Until a couple weeks ago, the picture on my Bank of America debit card was me glaring at the camera at age 15. Now the card doesn’t exist. I’ve been a customer at Bank of America since I was eight years old but this December I called it quits. I timed how long it took to cancel my account: from walking into the SE Hawthorne Bank of America branch one rainy evening to walking out, cash in hand, only nine minutes passed. Now that’s what I call service.
The anger I’ve felt over the past year about the bank bailout was equally matched with a feeling of helplessness. The whole web of subprime loans, lending rates and bailout politics felt way over my head, especially what I’m actually supposed to do about it as a citizen. I don’t own a house, I don’t own any stocks, I don’t have a direct line to the White House. My only grasp of the American financial system comes from occasional NPR podcasts and the unshakable feeling that people like me are being screwed. What the hell could I do about it?
But here’s what I did know: I wanted Bank of America’s paws off my money. They made risky investments, took $45 billion in bailout money and a year later, credit is still tight for the people whose tax pennies dug them out of trouble. I want to support financial institutions that make good, transparent loans to local businesses and would-be homeowners.
So the same evening I canceled my BofA account, I packed my entire savings into my bag and (cautiously) walked 20 blocks down Hawthorne to Rivermark Credit Union, a small Portland-based lender whose mission is making safe, stable loans to locals. I get free checking, they cover those irritating ATM fees I get from using other banks’ ATMs and hey, they even offer dental insurance for their members who have shitty insurance or none at all. I didn’t know banks could be like this. Yeah, their janky Hawthorne ATM works at a glacial pace and their lobby is homely, but I’d rather support them than the swanky big players.
Though I acted on my own frustration, it turns out I’m actually part of a movement. Last week Huffington Post ran piece called “Move Your Money”, which details why Americans should switch their money from bailout banks to small, local lenders. “Our money has been used to make the system worse—what if we used it to make the system better?” asks the HuffPo piece. Agreed. My money is a drop in the bucket of the American financial system but, hey, it’s my drop.
Other solid Portland banks and credit unions people recommended to me while I was debating where to move my money: Albina Bank, Umpqua Bank, Advantis Credit Union.
Why did you pick Rivermark specifically?
Not excusing shady banks here, but are you more mad at them for taking bailout money (yours) and executive bonuses? Or at a government that made them take your money?
Rivermark has a rather incredible interest rate on their “rewards” checking account, as well as covering ATM fees, as mentioned in this post.
I hear they’re building a new Hawthorne branch location with an eco-friendly design, including a bike-/walk-up teller window.
Alison,
I picked Rivermark because of their free checking, their coverage of ATM fees and the fact that they are very similar to other credit unions in town but are only a block away from my house.
I seriously considered Albina Bank, too, because I’ve seen them do great community lending, but in the end decided to go with a credit union because it seems somewhat safer financially.
First Tech and Point West are both good too.
I have a BofA account mostly for convenience, most of my clients have BofA accounts so making transactions is easy and I’m never more than a mile from a branch anywhere in the country. ATM transactions were even free at the ubiquitous Barclays and Deutsch Banks in Europe.
None of the credit unions I researched had an acceptable level of features and convenience. I did open an Umpqua account, their two branches downtown are walking distance from where I live and they seemed pretty nice, but again was bit by the convenience factor when I spent a cumulative three months in 2009 in Miami and had subpar access to my money.
I’m not at all defending BofA, they are an evil conglomerate and I completely understand not supporting their shady business practices. But your fears are unfounded, it’s not like your money will someday disappear (unless it’s not in an FDIC-insured account) and BofA has already paid back the bailout money it received.
I’m pissed that Wells Fargo took bailout money and then raised my credit card interest rate for absolutely no reason of my own but just so they could do it before the law goes into effect that makes it so they can’t do just that. My understanding is this happened with quite a few banks that took bailout money. Fuck them.
Credit unions are the way to go.
Madoff took all ours.
