How satisfied are you with your bank?

Though my small bank has changed names three times in 9 years, I still believe that small is the name of the successful game. In several family crises this small bank has acted in large and helpful ways to smooth the waters for us.

Calm down, Mark. Whatever Clark is, he’s not a fascist. Nor have I seen any evidence in his posts that he’s a bigot or redneck, and since he’s part of the plutocracy, he’s technically not a shill for it. Truth is important. Let’s leave the words-mean-what-I-say-they-mean attitude to the likes of kimMN.

I’m pretty happy with my credit union. They’ve treated me right, fees, rates and level of service has been unquestionably good. However, the trade off is that in addition to the usual problems with small credit unions (few offices, inconvenient hours, paying ATM fees everywhere) I have to deal with an outdated online banking system that thinks cell phones are only capable of WAP, only supports money transfers between your own accounts (no cash transfers to others) and thinks that the only money management software people use is Turbo Tax. At first blush, it doesn’t seem so bad until you realize that means that you can’t use any other software, including competing tax software, and semi-automated budgeting tools like Mint, or PageOnce, and has no plans to support them. It doesn’t help that no one at my credit union even knew that Mint or PageOnce existed…

My satisfaction level took a big dip downward when as the final straw they eliminated the interest paid on my account without notifying me. I have been a model and loyal costumer, maintaining a sizable balance for years, and bit by bit they have alienated me with dwindling services and interest rates. When I call them up with the possible intent of, for the first time in decades, taking my business elsewhere my first request is going to be: define ‘customer service’ for me. If anything it should prove amusing.

I’m very satisfied with the very small town bank that has my checking and savings accounts. I’m very dissatisfied with the large bank that “manages” my home mortgage. Even though I have never missed a payment, I get late notices EVERY MONTH, sent via certified mail. I wonder if they even bother checking to see on what date they receive and post my payments. In fact, I believe they deliberately avoid posting my payments from time to time, in order to justify sending me a late notice. I have gotten into the habit of sending my payment several days before the actual due date….but this doesn’t seem to help matters at all.

Lately, very unsatisfied. I have had a business account at TCF for over 6 years. Due to recent fee increases, I am in the process of moving to a credit union. They used to charge a flat $35 overdraft fee. They now charge a $28 fee for each DAY your account is in the negative. (up to max of 14 days- $392!) My business has never incurred an overdraft fee on that account but I think the change to that amount is exorbitant and frankly, I can’t believe it’s legal.

I opened my first bank account at the age of 15 at an institution then called Northwestern National Bank. They were most famous for having a ball atop their building that would predict the weather in accordance with the color it portrayed, and whether or not it was flashing. The bank’s advertising slogan was “We love to say yes!” and apparently they did. I did much business there, having checking, savings and loans with easy, friendly contacts. Then the bank changed to Norwest. Small fees began to appear. Nothing outragious, but different than had been before. It was tolerable, and I stayed with them. Then Norwest became Wells Fargo, and the extra fees multiplied. Fees for everything, including one for not keeping a minimum balance, while interest paid on savings (and at one point, checking) accounts evaporated. It felt like they were actively trying to drive me away, in favor of some more mamoth account on the horizon, as though I had somehow become an annoying gnat to be tolerated at best. At length, I was refused a loan even though I had had many auto and signature loans with them in the past and had repaid all of them before their due dates and had regular employment. After decades of being their customer, I felt insulted, and with the addition of what seemed to be fees for processing fees, I left the bank. I now am with a credit union, where clerks take time to chat, and transactions are simple and personable, and where loans are processed by someone with whom one actually has face-to-face contact, the way a human-scaled bank should be.(I’ve never been denied there, either.) There are no hidden fees and even the ATM charges nothing for credit union customers. I have never regretted leaving Wells Fargo. They have become something other than a bank for the common customer, now intent on mortgages and large accounts. That seems to be what has happened with the banking industry as a whole. The “little guy” has been brushed aside in favor of esoteric fiscal creations that profit only the elite. I love my credit union. As for the big banks, should they falter again, I hope that no one comes forward to try to save them. They have outgrown their purpose and even usefulness. In the natural course of capitalism, they may, and perhaps should, fail. And from their ashes, perhaps will emerge a banking phoenix that tells you the weather, or at least likes to say “yes” to its common customers.

I am a credit union member and very happy with it. the online management tools are great, the staff are easy to work with, the rates are compettive and …. they don’t excessively market me. They don’t have to … I and most every other member that i know of , just go there first. That, I think, says a lot.

