2021-04-07 02:26:05

I would like to open a bank account when I turn 18. When browsing through the forum regarding this topic, I have heard that a lot of banks have inaccessible apps/websites. So to those of you who have opened bank accounts, who would you go with?

2021-04-07 03:19:48

U.S bank has an accessibility commitment and in fact goes to some of the accessibility conferences to talk about it.
They have a great app for IOS and their online portal is nice too.
A plus is that they have some of the highest customer satisfaction and ethics scores of any bank.

2021-04-07 03:29:41

You might  just want to go for a credit union. Large banks are for profit and look for devious  ways to charge you, or hold your money.Remember for example chase held everyone's stimulus checks until Mar 17, so they could profit from the cash, and claimed they were doing it because that was the offitial IRS paydate, which is just crap. Sure its nice if you have fully accessible app and website, but how many people really need an app and a website with so many bells  and whistles. I'd take low fees and early direct deposit over an accessible app.
The good thing about big banks like chase though is if you use them, if they offer credit card products, they will offer these to you earlier than when you hadn't been a customer which is good.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-07 04:30:16

@defender
how are the fees and deposits of that bank?
@Ghost
regarding your suggestion of a credit union. Is there a way for them to stop you from  spending more money than you have? I’ve heard some banks are able to do this

2021-04-07 04:31:34

Franklin Mint's website is accessible. I never tried the app.

Kingdom of Loathing name JB77

2021-04-07 04:52:13

US bank is accessible, but warning, things can get a bit pricey. Your maintenence fee is about 5 dollars or so depending on what you have account wise. Though, if you can keep a monthly balance of 300 dollars, meet the monthly deposit requirements, or are a student, you won't have maintenence fees.

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C++: The object-oriented programming language of a pagan deity" -- The Red Book
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2021-04-07 05:32:37

3,
This depends on the bank or credit union I assume. I have never used such a feature before, so I can't comment.  I would honestly just close my regular banking account. It litterally has no benefits, since I have multiple cards already, I have the bullcrap of Chase holding my check until payday,  and even on payday, I can't use the check because it takes 1.5 days after for the deposit to fully clear each time.  I actually lost at least $10 to the bank because when apartment complex was changing hands, they couldn't process online ach payments, so I had to take a trip to the bank and write checks twice, $5 for each check in Chase if you don't have a saphire account which requires at least 15k in deposits. Most credit unions offer stuff like free checks, free incoming wire transfers etc.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-07 05:37:32

There's nothing wrong with a credit union, but in practice a large bank's fees will be minimal to nonexistent for all day-to-day banking activities.  If you're going to be sending wires sure, otherwise it's not really a big deal.  I don't know what Chase did or didn't do with stimulus checks, but direct deposit has never once been a problem for me, nor anyone I know at large banks.  There's slight advantages to going either way, but if you think you're going to ever want to move out of your hometown or whatever I'd go with someone larger because of that weird day when you need to do paperwork in person.  If you put the pros and cons next to each other it kind of comes out meh either way, and generally speaking the differences between banks are incredibly minimal.

I'm Bank of America.  I don't exactly recommend them--the accessibility leaves something to be desired, but they've got branches everywhere and in person access can matter for things like mortgages, starting a business, getting cash, etc. so it's useful.  I've never had a problem other than accessibility.

The thing that stops you spending more money than you have is called overdraft protection, I believe.  It's voluntary, in the sense that usually it will default off and you have to ask for it to be turned on, whether that be via a person or the app.  It doesn't stop you from needing to budget.  It just turns the "here's your overdraft fee" into "your card was declined" so you will still need to track it before eating your 5 course steak dinner.

