Do you bank with an "online" bank only? How do you like it?

I can assure you that the "bricks & sticks" banks are going away...quickly. Between the virus and businesses realizing that they don't need a physical location, etc., the banking model is changing. Besides, when you have to pay the overhead of commercial leases, on-site staff, etc., the physical banks can't compete with rates. I know...I used to work in banking for several years!

I challenge you to compare rates of return to your bank -vs any of the online banks, i.e., Discover, Chime, etc., etc.

Ed
They will never go away, they will be downsized for sure. There will always be someone who needs a person to help them and there will always be someone (for now) to be able to hand physical money in large sums to someone, you can only get sooooo much money out of an ATM.

I agree with the rate of return online, however as I posted, the best bank is a credit union with no fine print or "catch" that I posted above.

Discover has competitive savings rates compared to Alliant Credit Union but Discover does not offer interest on checking account like Alliant does and sooo the "catch"
 
I can assure you that the "bricks & sticks" banks are going away...quickly. Between the virus and businesses realizing that they don't need a physical location, etc., the banking model is changing. Besides, when you have to pay the overhead of commercial leases, on-site staff, etc., the physical banks can't compete with rates. I know...I used to work in banking for several years!

I challenge you to compare rates of return to your bank -vs any of the online banks, i.e., Discover, Chime, etc., etc.

Ed
Never thought of the banks that way 👍🏼
 
No I wouldn't feel comfortable.. I like that my bank is local and if I have any banking concerns I can walk into a branch. "However corona did a good job at making that almost impossible" have to schedule appointments now for in person.. Only drive-up window and atm svc readily available. I am a fan of the mobile banking app and can deposit checks pay bills with the bill pay move and transfer funds.. So maybe one day in the future I'll go to a 100% online banking where there's no local branches.
My bank has announced that once the dust settles, they plan to close a lot of branches because "people have decided to do more transactions online" and, thus, less need for a physical presence. Lest I get too close to the proverbial thread-locking third rail, all I'm going to say is "hello? You closed the branches and forced people to bank online."

Other than that, I miss the local/small-town S&L that I banked with for many years. It was nice to be able to walk into the branch and be recognized and greeted by name by the staff. Now that they are swallowed up by an out of state institution, it's just not the same.
 
My bank has announced that once the dust settles, they plan to close a lot of branches because "people have decided to do more transactions online" and, thus, less need for a physical presence. Lest I get too close to the proverbial thread-locking third rail, all I'm going to say is "hello? You closed the branches and forced people to bank online."

Other than that, I miss the local/small-town S&L that I banked with for many years. It was nice to be able to walk into the branch and be recognized and greeted by name by the staff. Now that they are swallowed up by an out of state institution, it's just not the same.
i understand... i embrace technology do i get afraid on certain extents of tech yes definitely.. i am more one of those guys who stretches out the standards as far and long as they can go... when i am out of options and back to the wall then i go with the change.
 
I've been using Ally bank for almost a decade. The only limitation I've run into with online banking is that you cannot deposit cash.
 
I have been with Marcus (Goldman Sachs Bank) for at least five years. The interest rate has dropped to 0.5%, but that's still in line with what other online banks are paying. The transfers to and from my checking account happen quickly. I have no complaints.
 
When I first met my wife 20 years ago we talked about our banking habits. We were out one day and she wanted to go to the bank to transfer money from her checking to savings account but she didn't have her passbook on her and she asked where I kept mine. Told I didn't have one. She was in disbelief and worried about my fiscal responsibility since I already told her I was in the middle of discharging a personal bankruptcy. I started laughing. Told her they are obsolete, people don't use passbooks anymore, and you can easily transfer online. She countered that her mother still used one and she doesn't trust her computer prowess even though she found me online. Which I thought was really strange that I met her online but she's very weak with computer skills. Her work still pays her with a live check so she goes to the bank at least twice a month to cash her check. Last time I needed to go to the bank myself was several years ago to get a new ATM card after I needed to use it at a sketchy ATM.

As Glock stated above, we win at casino occasionally and prefer to not keep more than a few thousand in cash at home.

The wife uses the bank branch to remove cash without a fee. ATM fees annoy her.
 
