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The Irony Of It All
Brad Hollerbach

I'm Starting To Hate My Bank

Posted Thursday, September 10, 2009, at 12:00 AM

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  • I try not to use BofA. They have some offensive corporate policies. So guess who bought my mortgage loan?

    You might like a credit union, for a lot of reasons. If you're determined to use an ATM, CUs have a nationwide organization that allows members of one to use the ATMs of others without charge. When I'm in Cape, I regularly try to drain the ATM at Cape Area.

    My brother, a former bank examiner for the state of Missouri, was with me once when I went to my CU. They have a balance sheet posted on the bulletin board in the lobby. After he looked at it, he said, "Wow, they can't be making any money." I told him that's right, they're not organized to make money. They're organized to provide financial services for the members AKA owners.

    -- Posted by Maynard on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 9:51 AM
  • I agree with Brad's comments. I think B of A is only here because of the big direct deposit accounts with major employers. Our first account with B of A was in California in the early 1960's when I was in the Navy, so I'm no stranger. I had a retirement account with them, and lost several thousand through late night trading I didn't get back, and my stock has tanked from a high of $55 to $17 this morning. Was as low as $2.00. B of A is only a tenant on William Street, Southeast Hospital owns the building.

    -- Posted by Yankee Station on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 6:43 AM
  • I don't think B of A wants to be here, and if they lose enough customers, they can gracefully withdraw from Cape.

    -- Posted by Yankee Station on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 7:56 AM
  • Customers at BofA are numbers only. No human relationship exist at your large out of state banks.

    -- Posted by retired1 on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 10:28 AM
  • I recently quit using Bank of America due to their corporate practices.

    First they had to pay a 33 million dollar fine for that whole fiasco of purchasing Merrill Lynch without letting their stockholders know what was occurring.

    Second, they give out credit cards to illegal aliens.

    Third, When Agape World Inc was discovered to be a HUGE ponzi scheme, it was discovered that Bank of America not only kept track of Agape World's money, but Bank of America actually sent employees to Agape's headquarers on a regular basis to help that ponzi scheme count their money.

    That was enough for me to leave that bank forever.

    I now bank with Bank of MO where I actually get interest on my checking accounts!

    -- Posted by Skeptic1 on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 11:50 AM
  • Use USB!

    -- Posted by vietnamvet on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 3:50 PM
  • Banks with physical facilities in town do have their advantages - however -

    I've belonged to a credit union based out of Jefferson City for the last 12 years.

    Banking by mail presents its challenges, but have been very pleased with the interest paid on the entire balance of the checking account without any minimum requirement - along with free checks, free checking, free ATM/debit card, etc.

    Rates on savings instruments are good, but not great - but the same can be said for the rates on loan instruments. Middle-of-the-road is not such a bad place to be.

    A simple phone call has always yielded the results I expect, with no flim-flam, double-talk, schmoozing, sales pitches, or transferring to another person. The person that answers the phone takes care of whatever I need, on his/her own, without any flak. Follow-up confirmation is always in the mailbox within two or three business days.

    And, as was mentioned in an earlier post - a credit union by nature is 'non-profit' - where any excess revenues get rolled back into member services and rates.

    There for a while - was calling what is now BofA the name of the month bank - went from Farmers&Merchants to NationsBanc to BofA to who-knows-what-in-between in a very short time - had concerns of stability.

    Now, if I could only figure out how to cash in my gallons of change without getting reamed - life would truly be good! :-)

    -- Posted by fxpwt on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 9:07 PM
  • Fxpwt, I had the same problem with change. I once took a batch over to the Jackson branch of BofA (they had the coin counting machine for this area), but the last couple of times I've used the Coinstar machine at Schnucks. You don't pay commission if you select one of their designated gift cards. I've gotten one from Amazon.com and Lowes and had no problems redeeming them.

    TFR

    -- Posted by Brad_Hollerbach on Sat, Sep 12, 2009, at 8:28 AM
  • Thanks for that info Brad. I keep coins in a jar and wondered how that Coinstar works.

    -- Posted by Skeptic1 on Sat, Sep 12, 2009, at 11:01 AM
  • Word was recently that some banks in Missouri were close to going under. Does anyone know a web site where we can check and understand the stability of our area banks?

    -- Posted by LiveAnotherDay on Sat, Sep 12, 2009, at 10:10 PM
  • You can check @ www.bankrate.com

    -- Posted by suefrommo on Sun, Sep 13, 2009, at 12:41 AM
  • Bank of MO is still going strong, better than most in MO according to what I found on the web. It has a 4 star rating according to bankrate.com

    -- Posted by Skeptic1 on Sun, Sep 13, 2009, at 10:14 AM
  • by the way, Regions Bank isn't looking very healthy. bankrate.com has them as a two star.

    -- Posted by Skeptic1 on Sun, Sep 13, 2009, at 10:16 AM
  • One of the highest ranking is Bank of Advance!

    -- Posted by Yankee Station on Sun, Sep 13, 2009, at 9:03 PM
  • I *love* my bank. I used to use BofA, and like some patrons of this bank, I began to hate it. Charges for this, charges for that, on top of having to wait several days for my paycheck to clear every other week. I got really mad one day and took out all my money and promptly went to the bank next to the Missourian. They are awesome, and I am always recommending them to my friends and family. BofA did me a favor by making me mad. I've used many banks here in town and in other states I've lived in, but this bank is the best by far!

    -- Posted by abbynormal on Mon, Sep 14, 2009, at 3:12 PM
  • Some years ago I elected to pay off my car loan early. I received the paid agreement that I had signed etc.but I did not look if the title was there. About one and one-half years later I needed my car title and could not find it. I attempted to replace it at the license office and was told that Bank of America had a lien on it. They still had my title. I called them and I expected that it would be an easy thing to correct. Talk about a runaround... To make a this story shorter, it took me four months, a letter from Joann Emerson to the Missouri Dept of Finance before it received my title. Needless to say, I am still unhappy with Bank of America. Why would they keep my car title?

    -- Posted by walela on Wed, Sep 16, 2009, at 11:14 AM