(no subject)

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Hello all,

I've looked through the "banking" tag and don't see anything that specifically addresses this, so I'll go ahead and ask: I'm currently with Wainwirght and I like a lot of things about them, but I depend upon a lot of online features that they just don't have, which unfortunately has me considering changing banks. I'd consider switching to a bank that had all of the following:

• Free billpay that consistently deducts money when the check is cut, not when it is cashed


• Online statements going back indefinitely (or at least more than a month or two)


• No charge for transferring between multiple checking accounts


• A decent online banking interface


• A branch and ATM somewhere within 5ish miles of the Davis/Porter sq area

Wainwright meets, at least arguably, the last three requirements, but not the first two as far as I've been able to tell.
Does anyone know a bank that meets all these criteria and that they've been happy with in terms of customer service and all that? One that still has the progressive hippie-fu of wainwright would be nice, if such exists.

Comments

[cowhockey.livejournal.com]

i like citizens, but i don't use it for automatic bill pay

[alphacygni]

I've never seen any bank that had online statements going back indefinitely, or even longer than about six months.

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

I just checked my Bank of America online statements and the past 19 are currently available.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Isn't the first one actually a negative? You want your money gone *sooner*?

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

It's gone sooner, but also predictably. I have a spreadsheet with when each of my bills goes out and for how much, from which I can calculate the amount that I absolutely must have in my account at any given time of month. WW's billpay changed a while ago so that they dont' always pre-deduct, so now I have no idea how many more bills I need to allow for without going through my statement to see which checks have been cashed.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Sovereign.

Free bill pay, my statements online go back pretty darn far, the site is easy to use, easy to transfer money between accounts and there are a lot of ATMs around especially in all the CVS's. They have always been very helpful and all around nice.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love Boston Private Bank, which is outside of your location range (their in Kendall) but fullfills all your other requirements (except bill pay is $5 a month I think). They are incredible professional and don't bother their customers with lots of paper work. They have a very fancy look (marble interiors, brass teller station), but are really friendly to me everytime I show up in dirty jeans and sweat-stained T's. If you don't want to have to go there all the time to deposit checks you can get free envelopes from them to mail in checks. Anyhoo, I've also used Wainwright and I feel like everytime I've had to do something out of the ordinary it has been sort of a hassle -- this has never been the case with BPB.

[meeesh.livejournal.com]

I agree on Sovereign. I haven't used their bill pay though.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Bank of America meets those criteria. I know it's not popular on this board, but they satisfy all five items.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

cambridge savings bank, maybe?

[cos]

You should be able to see, in the bill pay interface, which bills are pending. That also includes bills for the next month that haven't been cut yet, and it totals them up for you, which I think is useful. It's definitely better to have your money in your account for a little bit longer, it gives you more flexibility. If you're calculating how much you need, you can look at the pending bills and pre-deduct yourself (bank can't pre-deduct *everything* you plan to spend, so it's better for you to do that yourself anyway).

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

You should be able to see, in the bill pay interface, which bills are pending.

True, but as far as I can tell, that only shows which checks are about to be sent, not which checks have been cashed. If someone sits on one of my checks for a month and I haven't thought to check the actual statement to confirm it's been cashed, then I end up with a big expense at an unexpected time.

It's definitely better to have your money in your account for a little bit longer, it gives you more flexibility.

Hmm.. I disagree with you there, at least if we take as a given that I don't treat paying bills late as an option, since my finances should be able to handle them all if I'm not over-spending. If I'm not going to cancel a billpay when my funds dip too low, then practically speaking the money's gone as soon as the bill comes due, so I'd just as soon have it gone in actuality then too.

I also have an unusual setup for my banking, wherein I've created four checking accounts. The first one is where my paycheck gets direct-deposited to and where all bills of predictable frequency come out of. All of my bills are set to auto-pay on the 1st or the 15th from that account, so basically the pay goes in, the bills go out and within a day what I have left is what I can afford to spend on other things (I am lucky enough to have sufficient income to do this comfortably, though I realize such an arrangement would be riskier under other circumstances). The second and third accounts are for groceries and unplanned small expenses, and personal allowance respectively, and a fixed amount gets auto-transferred into each of those, again on the 1st and 15th. The fourth account is what I use for paypal and possibly-sketchy online stores, and I only transfer what I need into it when I make a purchase. I also have a savings account (well, at the moment I don't, but when I sort out the rest of my banking issues I will) into which I periodically transfer the excess from the first checking account.

If there's an obvious flaw in my thinking here, feel free to correct me, but I've found it to be a very effective means of managing my spending.

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're going to find another bank that has the progressive hippie-fu of Wainwright's locally. I had an account here years before I lived here because they had the best politics of any bank in the country at that time.

[veek.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'll agree with this. I don't particularly like the idea of BoA, but I bank with them because they meet all of the criteria described in the post, and they're consistent.

Wainwright... is my nightmare. (http://wordsend.org/archives/2008/06/03/long-days-pleasant-nights/) I hate that this is true, but it is. I'm back to BoA, and quite satisfied despite their being as evil (though not more so) as the next bank.

Be aware, though: they don't have free checking that I know of (unless you have some large sum in your account at all times, which I don't). They do, however, make your account free if you have direct deposit; and if you set up a monthly autopay (auto-transfer) from one account to another, they treat that as a direct deposit too.

[veek.livejournal.com]

I really wish it had worked for me. But, as linked above, see here. (http://wordsend.org/archives/2008/06/03/long-days-pleasant-nights/) Makes me sad every time I think about it.

