So ING is basically a great place to store your savings or investments, liquid or non..
But for regular day to day banking, I should have another bank to link to it.
P.S.
This is totally different from Canada because here, you can open an account with PC Financial that is basically… a bank.
They have a contract with CIBC (a major Canadian bank here), and I use CIBC ATMs for free, and get no fees with PC at all… etc. And PC offers investments, savings and a credit card.
I have never used any other bank other than PC as my personal bank ever since I turned 16 so I’m a bit like a banking virgin…
Hence all the questions.
Great!
So now for my next question: What are some good major U.S. banks I should be researching into?
I am looking for the following (basically, this is what I get with PC)
- No fees paid on the account just to have it open
- Free unlimited debits
- No charge if I withdraw money from the bank’s own ATM machines
- At least a $500 allowed withdrawal a day
- Fast cheque clearing (less than 8 days, which is what I’m getting with my PC Bank right now.. ARRGH! Good thing I don’t get many cheques)
- No minimum cash balance required
- Online bill payment is possible and is free
- Free cheques
- No hidden fees
- Anything else I should consider????????
The only major bank I know of in the States is Washington Mutual (being bought by Chase I hear) a.k.a. WaMu….
So, help again! And thanks in advance.. again 🙂
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
Since you’re Canadian, Ally Bank – formerly GMAC. Online but FDIC insured; reimburses your ATM fees, chequing ans saving. If you switch to American citizenship, then go with Charles Schwab – like Ally Bank, only with no foreign transaction fee and their investing services too.
Thank you! I’ve made a note of the bank on my PDA. This is great.
TD Banknorth I mentioned before.
I’ve had accounts with US Bank for eight years and I love them! No fees and awesome free online banking!
Hello FB! I am a long-time reader, first-time responder, but since this is a topic that I definitely have much experience with, I thought I’d give my take on it.
From the time that I was around 16 til recently (age 24), I have had Washington Mutual checking/savings accounts. When I was young in high school and just depositing you know, bday/xmas/work checks, WAMU was fine, because I wasn’t doing day-to-day adult purchases. Now that I’m older and have relied on it heavily, I began to realize how terrible their customer service is, how inconvenient it is to end an account that was jointed with someone, (aka, my mom from years ago), and how they keep pulling out money for so-called “monthly fees,” but never explain what it’s for. The past 2-3 years had been a real struggle with them, and a few months ago I decided to open an account with a local work-connected, state-wide credit union, and it was one of the best financial decisions I think I’ve ever made.
I am all for community-owned organizations where there is more transparency and not so much bureaucracy, and this is what I receive at my CU. The tellers are friendly, but I generally do all of my transactions online – which is easy to navigate, and that has made balancing my checkbook a breeze. I also haven’t had any “mysterious fees” disappear from my account since I’ve joined them, and that alone has made the experience worth it. The only thing that I wish I had that I got with WaMu is free checking, (it’s like $10/pack whenever you order), but I don’t write enough checks regularly for it to be a deal-breaker.
I would research credit unions as soon as you get to Texas, if not now. Some are tied to jobs and you can only get membership into it if you work at certain places, others are based on what church you go to, what clubs you’re in, or some are open to all, so I’m sure you can find one that works well for you. Good luck, and let us know which bank/institution you end up going with!
I’ve had accounts at Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual. Now, I have all of my accounts through Washington Mutual/Chase. They are my favorite because they have never done anything shady with my accounts, are incredibly good about card theft issues, and have free lots of stuff.
Hi FB! I have recently found your site and I am already addicted.
I lived in the States between 2001 and 2006 (my husband and I went to Los Angeles for grad school) and had only but good experiences with Bank of America. I then moved to Vancouver, bc, and kept the BoA accounts with us at zero cost. Transferring money back and forth from Canada is a bit of a pain, but hopefully you won’t have to deal with that.
BTW, have you heard about xetrade.com? Take a look, it’s great for transferring money between countries(better for some countries than others). I know that you are not afraid about figuring out somewhat sophisticated tools (well, it’s not that sophisticated, you just have to learn how it works), so I think you’ll find very useful. And maybe write about it in the future?
My husband used it to transfer to Spain and my best friend regularly uses it for Australia. Both speak wonders about it.
Congrats on the site, I love it.
Just something to remember when you move to the US — your Canadian credit rating means nothing to US banks. You will have no credit history in the US and that can make any financial transactions difficult.’
Hopefully that’s changed, though, in the few years since we moved to the US.
Well, I agree that for the move, and for getting into the country and setting up an ING account, it's good to use a large bank like WaMu or something similar (I have friends who like Wachovia). However, what I would recommend is that once you are set up in TX, join a local credit union. They still have insurance (should be FDIC insured), and because they are member owned, they have a vested interest in keeping members happy. There is a national Coop (http://www.co-opfs.org/public/locators/atmlocator/) that allows you to use ATMs free of charge if you are using your credit union account, and when it comes to getting a car loan or mortgage, often credit unions are able to finance you at better rates that bigger banks. But I do think it's a good idea to have at least one account at a bigger bank, too. (Here's a list of CUs near or in Austin, TX: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=credit+unions+in+austin%2Ctx&btnG=Search)
(Not good at hyperlinks w/in comments, yet.)