BoA really likes to fuck you on the overdrafts too– rearranging purchases to maximize the penalty. I encourage everyone to ditch those assholes.
Andy’s experience is similar to mine. I was a happy 1st Tech customer for years, but my life changed and I needed more access and service than the CU was able to offer, particularly as my business needs grew. So, I went to BofA. No, not happy with the headlines I read about them, but they have done a good job for us.
@Chunty McH: The banks just got their overdraft policies heavily regulated by the government. That kind of shit isn’t going happen for too much longer. But they still suck and should all DIAF.
Yeah, B of A can DIAF. I ended up with them for a while because they bought Ben Franklin and, without getting into the anecdotes, let’s just say it was a less than ideal banking experience.
Advantis is great! Monthly interest earned on your checking account, up to $25 in ATM refunds per month, and sometimes they have cookies at the Lloyd Center branch.
Ah, if only it was as easy to get out of my shitty B of A mortgage as it was for you to close your account! Their dicking around almost cost me a refinance with another bank. Fuckers. Hate them mightily.
I keep waiting for Chase to piss me off (after the WaMu takeover and all) to motivate me to move my banking elsewhere, but so far they’ve been fine.
Been a Rivermark member for a while now. Killer interest rates on checking and savings accounts, ATM fees refunded monthly, super easy to deal with customer service. Honestly haven’t had a better banking experience.
Was just having this same discussion with friends last night. I might hold off until (or if) I move to Oly. Wells Fargo sucketh the huge mammalian genitalia. It would be great if you did a local (or PNW) credit union comparison chart. Humpy would totes go for it.
Totes, indeed!
I really like OnPoint. I was happy to leave corporate banks behind… before BofA bought Countrywide and now I pay them monthly for my mortgage. You can’t escape them.
Advantis is awesome. We’ve been there since June and made hundreds in interest already on the 3% Fusion checking. You’ve got to have a pretty good credit score to be approved, but once you are, it’s all gravy. ATM fees refunded, cheap loans, cookies on Friday….
On the other hand, I just tried to ask them a question via their online form and upon submit was presented simply with, “The requested URL /contact_us/cgi/sendform.cgi was not found on this server.”
@ Commenty Colin: Does the bank directly deposit the cookies, or do they arrive in paper statements?
I agree about Advantis’ Fusion Credit accounts. Although they’ve lowered the interest paid from 6% to about 2%, it’s still the best deal in checking I’ve found.
Umpqua Bank has some questionable dealings…
http://blogs.eugeneweekly.com/node/844
I’ve been a happy Unitus (formerly Oregon Telco) customer for 12+ years. They have two branches downtown, one in Clackamas, and one in the ‘Couv, I think.
So no one has anything bad to say about either Advantis or Rivermark? I need to do this. I haven’t had any problems with US Bank, but there’s nothing much good to be said about them either. Definitely no free cookies.
I’m kinda like Andy, I stick with B of A mostly for convienience- That convienience being that they have decent online banking plus a nice iPhone app. I really do hate them and the way they are always trying to screw me (I once went in to close my pointless savings account and not only did the pushy German girl convince me that would be a mistake they somehow talked me into opening a second checking account! When I left the bank I felt stupid and ashamed) But I need a local bank that gives me online banking. Does Rivermark have it?
I pulled my money out of WaMu back in 2007 when they were laying people off while handing out huge executive bonuses and trashing customer service. I’ve been with First Tech Credit Union since, and have never had trouble getting access to my money, since they’re a member of a network of credit unions throughout the US and Canada. Fee-free ATM access across the country!
I’ve also been impressed by their customer service, both on the phone (a real human answers the phone! On Saturday!) and when I go into a branch, even though the branch I go to belongs to Unitus, a different CU.
All in all, probably the best banking experience I’ve had. And I’m including USAA, Emigrant Direct, and ING as well as WaMu, Wells, and First Interstate.
