Advise on alternatives to citi and BOA

BBB?

I would suggest you look into working with a local bank. You'll probably find something you like here:
http://www.highyieldcheckingdeals.com/2008/03/high-yield-reward-checking-accounts-by.html

Ignore the haters who have never even seen a Moore movie, but who would spew bile against him no matter what. I seem to recall a lot of people railing against TARP last year, and now many of these same people rail against Moore for... railing against TARP. I don't get it.

OP, you raise a valid concern, and most any credit union would help you accomplish what you want (I also happen to like Alliant CU). On top of that, another suggestion is to be as unprofitable to BOA/Citi as possible (i.e. be a "deadbeat" customer), as in never paying interest, keeping checking balances minimal, and taking advantage of as many sign-up bonuses as possible.

ThePessimist said: First, let me say that Moore's movie is incredibly biased and inaccurate. I wouldn't recommend you make any decisions based on that. However, it is true that BofA is a truly awful place to bank.

Does anyone else chuckle at this sentence?

Translation:
Ahh, let me poo-poo someone elses opinion and instead of making a movie or producing any proof let me offer my own.

Personally, I don't have a problem with someone choosing not to do business with people they feel acted unethically. If the only thing that drives you is getting the best deal, does that make you any different than the people that risked the money of honest Americans? (including their pension funds?).

I recently inherited some money in BOA, and I am in the process right now of getting the money out of that bank. Part of the reason is their branches are always busy, and it takes longer to do my business, and the other reason is I don't want to support a system of banks that are "too big to fail".

craig10x said: Moore IS an idiot, who makes huge profits from his movies and makes up a lot of the stuff you see in his films, which he presents as facts.....but i can understand how you might not like to deal with huge commercial banks who tend to offer very low interest rates, and don't seem to be that customer oriented...so i would recommend a smaller, community type bank or a Credit Union, and i would absolutely agree about the suggestion on Alliant CU...they are terrific and you can read more about them in the FW Alliant CU thread....Highly Recommended....I opened an account with them yesterday, we'll see how this goes. I've been using Fidelity, but all their products have very low rates and transfers take a fricken WEEK to clear.

aaandre said: Thank you for the suggestions! I am interested in a service provider that is in the business of service rather than the business of extracting maximum profit from me.Every publicly-held company (this includes most banks) are required by their shareholders to maximize profit.

What you are looking for is a credit union. That said, I have an account with a minimal balance at BOA for convenience (mostly for depositing/cashing checks), and I don't pay a dime in fees. I don't see anything wrong with large banks, as long as you are aware of what products and services you are using.

dmlavigne1 said: ThePessimist said: First, let me say that Moore's movie is incredibly biased and inaccurate. I wouldn't recommend you make any decisions based on that. However, it is true that BofA is a truly awful place to bank.

Does anyone else chuckle at this sentence?

Translation:
Ahh, let me poo-poo someone elses opinion and instead of making a movie or producing any proof let me offer my own.Well, I in turn have to chuckle at that - as if those 2 things - "making a movie or producing any proof" - were in any way synonymous?

In any case (I think I can recall that far back) OP's original topic was, basically, good banks or credit unions. I wholeheartedly second the recommendation of Alliant CU, although since they got their start as the CU of United Airlines (“Big Business! Capitalism! Lions and Tigers and Bears!! Oh My!!”), they might not meet Micheal's litmus test. However they have low fees, generally good service & CSRs, and are currently paying 2% on liquid savings through the end of October. They even more-or-less tell you your credit score, or at least an approximation thereof, for free. You can join by joining a PTA somewhere (anywhere, I think).

A 2nd choice might be PenFed, mentioned above, if it were not for the fact that they are of course Military -related, which I'm sure is a Michael no-no. (My 3-year 6.25% PenFed CDs will be coming due early next year.) There are a number of ways you can join - relatives in the Military , other ways, etc. See website. (Please try not to mention the name “Michael Moore” to any of the PenFed CSRs who may have relatives/friends in the Military .)

A personal 3rd choice might be NWFCU in DC. They are competent, low or no fees, good website, etc. They had some great 3.75% add-on 2-year CDs a few months ago which since we dove into a low-rate environment are still a good deal for adding-on. However, they are (& they make no bones about this) “where the CIA employees bank”. That's probably the biggest Michael no-no of the three.

In fact, the CIA could be the feature of Micheal's next movie, unless Oliver Stone gets there first.

