Heads up! Is your bank on the list for cheating their customers most often?
I don’t know about you, but I refuse to give my business to a bank that illegally rips off their own clients! Why should I when there are honest, ethical banks in town?
If your bank is on the Worst List, I suggest you scrutinize your bank statement every month for errors and balance it with your own checking log. If you’re happy with them, fair enough; but if you see high fees, double charges, and over-charges, you can take your business elsewhere.
WORST BANKS
- Bank of America has the highest number of complaints for their checking/savings accounts. Their fees, terms and conditions, and policies earn them the title, #1 blood-sucking bank vampire. Even worse, BOA was caught charging overdraft fees for overdrafts caused by their own overdraft fees!!! *
They also have the most complaints for their mortgage loans. As a mortgage broker myself, I have long refused to do business with wholesale BOA because of their horrid underwriting. I will not put my clients through that angst. - Wells Fargo is #2 for most complains for their bank accounts. In addition, they were caught opening accounts in people’s names without their knowledge or consent. They were fined $185 million for that identity theft scam; and yet, they’re still in business. *
BEST BANKS
Every bank with top records for customer satisfaction, treating people fairly, and having good pricing was a small or mid-size regional bank. There are literally hundreds of good banks across America. Banks such as Bank of the Ozarks, Cathay Bank, CIBC, First Republic Bank, and UniBank.
When choosing a bank, pay attention to the terms, including monthly fees (many banks offer $0 fees if you keep a certain minimum balance), and see if you can earn interest on the balance. Admittedly, interest is really low right now, so if your balance is high, you might consider opening a Certificate of Deposit or consulting a financial advisor about investing. Overdraft fees should not apply to you — I don’t want anyone reading this to write a bad check, ever!
Financial responsibility includes creating a good credit record and a good banking record.
It is easy to do a Google search of complaints + (bank name) to see what people have to say about a particular bank.
*Source of complaints: RewardExpert.com
Banks need to survive like every other business. Some banks are forced to open up branches in less than desirable locations with huge losses, along with having 9 out of 10 customers who are financial illiterates. With super low interest rates and hardly any profit spread in between them, what do you expect banks should do? It’s not the banks, but the Federal Reserve and the U.S. educational system.
Thank you for contributing to the discussion, I. Rosenthal.