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2021-04-07 06:10:47

8, the problem  though,  is that stuff like early direct deposit really would matter for alot of people. For someone who has low income, it could make the difference between paying rent or getting kicked out  or paying massive interest on credit card debt. What Chase did with stimulus checks was slimey, and was really common knowledge  and  thanks to them denying access to rightfully deserved funds I waited most of a week extra for it, then a couple more days for ach to clear.  Fees do add up too. What if you need to write checks or send or receive transfers. A   family member would receive a scholarship abroad,  and would have it deposited by government by wire transfer. Bank of  America was what he used and they would steal $25 out of that  incoming check each time. I doubt 250 a year in lost  is minor income for most people. Also take into account stuff like ach transfer fees,  these all can add up if you do these things. Credit unions  might be better for mortgages as well, since you are dealing with a smaller institution and people who likely know you, they can make more individualized decisions on lones  and they have less of a profit motive which can mean lower interest rates, which is always good.  Credit unions and even online banks will give you a debet card which you can draw cash out of an ATM if you need it. And you can still draw cash out of your credit cards as well to meet that need.  It goes without saying that big bank foreign exchange rates are absolutely terrible too. Chase basicly takes like a 20-25% cut on  it, might be more. So for making purchases abroad a card without foreign fees that uses visa/mastercard's rates is a must.
Its also prudent not to use savings accounts of large banks too. They have a nonexistant interest rates like 0.001% for  Chase, so your money basicly goes many times faster to inlfation when sitting in there.
As for overdraft protection, all that does is stops you from overddrawing your account, like you can't have an account balance less than 0.  First thing I did is disable overdraft protection so I wouldn't accidentally ever overdraw the account.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-07 06:24:13

I just googled bank of America pros and cons and i'm confused about this, since I'm new to finance and banking in general, some of these terms I don't understand, here is what I mean
holders must have at least one qualifying direct deposit of $250+ or maintain an average daily balance of $1,500+.
can I get a simple explanation of what this means? for the fees and how to get them waved, when it talks about having an average daily balance of $1500 does it mean I have to have that amount at all times in the account?

2021-04-07 06:29:59

Hmm. That says an average daily balance, so not exactly in theory. In practice, pretty much, though. You can fall below that amount every now and again, but you'd have to catch it up quickly. Unless you keep way over that amount normally, than it won't be too bad if you go under that every now and again. Really, you may need to ask how much you make each period that deposit is calculated.

I have a website now.
"C: God's Programming Language
C++: The object-oriented programming language of a pagan deity" -- The Red Book
"There, but for the grace of God go I"

2021-04-07 07:47:01

so basicly those terms mean that you need to have at least a 250 monthly deposit into the account regularly, or keep your account balance at 1500 all the time. If you're employed, the 250 deposit won't be hard to meet, but this is  how banks steal your money.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-07 07:53:11 (edited by Ethin 2021-04-07 07:54:23)

All overdraft protection does is force your bank to pay your payments if you overdraft. It won't stop you from going under. People claim that it diminishes overdraft fees and, perhaps it does, but your bank can slap you with an NSF charge. Be very careful of overdrafting; its a crime in most -- if not all -- jurisdictions because its tantamount to theft. Your bank can wave it sometimes, but they won't in most cases, and if you go under a particular limit it becomes a felony, if not worse, and can result in a prison sentence. If you don't know how to manage your money, your bank might be forgiving, but I wouldn't rely on that too much.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
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2021-04-07 09:31:39

13, that goes without saying the bank will slap you with a significant charge, offten more than the amount you went under. I think the minimum penalty is like  $45.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-07 15:09:58

Ah, yeah. Maybe I got overdraft protection backward.  You want it one of the two ways.

Ghost, your credit unions aren't nearly so much better as you think.  Your normal large banks don't delay direct deposits.  This was a capitalist competition race to the bottom thing 10 years ago, and now they're all mostly equally as good as each other.  You can probably find specific credit unions in specific places that are better, but you can also find specific banks in specific places that are better too.  Massively overgeneralizing and trying to make people afraid of banks based off a couple bad cases you happen to know about isn't helping.

Don't use a savings account.  Savings accounts don't beat the stock market.  2% interest on $1000 is $20 a year, and they often come with a bunch of additional restrictions around minimum balances and how much money you can withdraw.  Getting  1% on a savings account is kind of considered a steal and is hard to do as well, usually it's less, if you're super lucky you can get a little bit more but that relies on which way the treasury's interest rates and fiscal policy winds happen to be blowing.  You can get 4% or so without much risk by putting your money in a broker and buying high-grade bonds, or more than that if you're willing to risk the stock market.  Stock market is 7% average, but over 10-20 years, and the volatility in the middle can be quite off-putting and you have to be willing to ride it out even when you temporarily lose money.  Brokers all stopped charging commission about a year ago because capitalist competition race with Robinhood, so it's almost free to do this.  I use Fidelity.  If someone knows of a super accessible one do tell because I wouldn't mind something better.  You don't throw all your money in it.  You throw your extra money in it.  Always keep enough money to live on and cover an emergency in checking.

