Community/local bank?

[bluefrier]

I want to leave my "BIG" bank for a local bank because of BS service and other financial reasons. Does anyone have any
personal experience with a local versus BIG bank? What are the pros and cons?

 

[Gooserider]

My GF has done business with a local bank for years. They can be more stable and offer better service, but are also somewhat subject to getting bought up. The problems mostly come in the areas of convenience - fewer offices, possibly shorter hours, fewer ATM locations, that sort of thing. The last may or may not be a problem, I don't know if it exists in your area, but there is probably an equivalent at least - her bank is part of a network of smaller banks called the "SUM Network" (don't ask me what it stands for...) and she can use any bank ATM that's part of the network, which helps, though it can sometimes be a challenge to find what banks are in the net and which ones aren't...

Of course there are also the various Credit Unions as well, and again you are looking at some of the same up and downsides as you are with banks.

Gooserider

 

[rowerwet]

the only banks I have ever used were local/ smaller banks. I had the institution for savings in Newburyport, MA, and now use the kennebunk savings bank (york county ME). both banks have good service, the newburyport bank had only two branches, and very few fees. the bank I have now has great accounts like the one I have that will refund any atm charges anywhere, and gives free checks and the best intrest rate I could get. I paid an extra fee at the closing on my house so they would keep my loan and not sell it, this helps with my other accounts as they don't consider me to be overdrawn ever. They also sent out a letter a few months ago telling the results of an audit that said they were very stable due to thier not writing risky loans.
these smaller banks seem to be working to be better for me and not just for the bottom line. I worked with people who have large banks like bank of america and they get charged for everything. (like a fee to see the teller)

 

[Bobbin]

I have always tried to do business with smaller, local banks, too. It's true that they're frequently targets of "buy ups" usually because they've been well managed and have maintained proper levels of capitalization. They don't tend to loan money cavalierly and frequently hold onto loans rather than selling them on. I use Kennebunk Savings too for my personal accounts. Our household accounts are with Ocean Bank and have been for years. We were not thrilled when they were sold but thusfar nothing untoward has come of the sale.

We were advised to refinance our home equity loan (for no charge, btw) as interest rates have fallen and the savings would be considerable and were assured it would not be sold on (there was no fee for that guarantee, either). The man I spoke with expressed disgust at the lack of control, oversight, and poor lending practices so common in the "mega banks".

I am a strong supporter of local businesses, as well. The way I see it, I'd rather pay my neighbors for goods and services and know the money has a better chance of staying in the community.

 

[firefighterjake]

Another fan of the local bank . . . seems like these banks tend to emphasize safe investing and customer service vs. emphasizing bigger profits at the expense of the customer. Long time Bangor Savings Bank customer which has branches where I live, work and shop.

 

[wenger7446]

My GF has done business with a local bank for years. They can be more stable and offer better service, but are also somewhat subject to getting bought up. The problems mostly come in the areas of convenience - fewer offices, possibly shorter hours, fewer ATM locations, that sort of thing. The last may or may not be a problem, I don't know if it exists in your area, but there is probably an equivalent at least - her bank is part of a network of smaller banks called the "SUM Network" (don't ask me what it stands for...) and she can use any bank ATM that's part of the network, which helps, though it can sometimes be a challenge to find what banks are in the net and which ones aren't...

Of course there are also the various Credit Unions as well, and again you are looking at some of the same up and downsides as you are with banks.

Gooserider

Just what he said......

 

[webbie]

I also bank local - Easthampton (ma) Savings......

All our Ma. banks have deposit insurance up to 250K (before the feds raised their limit).
They also invest locally.

It's funny - I remember when the hippies were protesting in the 60's against the Bank of America - with the idea that putting all that power into one corporation was dangerous on a national and global scale.

Turned out they were right! Today we find out AIG is losing another 60 billion and trying to go back to the well (the taxpayer) for more money.
It's all too complicated to sort out, because if AIG fails, that might mean the entire house of cards falls (EVERYTHING, because they insure you and me and businesses...through other companies, etc.)........

At the same time, this is a great argument for diversification and more local banks, insurance companies, etc. - at least then most damage ends up being local....when things go belly-up. The Savings and Loan Crisis of the late 80's was like that....mostly local banks. I think the total amount lost in the end (from us) was about 160 Billion. Instead of learning from that, instead we deregulated even more so that banks and insurance companies could suck up money from everywhere..in the USA and around the globe.

As a result, this current crisis will easily end up losing 10x that much, and could end up being vastly more. It's hard to comprehend, but the loss could end up being 100x that much - 16 TRILLION or more. Basically that means wiping away the wealth of a generation. These loses come from 3 basic sectors:
1. The Derivative Market is estimated at over 400 Trillion dollars.
2. The US Stock Market is (was) approx 50 Trillion
3. Value of all US Real Estate is (was) about 50 Trillion

As you can see, the big bucks is #1, those strange "instruments" that no one knows anything about, but are basically casino bets (unregulated) which state that some company or entity will continue to be in business and pay. As we can imagine, those bets are now off.

When you look at these numbers, it is pretty clear that faith and only faith can sustain us! There is no "there" there.

So, I'm buying local when possible and banking that way (mostly) also.

