Back in January, we decided that we needed a new bank. We have finally checked that task off of our to-do list – better late than never I suppose. Around the time we became frustrated with Wells Fargo, we also decided to sell our house, which meant several months of sprucing things up and going through the sale process. Once we moved into our new place, we were just as busy, and it felt like a three ring circus around here for the last couple months.
But while Wells Fargo was relatively convenient at our old house (about a 20 minute bike ride), it is much less convenient here. The closest branch is about 13 miles from here – not a quick bike trip that I can squeeze in between all my other tasks during the day. That sealed the deal, and convinced us to go ahead with a change.
We are now the proud owners of business and personal accounts at our local credit union. So far, we are thrilled. The personal account pays 5.01% interest on all funds up to $25,000. That is more than three times what ING is paying us right now, and was a huge selling point for us. In addition, the credit union rebates ATM fees that other banks charge (automatically, no need to keep receipts), offers free bill pay (which our WF account did not), and delivers exceptional customer service – we’ve been blown away by the level of service we’ve received during our account set up process.
The credit union is about a mile from our house. It’s in the local grocery store, which we can see in the distance if we look out our back door. It takes just a few minutes to bike over there, and is also a nice walk with the dog.
Now I’m plowing through the switching process, which is not much fun. That is the main reason I waited so long to do this – I knew it wouldn’t be fun. I’ve started making a list of all the places I need to notify about the change, and there are 23 items on the list so far. Plus bill pay setups, which I haven’t gotten to yet. We had been with Wells Fargo for a long time, and our entire financial life is linked to them in one way or another. It will take me a while to untangle all of that, but I know that this is worth the effort. It will be nice to be earning such a good rate on our money, and it’s nice to feel like a valued customer.
Some of my readers had mentioned credit unions back in January when I detailed our troubles with Wells Fargo, and that was part of what inspired me to look into the idea – thank you!
AD says
Yea! You’re going to like being with a credit union. I opened my first checking account with my local CU 10 years ago, and I’m still a satisfied customer.
Aurie says
The credit union movement is very special in a good way. Although we have to make a profit to stay in business, the ultimate success of the credit union is borne from membership retention and expansion as a non-profit entity. I’m glad that you made the switch. I made this switch professionally as well as personally and now I have a symbiotic relationship with them and ING primarily. It seems that you’ve done the same thing. For military folks, USAA provides a similar level of excellence with both product offerings & service delivery.
Aurie says
you might like my post showing the differences between banks & credit unions. No this is not a spam comment:
http://experienceaurie.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/banks-vs-credit-unions/
Boomer says
I’m going to be switching from Wells Fargo here soon, but that’s because I am a new employee at a different bank and can get a great account there. My main question, when you left Wells Fargo, did they even try and keep you around? Being that you were such a long time customer I would hope that they tried to retain you. I’m just curious what their efforts were and if they were enough to make you at least think about it.
The Knowledge Lady says
I have been thinking about opening up another checking account just in case our regular bank goes belly up and I will now be looking into credit unions. Thanks for writing about your experience.
Iris Robin says
This same thing just happened to use. It’s a process no one looks forward to, and to make things worse, as soon as we let them know we were leaving, their tone changed dramatically, and their customer service went right out the window.
It’s a shame how some businesses are run, especially this day and age. Good luck with all of your endeavors, and I love your blog, definitely going to be checking up here daily.
FrugalBabe says
Boomer – we haven’t left WF yet. We still have our accounts with them, and are in the process of switching a very long list of automatic payments and debits over to the new accounts. We’ll let them know we’re leaving once everything is complete. I spent HOURS on the phone with them back in January, letting them know how unhappy I was with the way they handled the credit card situation. I let them know at the time that I wasn’t likely to stick around as a customer. They said there was nothing they could do as far as the credit card issue. The reps are our local branches have always been very helpful, which was the main reason we stuck around as long as we did (that and inertia – this whole switching process isn’t much fun). But now that it’s not possible to bike or walk to a WF branch, the deal was sealed.
Iris Robin – That’s why we’re not telling them we’re leaving until our final transaction, which will be closing the accounts!
Nonnie says
When I worked for a bank, it was stressed to us at every turn how very important it was to get our customers to sign up for as many services/accounts as possible. Why? So they would think it too much trouble to switch everything to a new bank/credit union and stay with us and we could continue to collect fees :p Good for you for taking the time to make the switch!!
Oh, and when I worked for a credit union? We were supposed to offer services that the member could use, not just push them for the sake of pushing them and hoping to collect fees :p In fact, we often waived fees at the credit union for people who were learning the ropes of various services or who had a rare mix-up in their accounting. At the bank, we never waived fees unless the bank somehow made a mistake that the customer caught and brought to our attention. The behind-the-scenes experiences I had at both types of institutions means I will always look for a credit union to do business with :p