[librarybrandy.livejournal.com]

At least as of a few years ago, though, Sovereign credits weekend deposits/debits in whatever order they choose. Meaning, they once bounced 6 debits (and charged us $25 "overdraft" for each one) on a weekend, because they wouldn't credit a cash deposit I'd made Friday afternoon (at a teller window! but it was officially "after banking hours" even though they were open) that would easily cover all the payments.

Never used their billpay, though. I've actually been very pleased with Bank of America for all your requirements except the multiple checking accounts--but I can move money from checking to savings with no fees.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this post. I too am looking to abandon Wainwright because of the things you and the other posters have mentioned. It makes me sad, because I want to support such a nice hippie progressive company, but I also want good service, alas.

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

I use Citizens for automatic bill pay, but I never bothered to notice whether the money was taken out when cashed or when the check was sent out. Anyway, the service is free and they have a considerable backlog of my statements online.

[zard.livejournal.com]

They USED to take it out immediately when the check was sent out, but they changed that without warning a couple years ago. However, it's easy to see what's been sent out versus what has been cashed.

I only have one checking and one savings account, and I can transfer between those for free. I don't know about multiple checking accounts.

What's nice is that Citizens is open later at many grocery stores, and there are ATMs around at various T stations.

[natef.livejournal.com]

Keep your Wainwright as your local account, and get another account with good online service (like ING). You can link the accounts and control everything from the online account, so you login and billpay on one account, use branch and ATM with the other (nice to be on the SUM network for that).

[ellf.livejournal.com]

If someone sits on one of my checks for a month and I haven't thought to check the actual statement to confirm it's been cashed, then I end up with a big expense at an unexpected time.

Don't rely on your statements - keep a ledger, and consider money "gone" when you write the check. Most double-entry systems will automatically do this.

[concrete.livejournal.com]

Wainwright makes DCU positively pleasant.

re: free checking at BoA

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

You can bundle accounts together to get free service; I meet the minimums with a brokerage account so I don't need to keep minimums in the checking or linked savings accounts.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

Yes. Results in less possibility of overdrafts, makes for better accounting since there isn't a mystical "pending" purgatory, etc.

[teko.livejournal.com]

I've been using VirtualBank (http://www.virtualbank.com) for about 5 years now, and been quite happy with them.

They have free billpay (though I can't vouch for the timing of deductions; you'll have to check on that), YEARS of online statements downloadable in many formats, and decent customer service.

They don't have any ATMs near here (I think there's one downtown somewhere), but since they reimburse ATM fees, it doesn't matter; you can use anyone's ATM.

The one big drawback is that you can't deposit via ATM. You have to use direct deposit or mail in your deposits to their HQ in Florida.

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

I've been considering an online bank like Ing but hadn't heard about virtualbank. I'll look into them as well. Thanks.

SalemFiveDirect

[edmokeski.livejournal.com]

For a good compromise between online banking and local banking, you might try our local online bank, SalemFiveDirect (http://www.salemfivedirect.com). I've been using them for about six months now. They're sort of my "ATM account" so I haven't used the bill pay much, but it does work the way you want it to. You get about 3-3.5% interest on your balance, can make deposits at local ATMs (SUM network (http://www.sum-atm.com) & NYCE network (http://www.nyce.net/atm/locator.jsp)) or by mail, get $15 in ATM fees refunded every month, and a one-time $25 bonus for setting up direct deposit. Plus, if for some reason you really need a branch with humans, there's one downtown. The only big drawback is that they don't have a EFT / ACH system for making transfers between banks online. But you can make those transfers using the ACH facility of the other bank you're transferring the cash to/from. Well, that and they don't seem to offer any referral bonus like ING does. ;-)

Also, check out bankdeals.blogspot.com (http://bankdeals.blogspot.com) for all sorts of reviews and information on banks w/ good deals, some of which are online, nationwide, or local to NE (They recently featured Brookline Bank (http://www.brooklinebank.com), where I do most of my bill pay. I only don't recommend BB b/c you get crap interest, and until recently needed $5k minimum deposit every day of the month to avoid fees.)

You might want to consider a Credit Union, too. Their online banking is usually less sophisticated, but they're also less likely to try and screw you over/generate horror stories.

[whodameg.livejournal.com]

I've been using e*trade bank since 2000, and I've been very happy with them. My ATM's are everywhere (they refund fees of other ATM owners). While they don't have a branch, it's never been a problem for me...you can call them and talk to a human at any hour (i.e. 3am near Fenway, an ATM gave me a receipt deducting my $$ but didn't give me any cash...I was able to call the bank on the spot and talk to a person). Deposits are a quick via mail (in your account 2-3 days). Another great thing I love about it is that if you leave the country, they do not charge you any fees to get money from foreign banks (I've head horror stories of BofA charging up to $35.00 for a foreign transaction).

[hiddenbear.livejournal.com]

You seem quite comfortable with having many checking accounts. What about setting up a fifth one. Transfer money into that to use for each bill when you need it. Then it doesn't matter when they record the money as having been deducted. You just consider that that account never has money that is usable.

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. that's actually a very good idea. If I could get a similar workaround for only having 6ish weeks worth of statements available online, that'd be enough for me to stay where I'm at. Thanks for the suggestion, though, it could be helpful elsewhere.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Actually, I noticed the change this past Spring. Last year my rent checks got deducted as soon as the check was cut and this year they are not - definitely no warning on that. I really liked it when the money disappeared right away.

A though

[aki.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend seeing how much of the auto bill pay type stuff you can do with an Orange ING checking account. Their savings accounts pay far higher interest than anything else around and you can just have a BoA account that you keep $5oo in for ATM purposes.