quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Is there any reason you must use Suntrust/BBT or whatever they're calling themselves, or any "'big' bank," for that matter?

Nope. No compelling reason other than perceived convenience. SunTrust has branch locations very close to my home, on the route between home and work, and near many of my customers, which made it really easy to deposit checks as soon as I got them.

That convenience has been more than offset by their continual screw-ups, so I am in the process of firing them. I have to take it step by step, first open an account at a Credit Union or locally owned bank, then have my Social Security direct deposit switched over, then once that's accomplished, close all SunTrust / BB&T / Truist accounts.

Pain in the ass, but putting up with continued errors and problems would be a bigger pain.

quote:

SunTrust has branch locations very close to my home, on the route between home and work …

See, that was one of my beefs with them - they kept closing those convenient branches.

Another time, the branch (the one remaining) I was using had a provision to deposit cash directly into the ATM. I tried it and it worked, until one day it didn't. It kicked the money back out, spitting it all over the ground faster than I could catch it, but kept some of it, and without even crediting the amount it kept. (I did get that one resolved after a visit to the branch.) The camel that broke the straw's back was when I logged in and they wanted verification, something they had never done before. I opted for an e-mail, which they sent, but it was blank, with no confirmation code in it. As I said earlier, I couldn't be happier with my credit union.

Can you deposit the checks remotely using the bank/credit union app with your phone? I've been doing that myself. It's incredibly easy and convenient from my home desk. Open the app, take pic of the check, boom! You're done.
.

quote:

I did not know that branch managers could award CPA certification. I learn something new every day.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. It is a secret program for VALUED bank customers.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

I did not know that branch managers could award CPA certification. I learn something new every day.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. It is a secret program for VALUED bank customers.

My local Chase doesn't seem to award CAPs, but it does assign a Personal Banker to at least some of it's customers, perhaps all.

I've got one. Here's their mission statement:

What is a Chase personal banker?
The Personal Banker is a branch based sales position whose primary goal is to acquire, retain and deepen customer relationships

All I need to know is do they walk your dog when you are meeting in the Trust Department?

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:

Can you deposit the checks remotely using the bank/credit union app with your phone?

Two separate problems with that, both in the same week:

1. Deposited a check via the app. The deposit showed in the "Deposit History" tab of the app, but did not show on the account transactions on the BB&T / SunTrust / Truist (whatever they are) website. This resulted in an alleged overdraft.
   
   
2. Two days later, tried to do the remote deposit on another check (while waiting for the new account at Navy Federal Credit Union to be approved). Went through all the steps of making the remote deposit, clicked on the final link, received an error message: "We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later."
   
   Wait a while, try again, rinse, repeat, no joy.

Evidently, the imbeciles at BB&T / SunTrust / Truist went live with the new software, without a thorough test. Probably got it from the low bidder somewhere on the Indian sub-continent. Or did it in house with H1B contractors. End result, thousands of angry customers, as evidenced by lines of cars out to the street, crowded lobbies, and "apologies" on the website.

I got a Bank One account when I moved to Indianapolis because they had the most ATM's in the city thus limiting fees for using other banks' ATM's.

Bank One was acquired by Chase some time ago and I haven't had any trouble with them at all. I can get money from ATM's in every country I travel in with my Chase card.

The personal bankers I have dealt with have been fine. Mortgage fees are insane so I use a local bank for that. If possible I will put car loans with Chase.

The only time I needed a bank over a credit union is to redeem savings bonds

My wife and I have multiple accounts in seperate locations. We no longer use Suntrust, or BOA. Both of us are now using NFCU and we are happy with them. They also tend to give the best interest rates also.

Just my opinion, but I believe local management can make a huge difference in the type of experience(s) you will have with your bank.