@Mark..using more name calling, reference to another’s assumed weight to denigrate is such a cheap shot. Keep it civil or have the MPR moderator through your IPS address ban further replies.

Now to the question of bank satisfaction: As long as the government allows the Federal Reserve Bank to dictate which small banks succeed by virtue of their capricious ratings in order to have the capital to make loans and as long as the President thinks he can best control this process with the hundred or so new added regulations , banks and credit unions will have to make changes to minimize that negative impact. Most do not know that the Fed Reserve admitted to some manipulation of their favorites when doing stress tests on which should close.

People are free to choose where they bank. Credit Unions seem to have the better service although ING has been flawless in service and transparent fees.

I think the Occupy Wall Street protesters would have the best answer to this banking question, since they are skipping school and some that have jobs are skipping work, it must be important to them enough to be well versed?

Here is their sample of informed OWS protesters just before the National Socialist Organization and SEIU and Steelworkers unions and ACORN all lent a hand to keep the sit ins going.

BTW, hopefully Minnesotans know what the NSO is and the countries it is involved in starting in Russia. These are the folks that want to overthrow governments and worship Adolph Hitler on his birthday..pretty sick but true. And still Obama supports OWS while taking hundreds of millions from Wall Street for his campaigns..doesn’t that seem odd.

Here is the video address so you can test yourself.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/are-you-smarter-than-a-wall-street-occupier/

KimMN, you need to learn to read dear, stop being a hypocrite and generally shut the hell up. Talk about your plutocratic shills. NO ONE is buying your crap. I can’t personally ready past the first line you type, and I’m sure any regular reader of here feels likewise. You’re wasting your time, don’t you have anything worthwhile to do?

Here’s a novel idea. Since you and Clark have all the answers, how about coming down to the people’s square this weekend, bring some signs with your dubious views, and enlighten the rest of up on the error of our ways. I would welcome your wisdom, as long as I can see you keep a straight face while you explain it to me. If either of you don’t actually have the balls to do that, how about the next time you have a thought, keeping it to yourself?

The world of grassroots organizing is scary when it isn’t astroturfed for you ahead of time, isn’t it you wussy shills?

Chuck – [The OWS demonstrators are lawfully assembling and expressing their grievances as is their constitutional right. Some financial institutions (banks, brokerage houses, investment firms, etc.) have made a practice of soaking clients who don’t have the muscle to fight back.] *** Incorrect, the OWS group is not lawfully assembling. Many of these demonstrators are breaking local laws by not getting permits for their demonstrations…they are monopolizing public areas which should only occur through permits. On top of that they have been rioting and attacking private property in Oakland. The OWS group has also been disobeying local laws to not have tents up as well as not leaving the public property as required by law at specific times in the evening. BTW, if you don’t like a bank don’t use them; nothing is stopping you from keeping your money in a safe at home.

I dumped TCF over a year ago. It was the final straw when I felt they tried to trick me into signing up to keep my over draft fees as opposed to simply denying the charge if I go negative. I never overdraft but it was the principle of it, and the final straw. Much happier with the credit union. My larger loans (car, house ect) are with banks though, and really I just send the money in every month and that’s it, both have fair rates and nothing to complain about there. Once you sign on the dotted line its pretty hard to dump the the bank that owns your mortgage–which is ironic considering how easy it is for them to dump you.

@Mark,

I stand by my rebuke of your use of “fascist” to describe Clark. Hot-headed rhetoric from the left is just as bad as hot-headed rhetoric from the right.

Words matter. Fascism (see the link) is a word with an accepted, technical meaning. It does not refer to just any old political idea one happens to dislike, nor is it a mere insult word. It’s an ideology of extreme nationalism, of collectivism, of subsuming the individual into the greater whole of the nation, of the supremacy of the nation one happens to belong to, of violent subjugation of every other nation that proves itself to be weaker than one’s own, and of loyalty to the “Leader” (il Duce in the case of Mussolini, der Führer for Hitler). The word is of Italian origin, and when Hitler translated it into German, he gave it the name that we translate as “National Socialism” (as opposed to economic socialism, which is a different thing entirely). No one posting on these pages has offered any opinion that is even remotely fascistic (though I must say, kimMN’s accusation that Obama is a fascist is especially ridiculous). Furthermore, I said Clark was a plutocrat, not because he’s in the “1%” (me may be, but I wouldn’t know), but because he has identified himself as a wealthy “financial services” executive.

Steve, I typically agree with your post. You give well thought out points and criticisms worthy of giving some serious thought to. To bad many who really need to, do not since it doesn’t prop up their narrow minded little views.

