5 ms·

Voting with your wallet works if there are viable alternatives. Where are you going to take your business? Bank of America? JP Morgan? There are only a handful

Voting with your wallet works if there are viable alternatives. Where are you going to take your business? Bank of America? JP Morgan? There are only a handful of large banks in the US and they all offshore and they are all guilty of shenanigans. Welcome to globalism where the elites send jobs overseas to lower wage nations and pocket the difference. You really can't vote with your wallet when it's an industry wide problem.

SllX 8y ago
Depends how big you need your bank to be to do business with them. There are plenty of viable alternatives if you don’t demand your bank to be one of the 5 largest.
gumby 8y ago
Why do you need a big bank? I use a community bank; my kid uses a credit union. Your deposits are insured and small banks usually cover ATM fees (though I don't use much cash any more) s there's really no reason not to use a small bank. Plus if you have a problem you can usually call someone and get it fixed immediately!
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  And as a non-American, I like banking through a credit union that doesn’t have any US operations.
- ThenAsNow 8y ago
  Having multiple conveniently-located branches, at potentially broader operating hours, where you can talk to a real person is one significant reason.
  - gumby 8y ago
    Usually at the big banks the "real person" won't have the discretion to actually fix your problem.
    - aphextron 8y ago
      >Usually at the big banks the "real person" won't have the discretion to actually fix your problem. This is why I closed my Wells Fargo account after 10 years. It used to be that you could walk into a bank, sit down with a banker, and have them solve any problem you had. Now you walk into the bank, sit down with a banker, and the banker picks up a phone and dials 1-800-WELLSFARGO for you and hands you the phone. It's absolutely insane. I switched to a local small bank that knows me by name and can fully complete the process for their entire range of services within a single office, face to face, by email, or direct office line at any time.
      - dorchadas 8y ago
        Yep. I still use my credit union from college, and get pestered asking why I won't switch. Knowing I can call them from anywhere in the world at any time and get most issues resolved by a person in their office is a huge plus. As is reciprocal deposit and withdrawal. Absolutely no reason for me to switch.
  - r00fus 8y ago
    My credit union has almost everything a “real bank” offers. They have a network where you can do banking operations through many other credit union offices and ATMs are free to use across nationwide CUs. If I have to use a non CU ATM I get refunded the charge. About the only thing I miss is the ability to send foreign wires. For that Discover bank online checking does that. It’s honestly a much better experience that when I had my old WF account.
sgjohnson 8y ago
There are enough fintech startups to choose from.

SllX 8y ago

Depends how big you need your bank to be to do business with them. There are plenty of viable alternatives if you don’t demand your bank to be one of the 5 largest.

gumby 8y ago

Why do you need a big bank? I use a community bank; my kid uses a credit union. Your deposits are insured and small banks usually cover ATM fees (though I don't use much cash any more) s there's really no reason not to use a small bank. Plus if you have a problem you can usually call someone and get it fixed immediately!

Scoundreller 8y ago
And as a non-American, I like banking through a credit union that doesn’t have any US operations.
ThenAsNow 8y ago
Having multiple conveniently-located branches, at potentially broader operating hours, where you can talk to a real person is one significant reason.
- gumby 8y ago
  Usually at the big banks the "real person" won't have the discretion to actually fix your problem.
  - aphextron 8y ago
    >Usually at the big banks the "real person" won't have the discretion to actually fix your problem. This is why I closed my Wells Fargo account after 10 years. It used to be that you could walk into a bank, sit down with a banker, and have them solve any problem you had. Now you walk into the bank, sit down with a banker, and the banker picks up a phone and dials 1-800-WELLSFARGO for you and hands you the phone. It's absolutely insane. I switched to a local small bank that knows me by name and can fully complete the process for their entire range of services within a single office, face to face, by email, or direct office line at any time.
    - dorchadas 8y ago
      Yep. I still use my credit union from college, and get pestered asking why I won't switch. Knowing I can call them from anywhere in the world at any time and get most issues resolved by a person in their office is a huge plus. As is reciprocal deposit and withdrawal. Absolutely no reason for me to switch.
- r00fus 8y ago
  My credit union has almost everything a “real bank” offers. They have a network where you can do banking operations through many other credit union offices and ATMs are free to use across nationwide CUs. If I have to use a non CU ATM I get refunded the charge. About the only thing I miss is the ability to send foreign wires. For that Discover bank online checking does that. It’s honestly a much better experience that when I had my old WF account.

sgjohnson 8y ago

There are enough fintech startups to choose from.