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Best Banks To Bank At In Houston

Parrothead

By Parrothead
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Parrothead

Parrothead

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Curious to know your opinions on banking in Houston.

We are leaving Chase after 15 years. Both Matt and I were former Texas Commerce Bank account holders and just stayed with Chase because it was convenient. Well, now we HATE Chase with a passion, they have no loyalty to their customers and it shouldn't take a payroll check 4 days to clear when you've been depositing the same check from the same employer for almost 10 years. Ridiculous.

Suggestions for a good, convenient, customer-oriented bank?

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Lowbrow

Lowbrow

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Im currently with BoA but that is also a convienence thing.

There is a Wachovia downtown on Travis. I was with them when I lived in the Carolinas and they are a wonderful bank. I'm considering switching back. They are also opening a branch out north of Jersey Village on 290. Kind of restricted branch wise but I rarely use that anyways.

They are also continually rated as one of the best banks in the nation to get a credit card with. Their rates make them look more like a credit union.

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swzine

swzine

Posted
Posted
From experience:

Chase - mediocre and expensive.

Bank One - horrible customer service & accounting.

Compass - small, old/outdated equipment, & slightly ghetto.

Hibernia - excellent customer service.

Bank of America - my wife works there - so no comment.

Wamu - decent free checking.. aka: you get what you paid for.

Frost - good but expensive.

First Community Credit Union - excellent customer service.

I would recommend Hibernia out of all of them. I threw First Community Credit Union also. We got a car loan through them about 3 years ago, and have since opened up other accounts with them. The reason I mentioned them is that they have been super friendly & helpful.

I of course attempt to go to the same branch of my banks as much as possible. I also try to not use the drive through and go inside so that I can get to know the bank tellers & loan officers. I think it makes for good business - on both ends. I've found this especially true when something goes wrong or you have a question about your account. It helps to have a name & a face to go to to ask your questions & seek solutions.

Good luck either way.

I like Compass. It's cool how they will reimburse you the fees that other banks charge for ATMs. It's a true statement. I've done it before. They really do give you everything for free. Right now they have something called the Compass Challenge. http://compasschallenge.com/ They'll give you $100 if you can prove that your bank gives more for free. Since they're my bank, I have not tested this. Based on experience, I believe they're probably honest with it. You probably won't find more benefits for free, which makes it easy for them.

The only problem I ever had was poor service replacing a debit card. However, that was the fault of the third party that handles their debit cards. Compass isn't the only bank that does that, so it's hard to blame them.

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jmancuso

jmancuso

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i had wells fargo but they are like any other giant bank, you're just another number and treat custumers like ____. i have been with compass for about two years now and don't regret it. the fact that reimburse ATM fees is a big bonus since i had about $50 in fees credited back to me.

the only downside is hours and locations. wells fargo is in randall's and are open late, staurdays and even sunday. compass has the typical bank hours.

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jmancuso

jmancuso

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I had heard that it was a bit of a hassle to get those fees reimbursed to you. What's the actual process to get your money back?

it's easy. i just put the receipts in an envelope put my account number in there somewhere and mail them in. they credit your account shortly after.

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debmartin

debmartin

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i've banked with bofa since they were gibraltar savings back in the late 80's, starting with a savings account i opened for my son when he was born. i've never had any problems and get free checking with direct deposit. i cannot remember the last time i was in a branch, since i do all of my banking online - i think it was before tropical storm allison when my safety deposit box was downtown. after the flood the bank took everything to a storage facility on griggs rd and i had to deal with people in space suits who cleaned everything up - they helped me file my insurance claim and sent me a letter giving me a free box for a year for the trouble. there seem to be plenty of atm's so i don't worry about fees for that, and the one or two times when i've needed customer service i just send an email or call the 800#. i no longer even have a checkbook, as my visa checkcard is all i need and i even got my kids a teen visa so i can transfer their allowance and help them learn to budget and reconcile. i can transfer money between all my accounts and pay my bills online. since i've always been happy with my bank it's interesting to hear all the comments. lately i have noticed there is not as much advertising for banks on the radio and tv, and i figured it was because many of the banks have consolidated.

debmartin

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ssullivan

ssullivan

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I was with Bank United, then Washington Mutual after the merger. I was a happy WAMU customer for a long time until a paperwork snafu last fall with my former employer caused my last paycheck to be issued a week late. It was clearly the fault of my former employer and Administaff, who handled our payroll. As a result, my rent check and a number of bills I have that were scheduled for direct debit on the first of every month overdrew my account. I got hit with over $30 in overdraft fees in the first 10 days after being laid off, and Washington Mutual refused to consider refunding even a part of it. After that happened, they flagged my account as being a high overdraft risk, started holding every deposit I made for up to five days before allowing me to access the funds, which caused more issues with things like rent checks. And, to top it all off, reported me to the credit bureaus, which dropped my FICO score a good five points. I spent a good portion of October and November working to get all this resolved to no avail.

I have since moved to Chase, mainly because of their Continental Airlines debit card and an offer I received from Continental for a bunch of bonus miles for opening a new account. Despite what I've heard from many people about their customer service, I've had an amazingly good experience with Chase. I will say that I do miss WAMU's funds availability policy, which before the problems I had, would allow me to deposit a check at an ATM after hours and immediately withdraw cash from it, before a human had even had the chance to verify that I actually put a check and not just an empty deposit envelope in the machine. I've become accustomed to having to wait a couple of days for non-local checks I deposit at Chase to be available, but I plan around that. And after I'm working full time again (which may be very soon!) I should be back on direct deposit for payroll, which has next business day availability of funds. I'm on their free checking plan, which I've so far been very pleased with, and have paid for nothing more than the $30 annual fee for my Continental debit card. And I've already earned a ton of OnePass miles toward my next free trip. So I'm happy.