Here’s a direct link to the Huffington Post video..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icqrx0OimSs&feature=player_embedded
I left WaMu after they were absorbed by Chase and switched to Rivermark, best move I’ve made in years. Many community banks and credit unions are linked so you can easily do your banking outside your institution, and they also readily provide info on where to do your banking internationally.
@Joneser, the cookies come wrapped in coke-flecked $20’s, delivered by strippergram with our monthly statement.
@PRwalters OnPoint has online banking, to a decent extent. And you can use the ATM at any 7/11 in the country, free of charge. The only real inconvenience is that, should you actually need to go to a branch to order checks or apply for a loan, you’ll have to drive waaaay east.
@PRwalters – Rivermark has a pretty good online banking and easy online bill pay service. No iPhone app as far as I know though…
I cling to my ancient BofA account for one reason: ShopSafe. It allows you to go online and generate a temporary CC number with an expiration date and spending limit of your choosing. So for instance, you can make the limit 2 months, and $100, all on a CC number that has no connection to your own. For me this takes a lot of stress out of buying online with zero-reputation merchants. Then the charge is billed to your real account, but without ever exposing the real CC number to the world. If it wasn’t for ShopSafe I would dump BofA in a minute; I get nothing else out of them but late fees.
What a juvenile piece. You really made a dent. I am sure Bank of America really gives a shit. I guess if you feel better that is all that counts. The world is going to be better now. I bet there will be a run on Bank of America.
Sarah, Thanks for writing this piece. I’m finally going to make the switch away from BofA. They have been my bank since they took over Seafirst & they are total jerks. It’s my money & even though it isn’t much, BofA isn’t going to get it anymore. They can just keep all that credit debt I have with them & I’ll get around to paying it someday. Eat it BofA!
@LarryNorton – please go back to watching the enablers on CNBC. I hear that’s where the “mature” business journalism is.
I banked with B of A when I was 10. Back then, the BankAmericard was a big deal – precursor to Visa/Mastercard. Had a savings passbook, knew the manager, the bank seemed to operate like a family business. You know, it was a bank – it took your money, kept it for you, paid you some interest, and actually looked at the loan applications that came in before handing my money over to someone else.
Now, it’s been driven into the ground by an egomaniacal tool who evidently had nothing better to do when the financial system was melting down than to buy Merrill Lynch.
I bank with Advantis. Even opened my business account there. I can do most of what I need to online. I am not going back to any big bank again. plus, as Colin pointed out, the personal cookie delivery rocks, although the coke tainted 20’s have gotten me in trouble with the PO.
I have done Albina Community Bank and am now at Frontier Bank.
Both places are great.
I almost overdrafted at Frontier and they tracked me down (3 phone calls) and waived the fee, signed me up for FREE overdraft protection and offered me a new credit card.
Free overdraft protection means that there is no charge for overdrafting as long as you have the money in savings to cover it, where at Chase overdraft protection costs like 30 bucks a pop.
And my checking account earns interest and savings has a great rate.
I only stay with Wamu, wait, what was that? Oh I mean I only stay with Chase because I’m secretly in love with my bank teller there. How difficult is it to get your teller to switch banks?
I’ve never had any problems with BofA myself but I’ve heard plenty of horror stories. I have two checking accounts, one with BofA, one with Albina. (Albina has a ATM about two blocks from my house.) As for getting money other places in the country, (or even in Portland a lot of the time,) I use grocery stores: You go into the grocery store, you buy something, (you probably need something anyways,) and you use your ATM card and get cash back. When I was in Hawaii last year I couldn’t find a Bank of America, (I don’t think they have any in the state,) and obviously no Albina either and it didn’t stop me from getting money in the slightest, (although it did result in me drinking a lot of beer since I kept buying it. Not that I’m complaining, there is a good Hawaiian microbrew.)
I go with bank of the west. they give me little bears (who would still eat me) on my debit card. and they really give me personal service if i need help (like getting out of that god-awful IndyMac loan). But I have heard great things about Rivermark, and other credit unions in town. @Larry- has somebody got a case of the grumpies? gosh!
