No brick and mortar bank?

[kib]

I have kept a small balance at BOA, which has a branch in walking distance of my house (and is really the only conveniently located bank to me), for 12 years. It was always a free checking account if you had direct deposit. DH has one too, that he uses for his personal expenses. Now they've announced that unless I keep $5,000 in each account (at basically 0% interest), this is going to cost me $6 a month. So either I lose $100 or so in interest or I pay $144 a year in fees.

I feel like it's so useful to have a local bank where I can deposit checks, even large ones, and have cash immediately available for transfer or withdrawal. DH doesn't really do banking and appreciates the simplicity and convenience of this local bank. I get a rent check once a month and sporadic other checks. And all our other online banking links to these accounts.

Has anyone gone entirely brick-free and liked it? Has anyone bitten the bullet and given in to the demands of Bank of Avarice? What a pain in the butt. This has been hands down the most expensive year of my life.

ETA: there is a Chase Bank in the town I drive to once a week or so, that appears to be offering the deal BOA used to offer, plus a cash bonus. Anyone have thoughts on Chase? We really don't seem to have any "local" banks in the area, that I can tell, they're all big chains.

ETA: there is a national bank of arizona reasonably close by, as well as two credit unions that don't appear to even have websites. Sigh. thots, thots, thots???

ETA: DH is a government employee, not military though. Does anyone know of any better banking deals for govies?

[Tradd]

Chase is my bank. I have no issues with them. Have a cc through them, too.

No credit unions near you?

[treehugger]

I haven't technically gone brick and mortar free, but our small, local credit union was bought out by a giant national credit union, so now we have no actual branches of our CU anywhere near us. However, most (all?) CUs belong to a large CU network, so we can use any number of local CUs as our local branch. We can also deposit at certain other commercial banks' ATMs (US Bank is one of those and they have a branch near my work), so it's pretty convenient.

So, definitely check out your CU options.

Kara

[Tradd]

I have to add that I can't remember when I actually last went into a branch! I pay virtually all bills online. I deposit checks via the ATM.

[benhyr]

ETA: DH is a government employee, not military though. Does anyone know of any better banking deals for govies?

You guys might qualify to join PenFed https://www.penfed.org/

I think you can also join Navy Federal through a donation to a participating charity: https://www.navyfederal.org/

I believe at least Chase and USAA (which might also be possible to join?) let you deposit checks by taking a picture or scanning the check (and both have smartphone apps to let you snap the picture and deposit to your account).

We always use a community bank or credit union but we're fortunate in that our CU also happens to be the most convenient. Good luck!

[Rogar]

I am probably old fashioned, but I like the idea of having a savings and checking account at a brick and mortar. I have a safety deposit box there, can cash or deposit checks, and have my piggy bank change counted. And I just like the idea of dealing with real people. The last time I set up an new account with them they seemed to have a whole menu of accounts with varying rates and restictions. It might be worth asking if they have something that would be a better deal for you?

[Tammy]

we like these guys
http://www.parkwaybankarizona.com/arizona.php

don't know if they in all of Arizona or just the greater Phoenix area.

but they don't have any fees for checking.

[loosechickens]

we have a basic checking account at Wells Fargo that is no fee, only requires you to maintain a $100 balance. We use it as a bricks and mortar pass-through to our ING account since we don't like having our brokerage account linked to other accounts online, and also for some regularly occurring monthly debits. I don't know if they still offer it, as we've had it for years, but they've never changed it and it's still free and only a very small balance. Check with Wells Fargo and see what they offer......