I used to have a checking and savings at Wamu, and they converted to Chase. I am NOT happy with Chase at all.

1) They do not allow transfers via Western Union.
2) Now I see on their website that: A) transfers from savings to checking accounts are limited to 6 per month. (I make 1 transfer per month at the most, but it bothers me greatly that they should put a limit on this at all!) although I made the transfer online, today, it will only process tomorrow, and the money will be credited in my other account on Monday. WHY???? Both accounts are in the same branch. What is this limbo that my money goes to for the weekend??

I don't know how other banks operate but this bothers me enough that I don't want to do business with Chase anymore. Can you suggest alternatives? Are you happy with your bank?

And, BTW, did you guys know that Wells Fargo charges a fee for depositing cash into a business account?? I had never heard of such a thing in my life. What, are bankers so busy now that if you deposit cash and they have to count it, that's not a task that's included in their salary? My DH says I'm being silly. I don't see how a bank has any other task than to deal with money. Why do they have to charge a fee to receive a deposit?

I'm not too far from deciding to keep my money under my mattress!

Monga,

I just checked Wells and Bank of America, and depending on the balance and the type of account, they both have free deposits.

Here are Bank of America's different Business Checking options:
http://www.bankofamerica.com/small_busines...iness_checking/

Here are Wells' different Business Checking options
https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/products/accounts/checking/

Their Simple Business Checking only requires $1,000 in balance and then you can deposit up to $3,000 per month in cash.

I've been checking out business accounts recently, and they all will allow free deposits with different levels based on your balance.

Now that anyone who lives in the local community can qualify to get a credit union account I think that they are the best bet hands down. No fees, higher interest than standard banks, local base means better loan rates and easier qualifying and quicker response times. (When I found the deal on my truck I had an equity line set up and a check in hand within days, not weeks) and overall more personalized service than any big bank. The only qualification usually for setting up any type of checking account is that you set up a savings account first with at least $5 that you keep in it.

The best part of CU banking is that credits/deposits are immediately available. If I return something to a store and have it credited back to my Wachovia or Chase bankcard it can take up to 10 days until the credit is available for me to use or to count against a purchase made after the credit was issued. At the CU it is available right away, meaning I can return something and then buy something else at the same time with the same money. The same is true with deposits made at the CU lobby or drive in, be they cash or checks, I've never had them hold a deposit for any reason.

The only downside to a CU is when you travel there is always an ATM fee since your CU is just local.

I had a CU for a long time and had no problems, but since I moved to another state it just wasn't worth it. I'm now with USAA.

Many CUs will rebate ATM fees, up to a certain amount per month.

From what I understand, the above is a FEDERAL REGULATION imposed on banks for withdrawals from SAVINGS ACCOUNTS. There is no such limitation on CHECKING ACCOUNTS. I have the same limitation on my PERSONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS account at Wachovia (which is owned by Wells), my local CU, etc. On the rare occassion I've anticipated needing to make more than 6 withdrawals from SAVINGS in one month, I've avoided the issue completely by simply xfering a large balance from SAVINGS to CHECKING once, then doing all subsequent withdrawals from CHECKING.

Just did a quick Google search and found this link:
http://www.bankersonline.com/tools/regdlimits_chart.html

If you have any dealing with a CPA, ask that person which bank(s) he or she uses. Professionals when they are financing someone or a group business plan don't want to play games. You could also ask someone who has a small business.

Now on the issue of sending money to your parents. An idea would one to buy a gift card that can be spent where they live and send it by registered mail. Insure the GC for the full value, in case 'Cliff' needs drinking money.

Thank you guys, I'll check all those options out...

@Kas, the only problem with the gift card, is that in Argentina they have some deal with their own credit cards where "if you use XX CC for Gas on Sundays, you get 20% off" if you use XY card on Thursdays and you are a senior you get a free dessert at a restaurant + 10% off, and so on, I can't keep track of all the deals they get, but my parents seem to know the system, that's why I was preferring to send them $$ that they could just deposit in their bank and pay their own CC as they see fit...

I agree about CUs. We have 2. One is based in Boca but we used the local branches of another credit union here ("shared branching") to do any business that has to be done in person.

However, with both my CUs, I have had to wait 10 days for a check to clear (one was $5K and some others smaller amounts).
I was wondering how to get around that.

It may be as simple as going in to a branch and asking them if they can remove any holds on your accounts. Like a bank they have the option of placing holds on accounts if there is a customer who is either new (with no history with the institution) or who is constantly overdrawn or depositing bad checks. I know that soon after I first opened the CU checking account I had a large check deposited from Dad's business account that he gave me to use towards buying our Maytag stack washer and dryer for our first house. When I tried to use the checkcard for the purchase it was declined. I thought it migt have been over the daily checkcard limit and went into the branch to ask and was told that there was a four day hold automatically applied that they would remove for me. I went straight back to the store and bought the Maytag and have never had a hold on any deposit, no matter how big since then.

What about opening an account and giving them a debit card tied to the account. BOA makes it easy to transfer between accounts with them. They were limited to $1K at a time, but with their cell phone security system I have been able to do $10K per day, $20K a week.

As for ATM, I keep a small amount of money in E*Trade, refilling when necessary, and we get reimbursed for any ATM fees in the US - don't care what the charge is, you get it back. Makes the task of getting your money much easier.

https://www.checkingfinder.com/

In the good old days, banks paid you for use of your money, instead of milking you for every service now.

I'm all for banking locally, if you can find one...I've been with the same bank 25 years...DH for nearly 50...other than keeping a minimum (I think it's $200) in checking, there's no fees as long as you don't write more than 20 checks monthly ...if we find a great deal on something over the weekend, we write a check, and get the loan on Monday morning...coin counting is free, they always have a dish of candy out on the counter, free pens & calendars...