Online banking exclusively?

[audreyh1]

Like some others, we keep a minimal amount in a local bank. Not much use for it, but "just in case". Plus, we have a safe deposit box there.



OK, I wasn't as sure about this as "[-]Hot[/-] Water Heater", but I was pretty sure it's a safe deposit box. DW always says "safety", I think she does it just to bug me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_deposit_box



Safe-deposit box - Grammarist



-ERD50

Your write. Hmmm - I think I get you're wife.

Might have just been a mistype. I think I usually refer to it as a safe deposit box.

 

[audreyh1]

What does Fido pay for deposit on CMA accounts?

.07% at the moment. Beats BofA and Chase, LOL!

We only leave enough there to pay certain bills and cover ATM withdrawals when we travel. We transfer funds from our ~1% yielding high yield savings accounts as needed via scheduled ACH transfer.

 

[Hdhead]

The only reason I physically go the bank these days is to cash out my piggybank, just like when I was 5 years old.

 

[dixonge]

We used USAA for most of our 26 years of marriage. They were an early adopter of debit cards that could be used as credit cards, which was very handy. Always did direct deposit and/or mailed in deposits for those extra checks that always seem to pop up. Eventually we deposited checks via mobile app.

More recently we switched all of our banking to Schwab. Same setup, but they do have branches here and there.

I can't say I've ever missed having a local branch with their accompanying fees. I guess I miss them about as much as I miss paper checks, which is to say - not so much...

 

[Mdlerth]

There is a branch of the credit union I've used for decades conveniently adjacent to the sweatshop. They offer direct deposit, automatic bill paying, safe boxes, prompt transfers with Schwab. They don't nickel-and-dime us with nuisance fees, and I can get brick-and-mortar services easily. I think it was helpful for educating our kids about handling money. I expect to keep using them even after I RE.

DW has an account with the Navy Credit Union, where we got the no-fee HELOC. They have actual branches at military bases, but what little she does there is online.

 

[Danmar]

Virtually all "bricks and mortar" Banks offer the same on-line products at similar pricing, so why switch? Every once in a while a branch might come in handy?

 

[Ronstar]

Almost all online banking. I go to the bricks and mortar bank about twice a year. And that will probably decrease since I don't receive checks anymore.

 

[athena53]

DH had a checking account with B of A and I wasn't impressed with them. They had only one notary in the office and she always seemed to be out on vacation. We gave up and went to UPS. They were proactive enough to contact me after DH's death (must have tapped into the SS database) but it took me a couple of months to get the $178 in his account. The people in the branch knew very little- all they could do was pass on the forms I filled out to the Estate Department and tell me to wait and see what they did next. And now they're closing that branch, which has been a bank of one brand or another in our little town for the last 50 years.

On-line it is.

 

[easysurfer]

Virtually all "bricks and mortar" Banks offer the same on-line products at similar pricing, so why switch? Every once in a while a branch might come in handy?

I still write a few checks each month. The online bank offered free checks plus 10 cents cash back for each check/debit card purchase. So, I went for those freebies.

But I still keep a "brick and mortar" account open for things that I just can't do online like trading in loose change.

 

[nash031]

Haven't had an account at a place I could physically walk into since 1999. USAA covers it.

 

[Richard4444]

I do most online; however, I do use the local bank down the street for: some Canadian deposits that app won't make, safe deposit box, and when I want to withdraw cash I'd rather not use an ATM, and that is 2x annually.

Rich

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I use Bank of America for their online banking. Started years ago when they offered it free if you had direct deposit which I had for pension and Social Security. We have a branch a short distance away and I use it frequently for their ATM and to deposit checks. I never go inside the bank. I imagine most online banking is about the same and I like the setup at BOA. I can't believe it when I still see people write checks at the grocery store. I can still remember figuring out the bills on payday and sitting down at the dining room table to write out all the checks. I'm trying to even get away from online bill pay by having most monthly bills sent to the bank for them to pay electronically.

 

[harley]

To each his own, but I've never understood the need for 'online banking'

I have a checking account at my hometown 'brick & mortar' bank.
My health care premium, cable & Internet, natural gas, electricity, city water sewer garbage & telephone bill, are all automatically withdrawn from that account at no charge.

I use direct deposit for my pension check.

My Visa Rewards Card is through Fidelity & I pay that directly from Fidelity.
I also have a pipe-line set up between Fidelity & my bank. If the amount in my checking account grows too high, I'll transfer some to Fidelity.

The only monthly bill that I still pay with a check, is my house payment.
That bank is only about 1.5 miles away, & I pay it in person every month.
If I can't find 15 minutes once a month to go there & make a payment, my life is too busy.

Besides that, I like visiting with the people at my banks. They're all very nice, knowledgeable, & on the rare occasion I need something like a signature guarantee, it's very convenient.

So, how do you check that all that is done? And how do you transfer the money to Fidelity? If you do any of it online, it's online banking. If you actually deal with paper statements and do all the other activities in the B&M bank, it's not. But it sounds like online banking to me.

I'm also within a mile of my bank. But for me, the convenience of being able to check balances and payments and fraudulent activity more than once a month and out of "banker's hours" is a plus. We have a busy financial life, and waiting a month to see that someone has used our credit cards or that the bank missed a payment or a deposit, or that I let my balance slip too low, turns everything into a major hassle. Receiving text or email alerts and getting it done within a day or so makes it much easier, especially the transferring of funds between the various accounts. Waiting for statements and sending checks between institutions would be torture to me. Thus, online banking.

 

[euro]

I do almost everything online, but I do have a HELOC and three mortgages with a local bank, so I also have a checking account there ( no fees, as I'm a "super customer", most fees are waived). Haven't been inside the bank for years though

 

[mrfeh]

We still have a local CU. Don't need them often, but they are useful for money orders, cashing EE bonds and notarizing documents.

