Do I even need a brick and mortar bank anymore?

[pinkytoe]

We have had Bank of America checking and savings accounts for years. Other than needing to deposit a rare check now and then and a couple of monthly online payments that could be paid instead from a Vanguard savings account, it is not used. Way too much money just sitting there. Would you keep the accounts or move to all online? Trying to do financial declutter.

[Tybee]

We have had Bank of America checking and savings accounts for years. Other than needing to deposit a rare check now and then and a couple of monthly online payments that could be paid instead from a Vanguard savings account, it is not used. Way too much money just sitting there. Would you keep the accounts or move to all online? Trying to do financial declutter.

I would not leave a lot sitting there, but it is nice to have a local bank for depositing checks. I also use my local bank for notarizing things, which is free for customers.

[iris lilies]

When we moved from the big city to Hermann, we put $100,000 in a Hermann bank* because I wanted to establish obvious roots in the Herman business community. It’s a very small town. Within the year, our contractor started work and he wanted us to open a charge account at the lumber store so that he could just charge our materials there and we would pay the bill to the lumberyard. In order to open that charge account the lumber yard wanted to know we were good for it and Lo, there was our Hermann Bank account that had been established a year earlier with a healthy amount.

So for that reason, it came in handy for us. We still have a bank account in the city of St. Louis, a brick and mortar bank. And I will say that I recently referenced that to a bank employee when talking to him about our Iris society’s tiny account at his bank. I told him hey, I know you arent making any money on this account here, but you’re making money on our personal account so thank you for running our plant society account without charges.

* We chose our bank based on their building. Yes, I am that impractical. There are three banks in Herman and two of them have new ugly buildings. One of them has a cool old building And that is the building I chose.

[bae]

When we moved from the big city to Hermann, we put $100,000 in a Hermann bank* because I wanted to establish obvious roots in the Herman business community. It’s a very small town.

When I first moved here, I established an account with "Islanders Bank", a very small local-created bank with 3 branches, one on each of our major islands. My initial thinking was similar to Iris' - to get connected to the community. This bank was a very nice one, it understood local needs quite well, and reinvested local capital into the community with great impact to the economy.

It was purchased by Banner Bank a few years ago, and is no longer *quite* the same, but it's still mostly the same people working there, and still retains a lot of the local touch. I think it is a loss to the community in some fundamental way that our "local" bank is no longer quite so local.

My usual method of operating is to transfer $$$ from my Schwab accounts into the bank, and use the bank for my normal living/household expenses. In truth, I don't really need the local bank, I could just use the Schwab accounts directly. It still serves the social purposes somewhat, and it *does* provide a cutout from the banking information I give people for transactions, and my real assets.

[Rachel]

* We chose our bank based on their building. Yes, I am that impractical. There are three banks in Herman and two of them have new ugly buildings. One of them has a cool old building And that is the building I chose.

I 100% agree and endorse, Iris Lillies! You are supporting Beauty.

[Rogar]

I have a brick. and mortar bank a couple of near my house where I have a couple of CDs, a checking and saving account, and a safety deposit box. They have a change counter. I still have a foot in the analog days and I use their drive up or walk in for cash withdrawals and other occationals. I don't mind as it's close and there have been things I like to talk with a real person about, but there are probably work arounds digitally for most or all of it.

[frugal-one]

Still use b&m bank for cds, savings for immediate cash (if needed), debit card and checking account. Nice to be able to cash or deposit occasional checks too. Chose institution by best rates, value and location. Could care less about the building it is housed in!

[Tradd]

I have checking and savings with Chase, who are huge here. High yield savings account with Vanguard, where my investment accounts are. I like having a big retail bank for my bank, as there’s a branch on the off chance I need to visit a branch.

[Klunick]

I can't tell you the last time I went to a bank. Years ago for sure. I do everything through the mobile app. My husband on the other hand isn't tech minded so he will go to the bank from time to time. We have noticed a lot of the branches around us have closed so me might have to switch banks just so he has one to go to.

[rosarugosa]

I like having a local bank. That's where we have our checking account, but we don't keep a lot of extra $$ in there. It's linked to our online savings account, which actually pays some interest. We use the change counter on occasion, and I like it that I can go there for small bills when needed to make change for pottery sales.
I started depositing checks via my phone during covid, so I don't need to visit the bank in person for that anymore.