ramack said:I'm looking into opening a checking account with Pres. In general, are those that have the Pres checking satisfied?

Rich

I've also been satisfied. I'm actually surprised how well it works without a physical bank I can go to. I've even gotten large cashier's checks from them with ease. For the rest of my two cents, see my Prez review on my personal blog.

I have read a few reviews on Presidental.

Considering using them. I have been a long-time Citibank user (back before Direct Access even EXISTED... and when it started you had to use a modem to dial directly into their VT100 servers).

I don't have any problems with them. But I would like to get a higher interest rate.

Right now I have everything with citibank... CCs... savings... checking (with DD)... billpay... quicken downloads... etc.

I am considering moving everything over to presidental to get the better rates.

I have a small cash business where I find myself depositing once a week or so. The mail-in depositing seems to be a pain (would still have to keep Citi for this).

Has anyone tried doing a bill-pay to make a deposit? Instead of writing a check to yourself and mailing it to them with the stamp... how bout setting up yourself as a Payeee with another bill-pay bank like Citi... and mail it to presidental (ATTN: mail teller... etc.) with your account number on the check?

Also... how is their bill-pay? Do people get paid quick?

Very nervous about this big switch... but would do it if its worth it. I get piss-poor interest right now... and I am the type of person that prefers to keep all their accounts in one general place for simplicity.

I am having trouble opening an account with them. They send me a letter saying that they need prove of my residence (even though all 3 of my credit report has my current address), by sending them a copy of a utility bill. But I don't have any utility bills, because my rent include utilities. I called them if I can send them a cell phone bill or bank statements, and the CSR said no. She said I can also send a copy of my drivers licenses if it has my current address. My drivers licenses has my permanent address (parents address) on it, and I don't want to change because I move very often. Does this mean I cannot open an account with them? Does anyone know a way to get around this?

DjPiLL said:You don't have phone? Cable? internet? electric? Anything?

Change your drivers license temporarily. In NYS... its like $10 buks. Don't have to show anything. Can even do it online.

Then change it back when you are done.

I live in a school owned apartment, which includes water, gas, electricity, cable, ethernet. I don't have a lined phone, only cell phone, but the CSR said that cell phone bill doesn't count as utility bill.

I live in California, don't know if they have this temporary license change. Plus, I am not sure if it's worth the $10 and 3 hours in the DMV for this account.

They also rejected me twice because my DL didn't match the address. Dude, nobody updates those things, and it also costs $10 and a trip to the DMV here in Washington. Idiots, I've opened numerous bank accounts and never had a problem.

Also, the address requirement is totally stupid. It's so easy to forge. And I asked them "If I just give you the address from my license, and then change it immediately after the account is opened, will that be ok?" and they said yes.

I was told by a CSR that I will get an ATM card first for my internet checking and after 3 month I can apply for a debit card. Why do I have to wait for 3 month to get a debit card? Doesn't most bank give you a debit card right away?

evanm said (in part): I especially like that transfers from ING Direct to presidential bank take 1 day instead of the 3 or 4 it took to get to bank of america...

That's amazing. Is that every single time? Anyone else have these transfers (from ING to Presidential) take longer than 1 day?

kesh said:Okay, I talked to a CSR today and finally got this settled. I will send them a copy of my lease contract (actually don't have one now, but the school housing will send me a duplicate), but the contract does not have my street address on it, it just says XXX Court, Apt XXX, but I will also attach a map of my apartment complex, which will show that this the court name correspond to my street address. In addition, they still want me to send a copy of my drivers license, even if the address on there doesn't match.

I could've have also done an address change in the DMV, it's actally free, but I must call them after the form is processed in order to have the DMV send me a paper card with my new address, otherwise, they tell you to just write your address on a piece of paper and attach it to the license yourself. Knowing how effective our state government is, this process will only take about a month. It's just not worth the trouble.

I agree that this address validation process is stupid. The DMV does not verify if your address is correct. Anyone that got a hold of your SSN can open an utility account under your name. And most lease contracts are just a generic contract with the owner and renter's name and signature (can be forged easily). If they have already verfied my address on my credit report, I don't know why they still want to see utility bills.

I just got a voice mail from Presidential today saying that they cannot accept the verification I sent to them (I gave them my apt contract, drivers license and SSN card). They want me to send them two of the following: paycheck stub, drivers license, student ID or SSN card, notice how I did send them two of the four.

I called them, and the CSR said that they don't take housing contract as prove of residence (I actually called them 3 time to make sure what I said in the previous post is acceptable), and repeated that they want two of the four mentioned in the previous paragraph. Then I said, I did give you my drivers license and SSN card. Then she said really, and asked to call me back because she need to talk to ask her manager.

She called me back pretty quickly and said the address on my drivers license does not match what I gave them, so they can't accept it, but I can mail them a bank statement and cell phone bill to prove my residence (all the CSR I talked to before said they don't take bank statements or cell phone bills). I am pretty pissed about the inconsistency of the information they are providing.

Anyways, I just mailed them my bank statement and cell phone bill. On top of that, I also attached my 1098-T form (it a form that prove I paid tuition, needed for tax exemtpion, has my address on it), my student ID, SSN card and passport. That's all the ID verification that I can think of. If they still don't accept my application, then I give up.

evanm said:I like Presidential Bank's security
I like the fact that I can use my local ATM without any surcharge.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the switch...

About the ATM, your local ATM do charge you for the use of Presidential ATM card, right?

workingonit said:kesh said (in part): I just got a voice mail from Presidential today saying that they cannot accept the verification I sent to them (I gave them my apt contract, drivers license and SSN card). They want me to send them two of the following: paycheck stub, drivers license, student ID or SSN card, notice how I did send them two of the four.

I called them, and the CSR said that they don't take housing contract as prove of residence (I actually called them 3 time to make sure what I said in the previous post is acceptable), and repeated that they want two of the four mentioned in the previous paragraph. Then I said, I did give you my drivers license and SSN card. Then she said really, and asked to call me back because she need to talk to ask her manager.

She called me back pretty quickly and said the address on my drivers license does not match what I gave them, so they can't accept it, but I can mail them a bank statement and cell phone bill to prove my residence (all the CSR I talked to before said they don't take bank statements or cell phone bills). I am pretty pissed about the inconsistency of the information they are providing.

Anyways, I just mailed them my bank statement and cell phone bill. On top of that, I also attached my 1098-T form (it a form that prove I paid tuition, needed for tax exemtpion, has my address on it), my student ID, SSN card and passport. That's all the ID verification that I can think of. If they still don't accept my application, then I give up.

When I run into a situation like this, where you never get the same person twice, I find it's most useful to say, "I'd like to get this thing resolved, but every person I speak to seems to use a different set of requirements. Can I just fax these items to you right now, and would you personally call me back with the bank's decision?" (Sometimes it's best to get the supervisor on the line and make that request directly to him or her.)

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually thought of that too, but I don't have access to a fax machine. Plus the CSR that answer the phone are not the ones that process the verification, she doesn't even have access to the stuff I send to Presidential and that's why she had to call her manager.

I just think Presidential is going overboard with this security thing. I have opened a couple bank accounts and many credit cards in the past year and never had this problem. They have already verified my identity and ADDRESS on my credit report, I don't know why they still want additional prove of my address, and why isn't a housing contract accepted as a prove? I think as long as you are the person that bear the name on the account, that should be enough, why is address such a big issue, and need two source of prove.