I’ll confess that while we’ve been spending so much time and effort on our house, I haven’t been keeping the closest eye on the news. But a few days ago I glanced at the front page of the paper and saw that Washington Mutual was in trouble. I bank there, so it got my attention.
In the days following the first news about Washington Mutual, I saw stories rumoring that Citibank or Wells Fargo would buy WAMU. We all know how I feel about Citibank. (If you weren’t a reader during my Citibank saga, go back and read the story…it’s entertaining). And Wells Fargo isn’t very high on my list either. We recently received a Wells Fargo statement from a credit card we never applied for. The only reason we had an account there was that my father in law banked there before he died. My husband recently closed the checking account.
Needless to say, I’m not thrilled about the possibility of either bank buying WAMU. Then just yesterday I saw a newspaper article about a locally owned bank that made wise decisions during the mortgage boom, and they’ve managed to do well during the mortgage bust.
Since I’m all for supporting the local economy, and since I can really respect a bank that refuses to deal in subprime loans, I’m seriously considering moving my accounts to this bank.
I honestly don’t worry about losing all my money at a bank that’s going under. But the financial meltdown has definitely made me consider my banking options.
How about you? Are you doing anything different in light of all the bad financial news lately? Give me your thoughts! I know you all have opinions on this one! :)
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I bank with the Halifax, and their parent company HBOS is in the process of being taken over by Lloyds TSB bank. I’m not worried about this, like you the only things I’m really concerned about with insured accounts are things like customer service and so on.
I bank with a local Credit Union and have used them for years. Cheaper!
We bank with WaMu and took most of the money out of the account. We know that we won’t ‘lose’ the money however, having to wait for access to the money from the FDIC is not an option at this point.
We have decided that we will be opening an account at Well Fargo since that is where paychecks are drawn from.
On our 401K yesterday we consolidated and liquidated them from investments over to a fixed interest rate plan, due to the simple fact that since the beginning of the year the 401K had been taking a -20% hit. Because the stock market rallied yesterday, we managed to gain back a few thousand before liquidating and consolidating into a fixed interest account. The fixed interest is only 4.8% however, that’s better than -20% and is good until the end of the year when it will be re-evaluated. At that time, we will decide what to do with it then.
The one good thing is that the stock we are invested in, has climbed from $13 a share three months ago to $28 as of today, and never took a drop on Monday last.
WAMU is bad news! I’ve been with a credit union since Washington Mutual screwed me over royally in 2000. See the story with the link below. I’ll never go back to a giant bloated bank again.
http://tiny.cc/s7XuC
Well, we are polar opposites on Wamu. They absolutely harassed us to the point I was considering legal action and I had only had the account one month. So glad I got out and I have to admit, I should’nt feel it, but I am HAPPY :) those stinkers are going under.
I agree you should check out the local credit unions. They have some incredible interest rates! I think I might look into that as well!
Local credit unions (in this state) are great. I bank at Sterling, but only my ‘little’ability to cash checks account. Just cuz I’ve dealt with them for 30 years….
I keep my “Big” money in an investment accounts elsewhere.
I had problems with WAMU loosing my mortgage payments, even when I hand delivered them to the bank. While they were good about straightening out the mess, I shouldn’t have had to deal with it in the first place :(
I also have accounts with Bank of Astoria – which is local branches here – small local bank – good reputation. So if you have a small local bank, research them well, ask for their financial statement and synopsis, etc,,, and go from there.
PS – with all the “bad” financial news and the roller coaster stock exchange, I found it a GOOD day to buy stocks :)
We went to check out a local credit union to open an account for our teen daughter and decided we’ll be opening one for ourselves, too, for the superior customer service. We started out with Great Western which was swallowed up by Wamu and have never cared for it since the change, nor am I a fan of Citibank or Wells Fargo. Buh-bye Wamu.
Sweetie and I have banked locally (southern Indiana) for 12 years. I have never had a major problem with them and if there was ever any minor glitch, it was always fixable with a phone call. These people know me when I enter their little lobby. I have their debit card and online banking access at no charge. The mortgage for our rental property is through them, too.
Today, I walked in and opened a new business account. Even though I had to make two short trips to the county recorder’s office for paperwork, and so three trips to the bank, it was all a piece of cake. Very pleasant. (Also, they helped out an exasperated man with a 15 year old car title problem he had with the BMV. No charge. He left happy.)
(Aside: I was 5 cents short of the $11 recording fee at the court house, and the clerk said she’d take care of it. Imagine!)
I am a cheerleader for local banks and savings institutions. Because they are small, they need your business and work for it.
I think banking with local institutions is a great idea. But as a previous commenter pointed out, if you have to wait for FDIC to return your money, the time it takes could be difficult. I have bank accounts at 2 different banks, so that if one locks up the money, there is another one I can turn to.
We bank with a local credit union. We tried Wachovia originally and they were ridiculously awful. The credit union is a much nicer experience.
Our checking and savings accounts are with Charles Schwab. I love that you never pay an ATM fee no matter what ATM you use.
They aren’t a traditional bank however, so they don’t take cash deposits which wouldn’t work for some folks.
They also don’t do home loans so they weren’t involved in all that mess. (Our mortgage is with another bank)
Their stock price is at a 9 month high so I guess other people see them as being pretty strong right now, too.
I use a credit union from my hometown. They have been doing really well despite all the issues that the economy is having. And they don’t charge as many fees as a bank. We had thought about switching to a local bank here, but now that they are all having so many issues we are choosing to stay with our credit union and bank online. I hope you find a solution that works for you.
Hi! I just wanted to add my two cents. With all the talk about bank failures it is a real possibility that banks may close if even for a day to straighten things out. This is a reminder we need to have some cash to home, for gas, groceries, etc. -Becky in NJ
http://strivingtoliveeachdayhisway.blogspot.com/
I check your blog almost daily
Fortunately I have not been dealing with these problems because I have been dealing with a smaller bank. Still, the financial meltdown is taking a serious turn on all banks (and their customers). I have been looking into a mortgage recently. I have been wanting to own my own house for a long time and haven’t made the transition.
I contacted the bank to see what they have available. I was warned about the difficulty of finding a loan, but I didn’t realize the extent. Long story short I am still waiting to hear back from my bank. I’m scared to go to a broker. So, to answer your question. YES it has affected me. Thanks for the post!
I bank with Bank of America and ING Direct, and as far as I know, both are going strong. I’m trying to just hang tight and keep everything as is. But if I get word that one of them is in trouble, I definitely would consider leaving. I would hate to leave BofA, though — I have my credit cards, checking, a back-up savings account, and a Roth IRA with them, and it is SO easy to transfer things back and forth. I’m really happy with ING Direct, too — I use automatic savings plans with them and I like it because it’s not my regular checking bank so I sometimes forget that money automatically goes in there every week. Then when I check it, I have all this extra money! Very easy to use, too.