While your definition of fascism maybe be worthy of a civics text book, there is also common usage too. For instance Franklin D Roosevelt in his address to congress on curbing monopolies.

“The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power

The second truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if its business system does not provide employment and produce and distribute goods in such a way as to sustain an acceptable standard of living.”

That is EXACTLY what we in the OWS movement are protesting. Among other thing too yes, but the layers and levels of corruption are so distorted and convoluted of coarse the message may get garbled. We don’t have David Koch money to coach “activist” like the astroturfed tea party does.

We can argue semantics till we’re both blue in the face, but if I’m attacked I will attack in kind. To bad clark doesn’t have the nuts to stand up for him self. I really would like to see either of those two sock puppets come down and enlighten us with their wisdom at the protest. I really do. I think they would be surprised at what they find, instead of what they see of faux news.

Mark, while I have great respect for FDR, he was not right about everything. He should not have turned away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, or sent Japanese-Americans to concentration camps, and he goofed when he conflated plutocracy with fascism. There is some similarity, but they’re not the same thing. Other than that, you are exactly correct. Too much wealth disparity is inimical to democracy.

How can anyone be satisfied with their bank, not credit unions, just banks when the Obama administration lies so often and interferes with banking regulations? Then again, he has something to hide when they order the Hawaii Health dept commissioner to take a leave from work to avoid the subpoena…pathetic. Here’s the run down took from the WND:

“There is obviously a case of fraud going on here,” says Ohio licensed private investigator Susan Daniels. “In 15 years of having a private investigator’s license in Ohio, I’ve never seen the Social Security Administration make a mistake of issuing a Connecticut Social Security number to a person who lived in Hawaii. There is no family connection that would appear to explain the anomaly.”

Does the Social Security Administration ever re-issue Social Security numbers?

“Never,” Daniels told Corsi. “It’s against the law for a person to have a re-issued or second Social Security Number issued.”

Daniels said she is “staking my reputation on a conclusion that Obama’s use of this Social Security Number is fraudulent.”

“A person who wants to hide their true identity often picks up the Social Security Number of a deceased person, thinking that nobody would ever look into it,” Daniels added. “I think it was sometime in the 1980s that Obama decided to hide who he really is.”

There is no indication in the limited background documentation released by the Obama 2008 presidential campaign or by the White House to establish that Obama ever lived in Connecticut.

Nor is there any suggestion in Obama’s autobiography, “Dreams from My Father,” that he ever had a Connecticut address.

Also, nothing can be found in the public record that indicates Obama visited Connecticut during his high-school years.

An affidavit filed by Colorado private investigator John N. Sampson specifies that as a result of his formal training as an immigration officer and his 27-year career in professional law enforcement, “it is my knowledge and belief that Social Security Numbers can only be applied for in the state in which the applicant habitually resides and has their official residence.”

Daniels told WND she believes Obama had a different Social Security Number when he worked as a teenager in Hawaii prior to 1977.

“I doubt this is President Obama’s originally issued Social Security number,” she told WND. “Obama has a work history in Hawaii before he left the islands to attend college at Occidental College in California, so he must have originally been issued a Social Security number in Hawaii.”

Read more: The birth certificate please! Subpoena to be delivered http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=327373#ixzz1csORNc4a

I like my bank. While I live in Minnesota, my bank is located in Texas and Nevada. I don’t need a “local” bank. Afterall with the Internet, what’s “local” anymore. I hope soon the concept of a “local” bank will go the way of the rotary-dial telephone. Such institutions are pathetically obsolete.

I almost never write checks anymore. Heck, I consider a box of checks a lifetime supply.

Deposits? That’s easy. Ever heard of a scanner on your PC? If all else fails, mail it in or snap a picture of the check with your cellular telephone.

My bank refunds all my ATM withdrawal fees, (up to a certain reasonable point), and certainly doesn’t charge me a fee to use an ATM card!

My savings, so-called “checking”, credit card and IRA accounts are online and I can access them day or nite. My computer is my “local” bank. That building uptown with the word “BANK” on the sign out front is as obsolete as tubes in a radio.

The best thing about my bank is NO PEOPLE, just computers. Need to replace an ATM card? Simple. Just the click of a mouse. I’ll take mice over bank tellers anytime.

Where do you get this bullshit, kimMN? I don’t know which is more bizarre, the crap you post, or the fact that you apparently believe it.

By the way, what are your thoughts about Area 51 and the Roswell incident?

“…your comments sound more and more like a man who found out his wife is cheating but has yet to admit it so he blames the private investigator for bringing the facts to him.”

