (now Wells Fargo) in Minneapolis. They declined my loan request, but days later I received a loan or credit card offer in the mail from Norwest for the exact amount I had requested - at 21% interest.

F.U.

Our mortgage did get sold from North Shore to Countrywide, (now at Bank of America). Not sure what you can do about that or if that matters a lot.

Western Bank was where I originally mortgaged our house. They sold the loan to a North Carolina firm at our closing. Literally sold the loan at the closing. Then, sent us an overdraft notice for $20,000, which was our downpayment. Their reason was that it was the only "form" they had to let us know that we emptied our savings for the downpayment. We didn't actually overdraw anything. I had the $20,000 bounced check form framed and it hangs on the wall in my office. Then, after 2 or 3 mergers, Countrywide ended up owning our mortgage. They invented all these ridiculous fees to increase our monthly payment by about 30%. This was 10 years into a 30-year fixed with a spotless payment history. I went to the Credit Union and re-fied. I shaved a couple of points off of the original loan and went to a 15-year fixed (thus shaving 5 years off of the payoff). My payments now go to a mortgage holder that is a consortium for Credit Unions.

Huitz:  WTF? The FDIC insures your deposits- at credit unions and banks! If you have more than $100,000 personally deposited in one place, then you might want private insurance or to spread your money around to various institutions. The fact of the matter is that banks have failed, but not a single credit union in the United States has ever become insolvent. Credit Unions have sufficient buying power (which really translates into funds to loan) for the community they serve.

Yes, savings & loan institutions were deregulated and the ensuing disaster was predictable. Banks were deregulated (repeal of Glass-Steagal) and look what we've got today. Credit Unions are non-profit organizations. What makes them different is that they do not exist to make the corporation or its stock holders wealthy (at any cost). Instead, they provide a service to their members in a very open and transparent process.

-TK-

Yeah. I just remember the S&L crap being a HUGE mess. I know they operate differently, but the situations are similar.