My Blog
Twitter: @ajhicks1992

2021-04-07 16:05:04

Typically speaking, a savings account is better than under your mattress, as it at least gets you something, though, if you actually want your money to grow, then, yeah, go for an investment firm. A checking account...Hmm...It has its place, and is mildly safer than under your mattress, I suppose. Then again, paypal exists here state side, so I'd get that and a paypal card. That's what I did, and I'm enjoying my not slowly depleting money stores. LOL!!!

I have a website now.
"C: God's Programming Language
C++: The object-oriented programming language of a pagan deity" -- The Red Book
"There, but for the grace of God go I"

2021-04-07 16:43:10

@14, no, there is no "legal minimum". My bank gives me a week to fix the problem and after that they charge me $32.00 per day.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2021-04-07 18:21:51

I'm Wells Fargo. The app (as well as website), is nice and accessible, they were very accessible and nice when I went to open my account, and they even Brailled the card they gave me. Things like the card number and security pin are in Braille on the back of the card. It also ships with a Braille guide on what each number is.

2021-04-07 18:33:26

@16
You don't want to do that long term.  Paypal is notorious for freezing accounts just because, and I'm pretty sure that's not fdic ensured either.  It's a risky move.  Easy enough to avoid checking account fees; even monthly SSI will do that for you most places.  Paypal is the least on your side option of anything being discussed here, and the least bound by the law as well.  You're also giving up the ability to send checks and I think maybe the ability to get direct deposit from your employer, at least as far as I know.  Maybe they've done something about both of those.

But disregarding anything else, if Paypal isn't FDIC ensured and you're sticking money in there and Paypal gets hacked, your money is gone.  If paypal goes out of business somehow, your money might be gone.  Traditional FDIC-ensured banks will give you your money back in these cases up to some limit that's somewhere in the low six figures.  Even if we don't discuss any of the other downsides here, "there are ways for me to lose my money forever" is kind of a big deal and  a really good reason not to do this.

My Blog
Twitter: @ajhicks1992

2021-04-07 21:19:20

15, the banks holding direct deposits is a real thing. Same are the fees, its generally known banks charge more fees  and  I  got hit with those, and so did some family members. I would've  got hit with more if I hadn't taken steps to sign up with other services for currency transfer/conversion and used an online savings account instead.
See this  detailed article on banks vs credit unions, this is accurate in my area with people  using credit unions and banks.
https://www.investopedia.com/credit-uni … ks-4590218
and the stimulus check one of the sources you can find is here.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stimulus-c … ers-anger/
As for savings accounts, you can use an online savings account like the one from American Express that has a better yield and no fees. Investment accounts might give you more, but you also give up access to your funds. For most people the purpose of their immediate emergency fund is to have access to it instantly if something happens. There are no FDIC insurance for brokerage accounts if the bank with your savings  goes under, you get up to 250k of deposits back with FDIC insurance. So with an investment account you can theoretically lose all the money you have, and get access to it at a loss when you need it.  I personally would keep any emergency fund in savings where I can initiate an ach transfer into checking if I ever need access.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-04-08 03:34:35

I use chase, but  have also heard that chime is good.

Who am I? Simply me!

2021-04-08 05:32:57 (edited by defender 2021-04-08 06:00:53)

@Ghost
Good article.  You're rhetoric is a bit alarmist so it made me dismiss you at first, but the sources you linked are trustworthy and made for an enlightening read.
I only wish I had a good credit union within a reasonable distance of me with a physical branch location encase I needed it.

2021-04-08 08:28:17

Well, I didn't intend to be alarmist, only to point out things that  may be important  for many people. International fees may not, but early direct deposit, for the banks that do it I believe certainly will.
See this on explanation on early direct deposit
https://www.businessinsider.com/persona … t-deposits
I don't know about you, but I am bothered when a bank holds onto funds that are rightfully mine and denies me access up to even 1.5 days after the direct deposit date, for a total of 3.5 days.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2021-10-22 10:54:08 (edited by Nikole234 2021-10-23 11:39:10)

I use a Capital One bank card. I'm pleased with it, especially taking into account that it provides cashback rewards on every purchase. Actually, these bank offers several good cards, it is hard to say consider which card is best for your individual needs and circumstances.  If you are interested, you can address the bank via capital one phone number, check its site, or visit a bank branch.

2021-10-22 10:55:59

Bank of America is awesome. Most accessible banking app I've used to this point, and really nice way of keeping track of your researces. would recommend. Also, if your  a student, there is no fee for creating and maintaining a savings or checking account until your 24, but by then it probabaly won't even matter anyway.

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