It’s not been B of A for some time, really. B of A was about an Italian immigrant in SF, making community loans after the big one. In the late 90s, with merger mania, they became US Bank and moved critical operations to Charlotte. I was a director at Schwab at the time and we made out quite nicely, hiring former B of A execs that didn’t want to leave the City.
Then they took out the restrooms. That’s my new criterion. Do the branches have bathrooms? That tells you an awful lot about what they will and won’t do, and if they appreciate your business.
Weird. I’m canceling my BofA accounts today too. Started the new Rivermark account yesterday. 2.5% interest on my checking account is better than 0.1% at BofA. I will miss the 6’11” teller-lady at the Hawthorne BofA though.
“most of my clients have BofA accounts so making transactions is easy and I’m never more than a mile from a branch anywhere in the country.”
Uhhh…gotta call BS. Ever heard of ACH? Unless you are working some real hifi voodoo (brokerage type stuff) any decent sized credit union should meet your needs. Also, when you join a credit union you immediately have access to tens of thousands of credit unions nation wide via several networks:
6,000+ Shared Branch Locations
Find a shared branch at cuswirl.com
28,000+ Free ATMs.
Find the closest ATM by texting your location to 692667 (MYCOOP), or online at co-opfs.org
@typica
That’s the second time today you’ve made a presumptuous assumption about my personal business. I’d appreciate if you stopped telling me what was best for me without knowing anything about me.
I’m still with OnPoint, barely, Listen to this audio: http://alancordle.com/blog/?p=3537
@ Larry Norton and his immature post: actually I have been considering leaving BofA for a few months now and this post was the final push to finally make the arrangement. There isn’t anything juvenile in a person’s choice to end support of bad practices with their patronage. Thanks, Sarah!
I’ve been with BofA for many years, since leaving USBank after they made several errors with my account always in their favor. I’ve enjoyed the convenience of ubiquitous ATM’s and branches, and features not available with smaller banks. I just can’t stomach their policies any longer and I want to support the local economy.
So someone recommended Albina Community Bank and Umpqua Bank to you. Did you notice they have the work ‘BANK’ in their name? It doesn’t matter if it is a mega-bank or a community bank they are still going to charge fees because they have stockholders and generating fee income is part of their methods and business plan. Credit unions answers to only their members. Period! The money a credit union makes is given back to its members in the form of lower loan rates and higher savings rates. Credit unions are the way to go, and there are some great ones right here in PDX.
If it were up to me, I’d rank the top 4 as follows (with #1 being the best bang for your buck in terms of products, service, and overall experience):
1. Unitus Community Credit Union – unitusccu.com
2. Advantis Credit Union – http://www.advantiscu.com
3. Rivermark Credit Union – rivermarkcu.com
4. OnPoint Community Credit Union – onpointcu.com. (Sorry OnPoint your service has suffered as you’ve grown.)
Another good one is FirstTechCU (however must be an employee of Nike, HP, Intel, tech field to belong).
One issue that I do have is that some credit unions (unfortnately two of which I mentioned above), offer an incredible rate on checking to draw you in, but there is a cap on the amount of funds you can keep in that account and you have to jump through hoops and meet a variety of monthly requirements in order to keep that rate. Miss one of your 12 required ATM transactions or an online billpayment and goodbye sweet rate.
Those rates that are now 2.50-3.00% APY were once 6-7% APY over a year or so ago. Ouch! To be honest, that kind of rate for a checking account doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you don’t max the limit out say around 25K and keep it there. You’d basically need to treat that checking account more like a savings account to reap the rewards of the advertised rate…who the hell does that? 3.00% APY on an average checking account balance of $2,000 doesn’t make you much, especially since that balance fluctuates daily.
I have accounts at a few of these credit unions, plus some back in CA. I HIGHLY recommend you do your homework and research the benefits of a credit union over a bank. A great website to help you out is: http://www.you-belong.org
Check into a credit union today! You’ll be plesantly surprised that you DO have an alternative to the banks.