Don’t be absurd, kimMN! That comment presumes I’m somehow in love with Obama. Actually, I supported Hillary Clinton until Obama sewed up the nomination. Anyway, your latest post is still nothing but innuendoes. Be careful; two can play at that game.

So, tell me: Why was Bush’s military record swept under the rug? Were you equally suspicious of the Bush administration’s ties to Haliburton and the big oil companies? Were you equally critical of the torture and other war crimes perpetrated at Cheney’s direction, with Bush’s approval? Did you cast a skeptical eye on the “information” used to persuade Congress to go along with invading Iraq? Were you upset when Bush didn’t wait for diplomacy to play out as he’d promised, but took us into that quagmire as quick as he reasonably could, and then botched the occupation so badly that it descended into civil war? Weren’t you at all bothered by Karl Rove’s underhanded election tactics? Why haven’t the current crop of Republican candidates repudiated those abuses? And how about the Koch brothers’ and Rupert Murdoch’s ongoing behind-the-scenes manipulations? Aren’t you at all suspicious of their motives?

See, and I didn’t even have to go to a partisan web site to find those. I just searched my memory about what I’ve heard on the NEWS over the years.

” Oh, and if someone were to spend millions of dollars doing opposition research on you, kimMN, what might they find that they could twist to sound worse than it really is?”

Posted by Steve the Cynic | November 6, 2011 5:02 PM

YES, exactly! Politico did that tactic to Caine and admitted they did not first talk to the complainant. No details either…sad.

I didn’t vote for McCain and I didn’t for Hillary or Obama..none were fully honest.

The issue today is that the administration is getting the public to complain about the banks while they ignore and hide from their involvement. Barney Frank and Dodd’s bill was a ruse to again hide their own dealings with banks and Fannie mae. Everyone who has followed the news and seen the nu,mbes from Fannie and read the acts, knows these things.

As to OBAMA, the facts remain that he refused to disclose data that others routinely did and the big fact that it was Hillary who brought up his in question citizenship. At first when I heard of the birth certificate story, I dismissed it as another conspiracy story until recently when the whole picture was presented. The killer fact was about discovering his CT social security number given for a Hawaiian resident who would have had a social security number 2-3 years earlier and___ his selective service number matching the CT state origin.

He played the race card to avoid showing his certificate for years until Trump made him find a way out with I assume fabricating a certified copy, now they want to see the original microfiche record of his birth. L:ater, per court order, the HA records commissioner was supoened to provide the access to his original certificate to group but at the last minute, she conveniently had to be away on leave and not available to do it? Come on_ really.

Isn’t it odd that the hospital where he supposedly was born had NO record of his mother ever being admitted and no billing records either? My spouse’s birth records , born in the early 60’s, shows these records in fine detail. Come on..is it so hard to believe that he had his controllers arrange a selective service card and a different social security number when he needed to run for Illionois Senator? They didn’t plan he’d make it this far and when he did, they didn’t know how to undo the false documents so they refused to submit and actually, to this day they still refuse access to his original birth certificates. It was Obama who went on the air to say Hawaii wouldn’t release his original records earlier due to state law…oh please, that is patently dishonest. Tell me our President of the USA can not demand Hawaii release his records or his records from occidental college either? Oh please..

@stevecynic.

Unfortunately you are scared to look at these events and instead rather say, “I’ll wait till Congress does something.”

. I noticed you wouldn’t address the facts on his social security numbers and selective service registration or that his mother’s name never shows on the non protected data at the hospital where Obama was supposed to have been born…so, those small little issues must have been created by terrible republicans before Obama was elected as a state senator??? Really?

How did they know he’d become a president (with ACORN’s fraudulent voter registration__ how many charges have been brought against ACORN now??) Thanks to Congress and state attorney generals) Are you upset that hands of the “Midwest Academy” and the Joyce Foundation backers all set up his campaigns???? I am sure it was not all Bill Ayers doing. ha.

A recent poll shows that consumers are increasingly more dissatisfied with Obama’s policies affecting MN than they are dissatisfied with banks. Obama’s approval rating across five polls shows less than 46% approve pf his policies and less than 15% approve of his economic acts..not to mention i is now past 900 days since the Senate has passed a budget! Meanwhile here are 15 jobs enhancing bills all ready passed in the House with Dems approval as well, these bills are sitting in the Senate because Senate Majority Leader Reid is either senile or devious not to let them vote on it!,

But since you got me curious, I googled and found this snopes.com article near the top: [click here].

Snopes.com and factcheck.org are really good sites, kimMN. I highly recommend them.