While I don't always agree with Michael Moore, I do sympathize with OP's concerns. I'd much rather do business with an institution like a credit union whose purpose is to serve their customers (and offer them decent products and services), rather than a bank whose purpose is to serve their shareholders (and turn a profit for them).

I'd bet that the for-profit banks that I do business with probably lose money having me as a customer, since I wouldn't be doing business with them if it weren't for the signup bonuses/CC rewards programs/0% no-fee BT's/etc that they offer. Aside from offers like those that are too good to pass up (and where CUs often do not have very good offers to compete), I usually go with either my local credit union or USAA (for Military only) for my financial needs. Both have great customer service and USAA has a few perks (Deposit@Home, ATM fee refunds, etc) that are great, and my local CU I can make deposits and they usually have very good CD rates.

As for the "experience" of using a credit union...credit unions aren't that much different from banks aside from how they operate internally and how they operate within the law. For instance the CU has to place limits on who can join the credit union (you live/work/study/worship within a certain area, work for certain companies, etc)...but for the popular ones there is almost always a fairly easy way to join; read the threads here. I'd also look at local CUs that you maybe eligible to join, some of them have good offers and good customer service too.

(BTW I don't understand how the mods thought that my post contained "political commentary", especially compared to some of the other posts in the thread.)

If you watched the movie The International... all banks/credit union/financial institutions are the same. You just have to choose which one is going to take you for a ride.

You might take a look at the banking section of the National Green Pages. Of the banks listed there Shore Bank is the one I've heard the most about, Bank Deals lists it occassionally for its high rates on deposits.

The Green Pages is maintained by Green America whose tag line is "Economic Action for a Just Planet", which sounds like it might be in line with the values you are interested in supporting. Of course, do your own research, both into the financial institutions where you put your money and values screening organizations like Green America. In particular, be sure to get independent information and evaluate investments like you would other investments with regard to risk and stability of the institution.

Now, I will don an asbestos suit so that I can withstand the reaction to SRI

probably a disgruntled ex-employee of the company...but you will take his word for it...interesting....

chimeer said: lol only a fool would make financial decisions based on a Michael Moore movie. The man is an idiot that exploits other idiots for profit.

On the contrary, Moore is a very intelligent (albeit totally dishonest and unethical) person who exploits idiots for profit. Do you honestly believe that he believes the garbage he spews? He must be laughing all the way to the bank as he makes millions of dollars by bashing capitalism.

BTW, I don't think that BOA is an awful place to bank if you're using them for checking. You need to watch your minimum balances to avoid fees, but they have ATMs everywhere and I love how they automatically scan checks that you deposit. One annoying thing is that they keep pestering me about opening a savings account every time I talk to a teller. Ugh.

And Americans never purchase foreign drugs or go on medical vacations?

lol and the comment about "Canadian style health care": as if we MUST copy every aspect of Canada's or Britain's health system, rather than incorporating some of the elements of each which might benefit our nation. If you're remodeling your house, can't you get different ideas from different places without copying their entire structure?

and if I was gonna copy one country's health care sytem it would not be Canada's, it would be Taiwan's. Google Taiwan's health care system if you're curious.

curtisekarr said: The health care industry and all anti-Michael Moore folks blasted Sicko when it came out for it's "distortions".

Recently Wendell Potter, a 20-year PR executive and former Head of Communications for CIGNA, was asked if Sicko was factual. He admitted, "Yes".

I think I'll take his word on that.
First, I'd question whether a person at CIGNA would have the knowledge to affirm everything in Sicko. And what has Wendell Potter really said? That the insurance companies are trying to influence the health care debate by emphasizing problems in government run systems. I have no doubt that's true, and it's no different from the PR that most industries use when under fire from Washington.

Second, there's a big difference between being factual and being fair. For any topic (health insurance, public schools, corporate responsibility, etc.), you can cherry pick stories that make the subjects look awful. Think of it this way: suppose health insurance worked well for 95% of the people (not a real statistic - just a thought experiment). That means you'd have 15 million people with bad experiences to talk about. If you just took the worst of those stories, you could have a presentation that was factual, but in no way fair. Add some innuendo and emotion, and you have an even more biased, albeit factual, film.

Such cherry picking of stories is what Moore excels at. Anyone can do it if they have limited ethics. For example, if you would like me to recite some facts that show that Moore is an incredibly racist bigot, I could easily do so.