Banks, checking fee's and what to do.

Recently we bought our home, our loan originated with Stearns Leanding Company (a company I would never reccomend). My hopes were answered that they would sell off our loan shortly after closing and our loan is now in the hands of  Bank of America.

I am not unhappy about this, in fact we are thrilled that an actual bank will be handling our bank statements - as the other company couldn't even read the bottom of the paper work we gave them - I was terrified of their math skills.

However, this has caused me to pay more attention to news articles concerning this bank. (Follow the link for the full story.) Bank of America is now charging 8+ dollars for checking and to talk to a teller! Alright please answer me this, Why do people use banks that charge?

Seriously I have used a bank once and only once for my one year in higher education. As soon as I moved back home I returned to my credit union. A credit union that not only does not charge me fee's on my checking account, but credits my checking account interest every month. So again I will ask you, why do normal everyday people use banks when they only cater to millionaires and businesses and they treat the every day common man like something to be wiped from their shoes?

Here's something else you might not know, credit unions (if you do your homework before placing your money in one) have the ability for federal protection against failure just like banks do. All you need to do is make sure the credit union you are looking at is protected. I have banked at small credit unions and large credit unions.

With smaller credit unions you get more hands on involvement, board meetings, yearly dinners and voting rights. They normally will do several types of personal loans, savings accounts and car loans. Bigger credit unions still have voting privileges (normally by mail) and offer the larger loans for houses, and small businesses.

If every common everyday average household would leave the world of banking and go to a credit union the banks would remember who REALLY keeps them in business and who they need to cater to! The world is not made up of multimillionaires nor is it made up of huge companies, its the everyday man who pays more than 25% of the daily banking  revenue, revenue that they are trying to cash in on by charging all of these extra fee's!

Now some (especially the smaller CU's) need you to belong to a group, be related or have a savings account with said bank with a small fee keeping the account open at all times. The larger CU's do not require much more than an open savings account with 20.00 of non touchable money. Now seriously 20.00 one time that stays in your own account earning you interest or high monthly fees for a bank that treats you badly? To me its a no brainer, I mean seriously people didn't you ever watch its a wonderful life? CU vs. Banking!

So if you are a bank customer wondering what to do, you do have options. Credit Unions have all the same services as banks, they offer checking, savings and of course debit and online banking, you just have to shop around. Which I don't think is too hard when you think of how much money you might save a year (96.00 a yr on checking at Bank of America now).

Yes, my ranting is done - for now.