Why Do You Have A Brick & Mortar Bank?

Here, many of the banks have closed a lot of locations because nobody much goes in them anymore. It's just so much easier, and I believe safer, to do the online thing. Besides which, I hate waiting in line at the bank.
 

Butterfly said:
Here, many of the banks have closed a lot of locations because nobody much goes in them anymore. It's just so much easier, and I believe safer, to do the online thing. Besides which, I hate waiting in line at the bank.
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Banks in this area are closing and starting to be replaced by little drive up ATM islands in parking lots. Many of the remaining banks appear to be reducing teller staff and allowing customers to wait in line. IMO it is an effort to reduce lobby traffic and nudge customers towards online banking. It won't be long before bank tellers go the way of the milkman, elevator operator, gas station attendant and the dinosaurs.
 
I have a three "brick and mortar" financial institutions, all within walking distance. One is a credit union and at the time I opened the account, online banks weren't yet popular and I liked the terms as compared with the banks, so that's where my checking account for which I have checks is. The other bank is one I've had direct deposit with for decades and I do not have to pay fees. That is my "main" checking account; I have no checks for that one and only use online bill pay, which is very convenient. I also had a safe deposit box at one of their branches but recently moved it to another bank which is even closer than the other institutions, as it is only two blocks from the house. I moved it because the fee is about half that of the original bank which has been upping their safe deposit box fees for the last few years.
 
jujube said:
Yes, but I still do most of my stuff on line. It's nice to be able to go in and sit down with someone when needed. I also have a safety deposit box at the bank; it's hard to have one on-line...
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I agree with you JuJube. The branch I had my SD box at has a representative who has been so helpful to us on a few occasions. She knows us, is always glad to see us and the service she has provided is just not available with online banks.
 
we learned the importance of local banks . once when 9/11 hit and the 2nd time when sandy hit and all atm's were down . the 3rd time was when an account had an attempted hack and was shut sown and locked for 10 days while all new checks ,accounts and debit cards were established . we paid all bills through that account so having local banks to get money was important
 
This has been a really enlightening discussion. I read all the way through with interest as we are preparing to move and make lots of changes. It is evident that I need to ditch the oversized 1993 IBM Aptiva where I keep my check registers and am not sure what I will do in future. I have always favored using cash for purchases since I have my "allowance" and know what my limits are. We don't have debit cards - it doesn't seem as "real" to just keep swiping plastic and I guess I feel we have more control over the cash in our wallets. I agree with TreeGuy64 that the online banks don't appear to be as trustworthy but - we have seen brick-n-mortar ones go under along the way too yet, TV dramas show systems being hacked all the time! Having grown up before all this technology, I am still a little leery. When the power goes out I still have my paper copies - just in case.

Now, moving to a new area and not having a separate computer to balance my checkbooks puts us in a position to change. We have a central account at Navy FCU (with telephone & mail access) but usually open a local account to have local checks. Might have to embrace the online system but it is hard to change :) My sister had an online bill paying setup and when she made an error in paying the cable company one time ($2400 instead of $24.00) it took MONTHS to get it back - in the meantime they kept trying to take the $$ out of her account and charging her overdraft fees EVERY day! That makes me a little gun shy over online payments. Soooo - lots to think about! Keep that info coming.
 
I do have a bank nearby, but rarely go in..all my bills are paid by auto pay, I probably do not write more that 5 checks per month and I get what cash I need from my banks ATM that does not charge a fee.
 
Myquest - -Once you get settled I'll bet there's a nice little hometown bank or credit union right around the corner within walking distance. Probably a coffee shop or two on the way. That's a nice town where you folks are going to take up residence. I know that there's a store from our favorite grocery chain that's only a hop/skip away. :)
 
Just saw this online about "Tiny Splurges That End Up Costing You More." It says what I was trying to say:

Only using credit/debit cards "Plastic cards don't feel like money the same way cash does. 'It's so easy to swipe your cards!' says Harris, Jr. 'Odds are you'll end up making many more splurges throughout your days without noticing.' If you're anti-cash for whatever reason, make sure you're at least signed up for a good credit card rewards program. "

From: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/make...han-you-thought/ss-AArJ65y?ocid=ientp#image=5
 
we have one of the best reward credit cards around and swipe for everything we can . we will have enough points for free airfare and hotel almost anywhere we want . all free since we never pay interest ever .

fees on the chase sapphire reserve were made many times over .
 
mathjak107 said:
we have one of the best reward credit cards around and swipe for everything we can . we will have enough points for free airfare and hotel almost anywhere we want . all free since we never pay interest ever .

fees on the chase sapphire reserve were made many times over .
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Those are great for people that enjoy traveling a lot. I prefer the cash rewards better myself. I too swipe for everything and never pay interest as I pay off monthly.
 
we have the fidelity 2% back card but now hardly use it . we use the chase trinity , the freedom ,freedom unlimited and the premium sapphire reserve .

we eventually transfer all the points to the sapphire since when used for travel through the chase portal the points all get bumped up by 50% .

the 1.50% on the unlimited become 2.25% , the 5% catagories on the freedom become 7.50% and the 3% on the sapphire travel and restaurant categories s become 4.50% . we do a lot of travel so the chase sapphire is a fabulous card .
 

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