 

[kcowan]

The only reason I physically go the bank these days is to cash out my piggybank, just like when I was 5 years old.

I use the self serve at Home Depot for that. Less pressure because no one cares how long it takes.

 

[ownyourfuture]

So, how do you check that all that is done? And how do you transfer the money to Fidelity? If you do any of it online, it's online banking. If you actually deal with paper statements and do all the other activities in the B&M bank, it's not. But it sounds like online banking to me.

I stand corrected. I thought you had to be one of those who
'pays all their bills online' for it to be considered online banking.

And I agree that's it's very nice to be able to check your account(s) any time of the day or night.

 

[sengsational]

My credit union packed-up and left town many years ago, and I'm still with them. So kind of forced into online banking. The main pain is depositing those larger checks, which I have to mail.

We also have a joint account at BofA for a few decades. It had a "free" safe deposit box with a $5K minimum balance. So that gave a local cash buffer and a place to put important papers. But last year they just started charging $60/year for the box. I wanted to leave for a local credit union but the wanted $20/year for their box, and it's farther away. For $40 annually, it's just not with the trouble of moving, especially since DW "likes" her BofA account and doesn't like change.

 

[kgtest]

work for a bank. We are on a mission to close locations. In the past...especially depression-era, the illusion of a large physical building where money was stored was apparently more well-received then that of a small building meaning bigger building holds more money!

The bigger the bank, the safer people felt. I sort of feel the opposite today IMHO.

 

[youbet]

This is how I see it and what I do. OP mentioned simplification. When you can have a human do some task and when she is a few blocks away, to lose her is a complication rather than a simplification.

Ha

Same here. I only use lobby, drive-through or ATM services a few times a year, but when I do, everything seems to work well. I keep a safe-deposit box, a checking account and a savings account with them. I think the staff is fully aware that the only reason you're doing business with them is their excellent service and their intent is to not disappoint.

Despite the fact that we do almost all our transactions with them (including electronic bill-pay) on line or via direct deposits or direct debits, I just don't see the advantage of being at a bank with no local B&M facility. What would be gained? I don't have to go to the building and seldom do, but it's there for me on occasions when lobby services are a convenient way for me to get something done.

Have any of you moved to online banking exclusively with no local banking presence? I'm thinking about moving in that direction as part of my "simplify prior to retirement" movement.

Lumpy, what would be simplified? What about your status as a customer at your local bank is a hassle for you? Remember, if you pick a nearby B&M bank that has an excellent web site with all the features of the Internet-only banks, you get the best of both worlds. Bank over the Internet for most transactions but take advantage of lobby services when they are occasionally needed.

edit: I live in suburban Chicago and have at least a half dozen B&M bank branches within a mile. I could walk to one on paved sidewalks. (Not my bank, unfortunately.) I'm sure my preference for doing business with a combo Internet/B&M bank would change if I had to drive a distance to get there.

 

[Rosie]

At some point USAA opened their checking accounts to everyone including those with no military affiliation. I got one around 2012 and have been very happy.

...

And I LOVE being able to use any ATM rather than hunt for a particular network since they reimburse any ATM fees up to a reasonable limit.

DH and I have used USAA for our banking for roughly 20 years now, and couldn't be happier.

I think they were one of the first to let customers deposit checks from home by scanning the check and uploading the image (IIRC that was at least a decade ago, before banks enabled check deposits using a smartphone). There is an upper limit of either $5000 or $10000 per day for that "deposit from home" service, and one time we had a very large check to deposit (settlement from the sale of our home). I was able to bring the check to a local UPS store where it was scanned and transmitted to our USAA account. (Ed. to add: it looks like they no longer have that service with UPS; I guess very large checks have to be mailed to USAA now, if you're not near a USAA service center)

And I agree, it's so convenient to use any ATM so long as it's part of the Plus network, which nearly all are. USAA reimburses up to $15/month in ATM fees, which is more than generous IMO, I think our largest ATM fee reimbursement was $9.

Back when I was executor of my FIL's estate, I did open an account at a brick-and-mortar bank local to us at that time, in part to have access to a safe deposit box and in order to obtain medallion signature guarantees for documents (they're not the same as notarized documents). The service at that bank was terrible, and I closed the account and ended my association with that bank as soon as I possibly could.

After that experience, we'll just stick with online banking with USAA, thanks.

 

[Rosie]

But I still keep a "brick and mortar" account open for things that I just can't do online like trading in loose change.

We use Coinstar machines for that -- the full amount can be redeemed for an Amazon credit, that way there's no service fee. We shop occasionally at Amazon so that's worth it for us.

Aaaand, you don't need to pack the change in rolls when you use a Coinstar machine!

 

[easysurfer]

We use Coinstar machines for that -- the full amount can be redeemed for an Amazon credit, that way there's no service fee. We shop occasionally at Amazon so that's worth it for us.

Aaaand, you don't need to pack the change in rolls when you use a Coinstar machine!

True. I could use Coinstar for change.

No rolls needed also for my back. They have a self-serve counting machine that I can dump loose change in and watch the sucker count. Similar to Coinstar, I suppose.

 

[jazz4cash]

work for a bank. We are on a mission to close locations. In the past...especially depression-era, the illusion of a large physical building where money was stored was apparently more well-received then that of a small building meaning bigger building holds more money!

The bigger the bank, the safer people felt. I sort of feel the opposite today IMHO.

Love how the older banks look like churches with their columns etc. Chevy Chase was a local S&L that struggled through a run on their deposits in the 70s(?). When they survived and started to expand they built those big old style branches everywhere. And then Capital One bought them out.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I use a online bank but love my local credit union. They are only a few blocks from the home and so handy. I can't see myself going 100% online.