When I first met my wife 20 years ago we talked about our banking habits. We were out one day and she wanted to go to the bank to transfer money from her checking to savings account but she didn't have her passbook on her and she asked where I kept mine. Told I didn't have one. She was in disbelief and worried about my fiscal responsibility since I already told her I was in the middle of discharging a personal bankruptcy. I started laughing. Told her they are obsolete, people don't use passbooks anymore, and you can easily transfer online. She countered that her mother still used one and she doesn't trust her computer prowess even though she found me online. Which I thought was really strange that I met her online but she's very weak with computer skills. Her work still pays her with a live check so she goes to the bank at least twice a month to cash her check. Last time I needed to go to the bank myself was several years ago to get a new ATM card after I needed to use it at a sketchy ATM.

As Glock stated above, we win at casino occasionally and prefer to not keep more than a few thousand in cash at home.

The wife uses the bank branch to remove cash without a fee. ATM fees annoy her.
I used to work in banking.

Does your Wife know that one of the easiest way to steal someone's identity is through the use of physical checks? If she only knew the number of people's hands that a physical check passes through on the way to the Federal Reserve, I think she's be shocked! Internal banking statistics show online banking is *far* safer than using the old, physical checks.

Just a little *insider* info.

Ed
 
I don’t. All mine are actual branches. Now I just wish they would let you come inside you have to go thru the drive thru still and have had too for the past year or so. They also won’t give any change either so no coin roll hunting for me which makes me angry 😡.
 
I started banking online when I grew tired of spending one Saturday morning a month at the local bank having the bs service charges removed from my account. I've been with Schwab for about ten years and couldn't be happier. Before my employer went with direct deposit, Schwab sent me prepaid envelopes for my paycheck. They pay the ATM fees that other banks charge, and they have none themselves. I don't miss the local ripoff bank at all.
 
I don’t. All mine are actual branches. Now I just wish they would let you come inside you have to go thru the drive thru still and have had too for the past year or so. They also won’t give any change either so no coin roll hunting for me which makes me angry 😡.
I did the coin thing when I was your age too.
I also went to Canada in the early eighties and when I returned home polluted the vending machines
for years with the bogus Canadian crap...lol.
The savings was 30%. Lol
 
I use a Uniball 207 ink pen to write my checks.

The FBI tried washing the check (dissolving the ink with solvents),
and was unable to remove the ink.
 
We have several banks and credit unions. Pretty much 100% online. Fidelity for the largest accounts. I know not a bank, but we treat two accounts as in and out checks, echecks etc. But BECU, WECU credit unions we treat as banks too. All that said I keep a couple Bank of America accounts open. One a merchant account. Again all these online. I have never been to the local (Redmond, WA) Fidelity office or the CU outlets. That said at the bottom of the hill is Duvall B of A and yes I do go in there to physically deposit cash and checks/money orders.
 
I use a Uniball 207 ink pen to write my checks.

The FBI tried washing the check (dissolving the ink with solvents),
and was unable to remove the ink.
It doesn't matter that someone can't "wash" the check. With a laser printer and magnetic toner all you need is the routing number and account number from one check to be able to print your own checks. It actually happened to one of my daughter's friend's parents. Someone stole their electric bill payment from their mailbox and drained their checking account. They found out when someone came to their house to turn off the water - a bunch of their checks bounced.

Checks still have their uses, I suppose, but the last time I wrote one was in 2019 to a company that painted my house because they offered a discount for not using a credit card. I even pay my property taxes online these days.

I sure am grateful for banking apps that allow you to deposit checks without having to go to the physical bank.
 
See if you're eligible to join a local or online credit union. They almost always have better interest rates, loan rates and fees compared to traditional banks. I've been a credit union member for 40 years without ever visiting a branch. Its 36-48 month car loan rate starts at 1.72%. Yes, zero interest rates are cheaper, but I prefer the personal service I get from my credit union for savings, checking and auto loans. But I also have a mortgage with a traditional bank and several accounts with Fidelity.
 
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I did the coin thing when I was your age too.
I also went to Canada in the early eighties and when I returned home polluted the vending machines
for years with the bogus Canadian crap...lol.
The savings was 30%. Lol
Yeah lol. Canadian coins are cool. At the bank they are still saying their is a coin shortage so they only give coins to businesses which is a lie lol. There isn’t a coin shortage still.
 
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