I guess I'll just open up another WAMU account for now. It's where I currently have accounts, but I'm cranky with them for being jerks and I don't really want to give them more business. I guess I'll have to settle for giving them a few months of business and then cashing out.

As for other Banks I can think of...

Jane and Michael
Tyra
Outer

If you're going to open the account in Washington, one thing to be aware of is that even when a bank exists in multiple states that doesn't always make for a seamless experience when you move from one state to another.


So if your intent is to open in Washington and then move to California with it, whichever bank you choose may have various kinks with that.

For example, BofA in Washington has some serious differences from BofA California (the online banking experiences are different, I don't know what kind of account servicing difficulties may exist). For WaMu, there are actually four different "companies" based on geography and certain types of transactions between accounts opened in Washington and accounts opened in California are difficult. For example, if you use online banking you would not be able to have both a checking account opened in Washington and a checking account opened in California accessed through the same online banking account.



These splits exist for various regulatory (good) and legacy system (bad) reasons. For the average user the annoyance won't impact very much but you should be aware of them.

I've not got complete information on this for the industry but I think Wells would probably have the fewest kinks in a move from Washington to California (when I did the same move they had problems; I couldn't get a person in a California bank to help me with my Washignton opened account because they couldn't even see the detail on their screens; but they eventually got their systems from the 1st Interstate merger resolved).

If you do go with WaMu, I would recommend opening your accounts online as I believe that keeps them all within the same "company" regardless of where you live.

What Alex said has happened to J with WaMu. Few kinks, so J doesn't want to change everything over.

I suggest using your mattress

We've been with Wells Fargo forever. We've had various accounts opened in CA and AZ and the service has been fine and without incident. We've never had a problem with an account being out of state.

In fact, we were under the impression that we'd have to switch it over when we moved here and they said it was completely optional. Our "main" branch is still in CA while many of our additional accounts are based out of AZ.

swanie

Whatever you do, do not use BofA. Never liked them. WaMu has been ok with us.

Oh yeah - BoA is NOT an option. Watched too many of my friends get screwed over in college by their practices.

Every time I see this thread title, I think of Mary Poppins, as in the older bank guys addressing Mr. Banks. "Banks?"

I think a coffee can would work better. I have a foam mattress.

Or in my case, a small butter tub would suffice. :rolleyes: