I'll moving into the east bay/oakland area in a couple months and once again have to go thru the drill of 'pick my bank' to open a new acct. And no, my current bank is Commerce Bank, a chain present on the East Coast only afaik. So basically what major bank chains are avail out that way and what seems to have the most avail branches, ATM avail, least crappy fees for checking, ATM usage, etc.

What do you use?

Ed

 

a lot of people seem to like WAMU but i've never had any problems with B of A

 

plat. wamu accounts > * as far as checking goes

 

I have Bank of the West just because they were really close by me when I first opened my account 10 years ago. I have had BofA as well, they didn't like them. Bad service and random charges. Yeah, random, because if I go back and question, they'll give me back the money. I have friend that actually worked at BofA for many years, and he hates BofA as well. I also have a local credit union. EXTREMELY small, but good rates. My gf has Wellsfargo. They seem to be pretty good in terms of location and services.

 

I bank mainly with Wells Fargo and have never had any problems with them. My boyfriend banks with WAMU (Washington Mutual) and from what I know has never had any issues with misc. charges, etc...(except long wait when calling to speak with a personal banker). Both have lots of bank and atm locations. Wells Fargo even has those branches in grocery stores which often have shorter lines and are open 7 days a week and longer hours.

Welcome to the bay too!!

 

I have BofA. No problems,I love the bill pay and free check sending services

 

Oh yeah online billpay and acct management is key for me as well. Being able to actively balance transfer and manage my accts online is important.

Sorry but what's WAMU?

I know BoA = Bank of America

Ed

 

WAMU = Washington Mutual

Wells Fargo will let you manage your accounts online as well (including apply for loans, credit cards, bill pay, etc...)

 

I like BofA. Billpay makes like easier. Also the account manager is pretty nice, you get it the logins for your major services and it checks the balance and tracks payments.

 

/me loves BofA - they have awesome online services.

 

you can go wrong with the big 3 (wells fargo, washington mutal, b of a) as they are convineintly located everywhere in the bay area

 

What are you looking for in a bank? Standard bank for checking and savings or good rates for CD's/MMA's?

For checking and savings I would recommend B of A for convenience and ATMs. For good rates, World Savings.

Whatever bank you go with, make sure you are aware of all the potential fees and charges.

 

I would say WaMu, or KeyPoint credit union.

 

I have both WaMu and BofA. Both are good. To me, BofA is more convenient for their ATM locations.

 

Get your free checking with WAMU, but do your savings with orange! (INGdirect.com)

You can get something like 4-5% on your savings, which is the rate of current cds... or something