I’m not sure if they have locations in Texas, but Wells Fargo is a solid strong bank that offers me all of the things your looking for. They also recently bought Wachovia out which pretty much doubled their access across the states. Hope this helped!
Serendipity
I think you should look into Wells Fargo. It’s a nationwide bank so it’ll have locations across the U.S. for ATM withdrawals, even in SuperAmerica gas stations here in Minnesota so you don’t even have to go to a bank to take money out without an ATM fee – I love that. It’s stable even in this craziness going on. It’s free checking accounts have all you’re asking for above I do believe. I use this free checking and then link it to my INGDirect account for all my long term savings. I have a Wells Fargo basic savings account for my short term savings, overdraft protection, etc. It works very well for me.
This is probably going to be a hot topic, as people’s experiences will vary a lot.
That being said, I’ve had GREAT experiences with Chase. I have no minimum cash balance, free unlimited debits, no fees paid to open it. My checks clear within days, all of my debits are shown as pending immediately on my online checking (and my balance reflects that with an Actual Balance / Present Balance differentiation).
Naturally, there are overdraft fees, bounced check fees, but I imagine all banks are like that. I’m not sure about free checks, as I order fun ones separately.
I personally like that Chase has branches all over the US, in the event that I move I can easily transfer. My credit cards are through Chase, which makes it easy for me to pay bills and view them all on one page.
Additionally, I DO have an ING account set up, connected to my Chase acct. I’ve been with them since they were “Bank One” (about 5 years now?) and have never had problems…
I would look for a credit union that you could join. Many have memberships that are based on where you live or where you work.
I have one that is connected to my work and I can open unlimited basic checking accounts and savings accounts for free, free bill pay, I can use any other federal credit union’s ATM for free, I get 10 free transactions at other banks ATMs (although the ATM’s bank will usually charge a fee, but my credit union won’t charge me anything additional) and I get really good service because its small and I know everyone that works there. Try this website to find one that would work for you: http://www.creditunion.coop/cu_locator/index.html
Actually, this sounds like most banks. I have accounts (checking and savings) at Chase which have no minimum balance or monthly/yearly fees, unlimited debits (although US law charges a fee on more than six withdrawals from a savings account and some banks charge the fee for less than that), no fee for using Chase’s ATMs (plus they have ATMs in all Duane Reade drug stores in NYC), free online bill pay, checks and debits clear in two-three days, free checks (the first box, anyway; no bank will give you more than that) and no other fees. Also, I got $200 to open the account when I transferred from another bank. If you do some googling, you can find deals like this pretty frequently.
I have a pretty similar set up with a business checking account at Sovereign bank. Sovereign is not a major bank, though.
I hate WaMu for what it’s worth. I mystery shopped them, and while doing so experienced the most lax personal information security I’ve ever seen, had rude tellers and was charged all sorts of fees for no reason. I imagine their policies will be overridden by Chase’s eventually, but I would never do business with them.
well, there’s Wells Fargo and Bank of America – the two banking giants that would probably fulfill all your banking needs. I bankwith WF – which has free online bankng, no minimum (as long as you also open a savings account with them, or set up automatic deposit), etc etc. Also bear in mind that when you first move here, and get your SSN number and ll taht, you’ll apply for a credit card – chances are that they’ll give you a secured credit card since you won’t have any credit history. This is one of the most anoying things – that your credit history from Canada does nt transfe over, even though they use transunion, experian and uhm..whatever the other one’s called!
Pretty much everything on your list is standard for all major banks in the US. The only thing you will probably have trouble with is the free checks. You usually get the first book free and pay after that.
Look for what bank is biggest where you are moving. That will probably be your best bet. I have had an account at US Bank for nearly 10 years and have been happy, but I am not sure how big they are where you are moving.
There’s always Bank of America and Compass. I only have a small bit of experience with Compass (they’re pretty regional or at least were). Compass at the time didn’t have any fees really (obv they NSF fee etc) and would reimburse you for ATM fees from other banks and didn’t charge you a fee.
Wachovia, Chase
That said, I’d look into getting a credit union. Eligibility is usually an industry, relatives, tied to a company (e.g. American Airlines), county you live in (Tarrant or Dallas most likely for you) etc. I’ve never had fees or minimums (ok $5 to open a savings account), it’s “owned” by you, the member.
I use Bank of America for my checking and savings accounts. I love them. Great customer service, tons of branches in convenient locations, and plenty of ATMs.
My account has no minimum balance, no fees, free online banking etc. I am not sure about the maximum daily ATM withdrawal amount; I have never tried to take out more than $200 at a time.