Looking for a small bank in Somerville

[yihwalu.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone,

I did some reading on the "shift your money" movement that the Somerville Local First organization is promoting, and I am ready to make the switch but not sure where to go!

Has anyone made the switch?  Where to?

Thank you very much,
Yihwa

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i've been happy with cambridge savings bank. smaller but a bit less local (lowell, danvers, framingham), i'm also happy with the northern MA telephone worker's credit union.

Cambridge Savings

[cden4.livejournal.com]

I recently switched to Cambridge Savings Bank. They have an awesome deal called Super Smart Checking. You get 4% interest APR (on up to $25,000) when you use your debit card at least 20 times per month (excluding ATM transactions) and you can use any ATM worldwide and they refund you the fees.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

I recommend credit unions in general: they can't be acquired by Bank of America, they're generally on the SUM network, and most 7-11s have an ATM CU people can use for free. (My credit union is the MIT FCU, which is only helpful if you work at/attend MIT, but Somerville Municipal FCU looks like it might be open to all Somervillains, and DCU is open to all internet people.)

[omster.livejournal.com]

I've been very happy with Wainwright, but I know that is not the case for everyone in this LJ community - search the old entries to see what I mean. In any case, it's WAY better than Citibank, and they offer online banking which not all of the other locals can do.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

I can recommend East Cambridge Savings, of which I've been a customer for many years.

[ron_newman]

If you want a bank that is based in Somerville, your choices are:

• Central Bank
  
• Middlesex Federal Savings
  
• Winter Hill Bank

Other small banks with offices in or near Somerville:

• Cambridge Savings Bank (branch in Porter Square shopping center)
  
• Century Bank (based in Medford, branch on Mass. Ave. at Meacham Road),
  
• East Cambridge Savings Bank (branches on Highland Ave at Cedar St, and Mass. Ave. near Russell St)
  
• Wainwright Bank (based in Boston)

There's also Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union, which doesn't actually require you to be Portuguese.

[ron_newman]

CPCU is open to all residents of Middlesex County.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Seconding the Telephone Worker's Credit Union (now called Liberty Bay). They are awesome, and I've never had a problem with them in 4 years. Also, when you call them, you get someone you've actually seen in person when you've gone in person, not some random call center drone who may or may not be working for more than one company.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Liberty Bay? I think that's a different telephone worker's credit union. The Northern MA Tel Wrks CU is still http://www.nmtw.org/

I'm a big fan of credit unions.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I've got an account at Winter Hill and they're great as well.

[ignignokt.livejournal.com]

Are you certain? Their web site says:

Membership in this credit union is open to Massachusetts residents of Portuguese descent, heritage or extraction by birth or marriage, and their immediate family members which is defined by blood, marriage, domestic partner or other recognized family relationships in the same household (under the same roof), or if not in the same household, as grandparent, parent, spouse, sibling, child or grandchild, as well as individuals who reside, work or attend any elementary school, secondary school or school of higher education in Middlesex and Suffolk Counties, and the municipalities of Peabody, Lynn, Salem, Nahant, Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Marblehead in Essex county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, their immediate family members, and organizations of our members.

Doesn't sound like this covers people that are residents of Middlesex county but are not connected to education.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I've been a Cambridge Savings Bank customer for more than five years (only bank I've used in the area) and am very happy with them. You get a real person when you call. I don't know of branches in Lowell, Danvers, or Framingham, though--are you thinking of a different bank? I would KILL for a CSB branch in Lowell, where I spend a lot of time, but the furthest out are Bedford, Burlington, and Concord, I believe.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

Pertinent section:

as well as individuals who reside, work or attend any elementary school, secondary school or school of higher education in Middlesex and Suffolk Counties

[ignignokt.livejournal.com]

Aha. Thanks for spotting that for me.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I've had accounts at East Cambridge Savings Bank and Cambridge Savings Bank, fairly happy with both. Also had a credit union account at Somerville Municipal Credit Union - I don't know what the rules are about membership, but once you get an account they never make you leave if you stop "qualifying".

I will say that credit unions are great but they do take a little getting used to. The ATM doesn't always work and their on-line banking is a little funky. Plus I have found the lack of corporate presence endearing but a little frustrating when, say, you need an answer on a loan within a set time period. Generally its sort of do-it-yourself, but the good rates and lack of fees make up for it.

What I don't like, simply based on their hideous animated signs, is Century Bank. They don't seem to care whether a sign flashing their rates is legal or not, they want you to know that they have low, low rates!

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Must be a teaser rate. Really.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

the lowell, danvers, and framingham locations are for the northern MA telephone worker's credit union. so, not as local as CSB, but smaller, and a credit union.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

OH... punctuation. Sorry!

[ron_newman]

I tried to figure out from SMCU's web site who is qualified to join, but gave up. That web site looks about 13 years old.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Well...maybe it is. When we joined, it was The Telephone Worker's Credit Union (www.twcu.org) but about 2 years ago they gradually changed their name and website to Liberty Bay Credit Union (www.libertybaycu.org)...but evidently, all that changed was their name and website, because they lost nothing in the way of service.

