Primary Banking Relationship

[Barefootwoman]

Would appreciate any recommendations for a primary banking relationship - with a bank with good customer service, efficient and friendly online interface and competitive rates (including any kind of reward or points program)?

All of this may be a tall order. I am also considering transferring in cash if it means becoming eligible for a higher tiered banking relationship with more competitive terms and access to better CC as well.

This account would be the hub I use for direct deposit, bill paying, transfers, etc.

Currently using Cap One & WF, but wondering if there are better options and if I should consolidate.

Thanks

 

[CWAL]

How much cash/investments would you be willing to allocate to achieve higher tiers?

Are you looking to MS with their CC?

I know of a bank with a card that will get 3.5% unlimited CB at gas/grocery, but probably requires allocating 1M in assets. It does get 3% with only 100K though..

 

[Barefootwoman]

100K might be doable - 1M is way too much outside of the asset allocation lol. If I were to MS with the card, it would be judiciously, sporadically ...that kind of thing.

 

[Matt]

What do you actually need though?

Bricks and Mortar to deposit a check?
A rate of what?

The whole banking relationship>better credit card rewards is way overblown, you get about .5% more on that, and mainly on regular spend, so for the average spender $50-100 more in a year, and at the expense of $800 or so in lose interest.

If you can live without the bricks, then the best rates are online, banks like Ally and others. If you need a bank, I would say get a boring one that does the jobs you need (check deposit/cashiers checks/etc) and don't buy into the hype of the premium banking/status malarky.

 

[cdancer20]

As mentioned above, there is a bank that would be good for cashback if you park cash there. However, outside of MS realm, I continuously recommend Alliant bank. .65% interest on checking (no minimum). Very easy requirements to meet. Next day free ACH push/pull. Savings accounts gets 1.00% interest.

I also would suggest a Rewards Checking Account which pays can pay 2-3+% on a set amount of money. For instance, Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% on up to $15000.00. However, they have debit card transaction loops to jump through every month. 10-12 debit card purchases and most times must be signature. Consumers Credit Union has a better rate, $3.59, that you can get if you also open & use one of their credit card. The best credit card pays 3% on $6000/year in grocery. Both are credit unions so you can use any credit union ATM across the country. (Some talk about whether you can use their banking services too.) Alliant also comes with up to $20/month in ATM fee reimbursements too.

 

[nicnac]

Amazon $0.50 gift card reload balance transactions work for the LMCU 10 debit card purchases/month. In and out for $5.00

 

[MickiSue]

FWIW, my main bank is a branch of a small local chain, where I've banked for over 20 years. No CC, but a free debit card, for the handful of times that I actually want/need cash. This w/e, for example: we're going to the State Fair, and very few vendors there take plastic.

But the real benefit is that I know the manager by his first name, and he, mine. The tellers all know me, so none of them bats an eye when I walk in with 12K in MOs. I trust them, they trust me. That matters, greatly.

 

[kodiak jack]

How much cash/investments would you be willing to allocate to achieve higher tiers?

Are you looking to MS with their CC?

I know of a bank with a card that will get 3.5% unlimited CB at gas/grocery, but probably requires allocating 1M in assets. It does get 3% with only 100K though..

i'd be interested in the 3% card; could you pm me the details?

 

[Barefootwoman]

Thanks for the food for thought and suggestions. I haven't made any changes yet but did link a new money market account at Cap One to my primary checking - to move funds back and forth. The MM is paying a paltry 1%, but it's not like I can easily do better than that - without investing more and I think I need to decide whether that means pulling money out of other places where they should remain...at the same time, if I ramp up my MS activities again (been on a short break) - I'll need the liquidity. That WF stint at the end of 2015 liked to wear me out...I realize this is a good problem to have. Too bad though we can't churn extra hours in the day, the way we can financial deals. Thanks again.

 

[AnyNameYouWish]

You might do better to look at several. Maybe a credit card from one place is best, but checking at another is better.

We use a credit union I've been a part of for 28 years. They offer extremely low loan rates, no fees on checking (but almost no interest either) and excellent customer service. It's the kind of place where I can tell them what I need for a loan, go in the next day to sign, and max 2 days later have it in my account. Fast and accurate, every time. They are opening the branch after hours tonight for my husband and I to finish some paperwork because that branch is the most convenient for us. Very personable, can't say enough good things about them. I would never do anything to compromise that relationship.

I have their credit card but I don't ms on it. It earns rewards but just cash back and not a huge amount. I don't put much spend on it. We put our spend on other cards that earn us the things we can better use. Also we have to have $5 in our savings account. So that's all we have in there, again, because the interest stinks. We have our true savings in other banks and some of our checking too.