When it comes to larger banking and investing, I would heartily recommend Vanguard, one of the few (if any) investment firms which never got caught up in all the BS. Luckily for me, I have some assets there. The founder is one of us Main Line Boys (where I am from - Philly!), and if you read and follow his advice you will be MUCH better off for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bogle

All I can say is God Help Us. If there is a God. Otherwise, pass the ammunition.

 

[TreePapa]

Local banks? You guys can still find local banks? They've all been swallowed up years ago here. We do, of course, have credit unions and I would keep all of our accounts at one if it were up to me, but my wife wants the CONvenience of all the ATMs that the big theieves, er, banks, have. Thus, sadly, we are stuck with Sh*8ty Bank.

When I was a kid, my dad had his account(s?) at Independence Bank. They had a grand total of 3 branches, all in the west side of the San Fernando Valley. He almost always went to the branch near home, and they knew him by name. Of course, they always called him Mr. [LASTNAME], never by his first name.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[gpcollen1]

My local bank was bought and sold 5 times over 8 yrs or so...from local as it gets to local to regional and then finally to BoA. Good Luck.

 

[webbie]

Oh, we have them still in each town - like Easthampton with 13,000 people in it has a bank (with 2 or 4 locations), Florence (a tiny town) has one, etc. etc.

Lots of choices here with community based banks. Also a few credit unions that anyone can join. In fact, the new Polish National Credit Union branch just opened around the corner...no kidding (lots of poles around here).
http://www.pncu.com/pncu/

"Individuals who live, work or attend school in Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin counties of Western Massachusetts are eligible to become members. "

That pretty much should keep them local.

 

[Bobbin]

I hadn't really considered the demographics of small, locally owned banks until just now. I wonder if they are more commonly found in New England than other parts of the country. And I wonder if the loss of small banks is more common in areas that are presently undergoing a really serious real estate collapse. While New England has taken a hit in real estate the horrible cycle of speculation and high foreclosure rates isn't rampant in my area.

 

[kenny chaos]

We switched to a credit union bank a few years back. Unimaginable good service and no fees.

 

[woodmeister]

yea, local credit unions are tough to beat.

 

[bluefrier]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I feel more confident to pull the trigger and roll with the small boys.

 

[savageactor7]

Credit union and local bank here.

 

[Later]

Local is always better.

 

[mayhem]

I work as IT manager for a local bank (Legacy Banks) in western MA (Web, we just bought the Bank of Western MA branch in Haydenville, right outside of Florence on rt 9). I prefer to work with smaller abnks and Credit Unions on a personal level...you tend to get more reliable peronalized service, they don't charge fees as much as the gigabanks and in the current environment the smaller banks are generally speaking the safer environments since virtualyl none of them made subprime loans or loaned out money they KNEW would wind up as bad debt.

I wouldn't hesitate to go local versus gigabank...your money stays local too.

 

[struggle]

We use a local bank as well. Great service. Hey Bill I am thinking of buying a new car. Bill Ok just write a check once you get what you want and we will cover it no problem. No hassles with pages of paper work etc. on loans.

Also while interest earning accounts are not doing much now our local bank pays twice what Waddell Reed was offering.

 

[woodsman23]

We use a small local bank and it is great. Try one you will like it ours is cattaraugus county bank, great people great service

 

[burntime]

I work for one of the big guys...Go local. If the big guys can dream up a fee for holding your money in the name of convienience you bet they will charge you. If they can charge you because your paycheck went in Friday at 5 and missed the 4:30 cutoff they will charge you when you write a check within something like 3 business days for clearing. You will get calls for all these great products you have no interest in. Then when you catch them with their hands in the till they will quote policy on line 1486 subsection 27 para H Go local or credit union... It only benefits big business to stay with big business!

 

[Roxburyeric]

I work for a local bank in CT as a Commercial Lender and I can tell you from experience that local is the way to go, especially a small business in these times. We are financially very strong, we keep all our mortgages, we're conservative in lending and in anything we do and we invest (donate $) in the communities we have branches in. One thing to look for in a local bank is whether or not it is a stock owned bank or a mutually chartered bank. Mutual Banks have no stockholders and can not be bought by other banks. The theory behind a mutual bank is that it is owned by the depositors. Dividends are not paid to stockholders but are paid out through donations to local non-profits and other needy organizations. Here in CT most of the remaining local banks are mutually chartered and were started in the 1800's. Because we have no stockholders we can make decisions effecting the Bank over a long period of time, where stock banks (mostly the larger stock banks) are run on a short term basis "what have you done for me lately" to keep stockholders happy. Most local banks can offer the same services as the big banks but at a lower cost to you and will provide better service. One example is funds availability policies - how long a bank will hold a deposited check before it is available for you to use. Most big banks will hold it (your deposit) as long as they legally can (using your money). Most big banks will hold an official bank check for up to 10 days. Do you remember the days when an official bank check was as good as cash? Loan decisions are made locally by people who know the local markets, not by some guy 1000 miles away only looking at your Business on paper. I could go on with little differences on most products, but don't want to bore everyone. The biggest thing I would say is the local banks are run by local people who know the communities they operate in. We work with our clients in good times and bad. Support your local bank like they support you and your local towns.

 

[begreen]

We had a great local bank for years, Washington Mutual. Then it got bigger ideas, tried to swim in the ocean with the sharks and was swept away by the bigger fish controlling the fed. Our credit union is the only local bank I trust now.