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HoustonMidtown

HoustonMidtown

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Im currently at WAMU - mainly for convenience....I have only had one issue with them....if you deposit a large check ( >5000) they will hold it for up to 2 weeks...and even split it and hold a portion for one week and another portion for another week after that....they tell me this is their way of doing things so now Im aware of it....I bounced several checks the first time they did it to me....other than that, Ive had no bad experiences with them.....

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Parrothead

Parrothead

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I appreciate all of your input gang. It is really helpful.

I had a seperate account with Frost for years and do love them, but yes, you do pay for that love :P I guess in this day and age, I might be willing to let them love me for a fee again.

Compass and WAMU are definitely in the running. Hubby is looking into it today.

Thanks!!

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ssullivan

ssullivan

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Yes, there's the regular MasterCard charge card, and a Continental debit card. The difference (other than debit card purchases coming directly out of your checking account) is that the debit card rewards 1 mile for every $2.00 spent, versus 1 mile for every $1.00 on the credit card. There is an annual fee on the debit card of $30, which I don't consider a big deal. It also carries a maximum award of 80,000 miles, but I doubt I'll come anywhere close to spending the $160,000 a year necessary to hit the maximum anytime soon.

You can find the details on the Continental OnePass website. Scroll down below the credit cards to "Chase/Continental Airlines Banking Card" in the middle of the page.

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  • 8 months later...
travelguy_73

travelguy_73

Posted
Posted
Best Banks To Bank At in Houston

Which Ones Give The Best Interest?

Citibank

Bank of America

Wells Fargo

Chase

or some other bank?

Interest on what? Savings? Checking? Unless you have a lot of money in your savings account, the difference in rates from bank to bank isn't material. If you have enough in savings to make a difference, you should move the money to other investments with a higher return than a standard account.

Credit Unions generally give better rates, and it is pretty easy to find one you can join.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ashikaga

Ashikaga

Posted
Posted
Interest on what? Savings? Checking? Unless you have a lot of money in your savings account, the difference in rates from bank to bank isn't material. If you have enough in savings to make a difference, you should move the money to other investments with a higher return than a standard account.

Credit Unions generally give better rates, and it is pretty easy to find one you can join.

My checking account is at Wachovia. I talked to them this morning about renting a safe deposit box because I need to control my spending. They told me that a person is allowed to keep cash in one. That's good, because if I leave money in my account, I'll go to an ATM over the weekend or in the middle of the night and withdraw it. Then I end up blowing it.

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MarthaG

MarthaG

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Make sure you are not PAYING a fee to have a Savings Account. I agree...the little bit of interest you get on a savings account is not worth getting excited about, much less changing banks over.

I will say that I banked with Wells Fargo for years...and finally got sick of them fee'ing me to death.

I'm at Washington Mutual Now...and Loving it....great online service (free)...great checking...(free) and savings...(and as long as I have a certain balance it is free).

Keeping cash in a Safe Deposit Box can be a good plan. It means you have to make the effort to go to the bank and get the cash... Hopefully you will be too lazy to do, so you will save the money. I understand this logic perfectly. :blink:

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Ashikaga

Ashikaga

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Make sure you are not PAYING a fee to have a Savings Account. I agree...the little bit of interest you get on a savings account is not worth getting excited about, much less changing banks over.

I will say that I banked with Wells Fargo for years...and finally got sick of them fee'ing me to death.

I'm at Washington Mutual Now...and Loving it....great online service (free)...great checking...(free) and savings...(and as long as I have a certain balance it is free).

Keeping cash in a Safe Deposit Box can be a good plan. It means you have to make the effort to go to the bank and get the cash... Hopefully you will be too lazy to do, so you will save the money. I understand this logic perfectly. :blink:

That's exactly what I mean. If my money is in a safe deposit box, then there's no way that I can get it on a weekend and go gamble it away. I wouldn't be able to get to it until Monday morning when the bank lobby opens up (unless that Monday happens to be a bank holiday, then I'd have to wait another day).

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sevfiv

sevfiv

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just fyi, this was posted in a chron blog:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/busine...an/3485195.html

In your case, though, assuming you are a law-abiding citizen who pays his taxes and is not defrauding anyone, it is perfectly acceptable and legal for you to keep as much cash as you want in your safe deposit box.

Of course, you won't be earning interest on the cash in the box. Even though interest rates are low and the amounts earned on bank deposits are minimal, at least you would be earning something.

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  • 4 years later...
HTX

HTX

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Posted

I'm in the process of buying a small business and need to decide on a bank. I live in mid-town and the warehouse operations will be located inside the southeast corner of the loop. My personal bank is BoA but I am not really interested in going with them or maybe it's they are not interested in me. Either way I've convinced myself open open the business account elsewhere.

Are there any small business owners on the forum that are happy enough with their bank to recommend them?

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ToryGattis

ToryGattis

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Amegy was acquired by Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation several years ago.

Yes, but I believe that's a holding corp, and they retain an independent local HQ here that makes the highest-level loan decisions (not that that would come up with a small business loan anyway). I haven't tapped them for a loan, but I've had nothing but stellar service from everybody I've dealt with there.

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