Maybe they were once affiliated, but that's since changed?

[masswich.livejournal.com]

Its actually only a few years old. It works but its clunky.

In general, the best way to get information from them is to call them. They are pretty good on the phone. I think you may have to work for the city or be on a board to become a member. Or be a spouse or kid of someone who meets those qualifications.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

For an anti-recommendation, I'll say that East Cambridge Savings (on Central and Highland) have exhibited repeated incompetence in loan-management. We got a home-energy-bill loan through them, the loan that's supposed to be seven years interest free to do energy improvements to your home, and they insisted we sign a contract that explicitly included interest. They said they would later mail us a piece of paper that amended that contract. We had to refuse to sign, and I had to be extremely firm with them, to get them to run the contract and amendment through their photocopier for us. When I said "No, we simply cannot sign loan paperwork committing us to that without also having in our hands a copy of the amended terms signed by you," they were rude and condescending, saying "that's not how it's done." They were also late to meetings and otherwise a hassle.

We already have an account with them, and the terms of their accounts are good, plus they're 800 feet from our door, so we're still with them, but I would dis-recommend them if you might ever do anything more complicated than deposit and withdraw money.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

ah, yeah, that's a different credit union than the NMTWCU.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Another Wainwright fan here.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I had Liberty Bay recommended to me by an accountant for small business (and I mean 1-2 person) accounts/loans as "the best little credit union". I have not checked it out yet (I'm pretty satisfied with Digital Federal Credit Union), but I'll probably compare their terms/offers to DCU and see which works better for me.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I've never had any problems with Digital Credit Union ATMs or their website (hell, their site has always been better than the one Bank of America had before I left them). I do most of my banking online (except for depositing checks, even though they have online check deposit - I'm just lazy and there's a branch near my school, although I've been thinking about giving it a whirl).

My point is, YMMV with credit unions much more than with banks - you can't take things for granted either on the plus or the minus side. This is where doing research is pretty key.

[ron_newman]

Online check deposit? How does that work?

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

You scan both sides of the check, with the back filled out in a particular fashion (as described in the e-mail and the physical letter they send you when you sign up, as well as on the website), and you send them the file of the scan. Takes about as long to process as putting a check in an ATM, IIRC.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

Yikes, I can't believe this is thae same East Cambridge Savings Bank. I'm sorry to hear you had problems with them. I've had a mortgage with the ECSB for 10 yrs. (and checking acct for longer) and they have been great. I modifed my mortgage with ECSB twice (2nd time a few months ago) with no problem. They seemed very competent to me.

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nathanjw]

It's a weird deal, but one a lot of banks are offering - the general term is high yield checking. The bank makes money off of the debit card transactions, and I presume they're gambling that they'll make more money through those (and probably through whatever normal uses of the deposits) than you'll make in interest, that you won't manage to use your debit card that much every month (in which case the interest becomes essentially zero for the month), and so on. You can find a list of banks offering such accounts, and the rates and approximate terms, here.

20 transactions a month is actually a pretty high number for this type of account - the average seems to be more like 11.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

Yup. I've had a DCU account for oh, 30+ years now and have found them helpful and convenient. The online check deposit system is fairly new and works great. There's even a version for Android phones and iPhones that works by taking a picture of both sides of the check with the camera in the phone.

You can also use any SUM ATM for free, and quite a few in the local area take deposits. Plus if you have direct deposit, they refund up to $5/month in ATM fees.

I recommend them highly!

Re: Cambridge Savings

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I switched to the SuperSmart checking account at CSB a few months ago, and when I was on the phone with the nice lady at the bank, she put me on hold to check if I had enough transactions over the past few months to meet the threshold (yet another example of great customer service from CSB). She came back and was laughing—I use my debit card ALL the time and had way more than the minimum.

I have the feeling those accounts are aimed at younger customers who are more likely to use their debit cards a lot and not mind getting electronic statements (a requirement for that account and Cambridge Savings). I suspect they also bank on you transferring money into your checking account to earn interest and then unwittingly spending it down, meaning they pay less interest. Who knows.

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Is there a max on how much you can deposit? I mean, would they still give me 8K at the end of the year, if I put in 200K and buy 20 packs of bubble gum on my debit card each month?

Re: Cambridge Savings

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, just saw there is a 25K max...

[artguychris.livejournal.com]

I've worked with Direct Federal Credit Union in Needham & they've always had great customer service in person & on the phone. They have a pretty good web banking system & good mortgage rates.
www.direct.com.

Small Bank in Somerville

[toddskaplan.livejournal.com]

Although it is not a "local" bank according to some folks definitions, I prefer Wainwright Bank which has a Davis Square branch to some of the other banks because it has a very progressive lending policy for affordable housing. The staff are also very pleasant and no long lines as you will find at BofA or other big banks.

[ron_newman]

From this page it appears that you must live, work, attend school, or worship in Norfolk County (or have an 'immediate' relative who does) in order to join Direct FCU.

Also, a $5/month fee for checking doesn't sound very good to me.