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Noen, you said you export to Quicken. Does Quicken not have the capability to login directly to BB&T's online services and download the transactions?

I've been using Wachovia for years, and recently installed Quicken (I've used MS Money since 1998), and both programs can login directly to Wachovia Online, download transactions, and even pay bills using their Bill Pay service.

8/20/2006 6:55:34 PM

Here's my take on the banks I know about:

SECU: If you are eligible, it is better than any bank I know of in every way, except there are no out of state branches or atms and it is the least secure (they loan out more of your money than banks). Your account is insured, which protects you from SECU failing, but wouldn't protect you from widespread banking system failure.

If you meet the requirements to join, you should. You will probably want to borrow money from them at some point.

Some may dislike the $1 per month required donation on the checking accounts, but then again their checking account pay better interest than most banks' savings accounts. I always make more that $1 in interest in my checking anyway and it goes to charity, not some fatcat.

First Citizens: They are the most secure bank I know of. We take it for granted, but if the banking system failed, they would probably survive. They are privately held and are much more conservative about lending. On the downside, you would probably never be able to borrow money from them. Also, they are only in NC, SC, and WV so if you travel a lot they may not be the best choice. However, they have a large presence in rural areas.

Wachovia: I've heard nothing but bad about them. They really screwed my parents over and my fiance. They seem to be trying to make money off of their depositers, rather than making money off of their deposits. With all the other choices available, avoid these clowns at all costs.

Quote :

"Noen, you're an idiot. People can/do write more than 10 checks a month. I pay all my bills with checks, at the grocery store, shopping, and other various things."

I'm curious why you write checks for that stuff? The only checks I write these days are for rent or to reimburse regulare people. I can't think of anywhere else that would take a check that wouldn't take a visa check/debit card.

[Edited on August 20, 2006 at 7:11 PM. Reason : ?]

8/20/2006 7:08:38 PM

i didnt know until now but First Citizens is based in Raleigh

8/20/2006 7:17:17 PM

I should add that FC has branches in Virginia, Tennessee, and Marland, as well as NC, SC, and WV.

8/20/2006 7:20:40 PM

yea like rho said, i dont see any reason to ever switch unless im in the unfortunate situation that i have to move to a state without a branch

8/20/2006 7:24:12 PM

It takes me about 30 secnds to fill out a check, that does not add up to an hour or two, I have 2 more books with the wrong address on them and am rushing through them right now, but typically I still use my checks. It takes me about 5 seconds to do subtracting in my checkbook, if I even average it, so you're way off. I send a check for my cell phone, credit card, loans (more than 1 check with this), groceries sometimes, to pay my fraternity, to reemburse people that do things for me, shopping in places I've been before (so that I don't hold up the line while they register me), and various other things. (I don't have to write one for rent/utilities because where I live doesn't require for me to pay anything. )

Quote :

"I also happen to READ the fine print whenever I open any account, checking or otherwise as well as ASKING what the catches are."

I read everything and asked what the catches were, and they told me everything except those, leading me to believe that there were no restrictions in the beginning when I signed up. My Grandma worked for a BB&T branch in Fayetteville at the time before she retired and she said that there were no catches as well. I read the agreement, it was not in there. When I went in to ask about my account, he handed me a NEW brochure and it was in that one. I went home and got all my initial info and went back and showed him the difference and he refunded all my fees but I still closed the accounts. He appologized and said that the restrictions must have been placed after I became a customer and he was sorry. So, yeah, I did all my homework and it was their fault. So, I'm not the idiot here either.

Patman, I pretty much write checks just because I do. My numbers have been stolen before from my card, so I am more careful with those.


BTW, this does not mean that I do not use my debit card and write checks for everything. I do pay for a lot of things with my card and have some automatic drafts set up.

[Edited on August 20, 2006 at 8:28 PM. Reason : ]

8/20/2006 8:26:11 PM

Wachovia is pretty decent and their ATM's are everywhere - BBT's are a little hard to find.

My only qualm with Wachovia is how they process things. I go to deposit my paycheck every Friday (I don't trust my work's Direct Deposit, they fuck up a lot and don't deposit the checks until a two days late), and even though I always deposit it before 2PM, it doesn't hit my account until midnight, and my parents have BoA and BBT, and if it's before a certain time, it's in your account and solid. Same if I deposit on a Saturday - it doesn't hit my account until Monday night/Tuesday morning at 12AM. They claim it's because their computers have to process everything, but I think it's BS.

However, it doesn't bother me enough to switch, so it's pretty ok.

8/20/2006 8:32:13 PM

^The way around that with them is to tell them to cash it and then deposit it so it will post immediately. I just asked them one day why it happened and a worker told me to do that. I have ever since!

8/20/2006 8:41:01 PM

Quote :

"I don't trust my work's Direct Deposit"

Neither do I. As soon as I get my paycheck I cash it and put it all in my mattress.

8/20/2006 10:29:16 PM

Quote :

"Neither do I. As soon as I get my paycheck I cash it and put it all in my mattress. "

fuck that noise, its all about the mason jars buried in the backyard.

inflation doesnt exist, at all

8/20/2006 10:36:24 PM

I work at SECU and its the best bank for the college student by far. We do a ton of stuff that every other bank will make you pay for. Free notaries, free coin exchange machine, very cheap checks, $1 Money Orders for everything below $500 every other money order is free, free accounts, LOW loan interest rates, the bank pretty much rocks I can't figure out how they can afford to pay me a salary besides the meager amount of money they earn off the interest of loans.

8/20/2006 10:42:38 PM

Quote :

"However, they are HORRIBLE when it comes to fees ... just a warning."

i agree, i visit a BoA branch almost everyday and i've asked the employees about it too. the fees are terrible.

8/20/2006 10:43:39 PM

Quote :

"I don't trust my work's Direct Deposit"

yeah large chains/corporations have problems with simple things like direct deposit all the time

8/21/2006 11:05:22 AM

Quote :

"Patman, I pretty much write checks just because I do. My numbers have been stolen before from my card, so I am more careful with those. "

Obviously you don't know much about identity theft, because someone can use your Routing Number and Acct Number on a check to do a LOT more damage than they can with a debit/atm card.

Using your check card means ZERO liability for fraudulent charges or fuckups. Using a check puts the fault in limbo.

8/21/2006 11:15:07 AM

^ haha seriously

that's the dumbest logic for eschewing check cards that I've ever seen. But then again, the author of said post isn't exactly sporting more than a room temperature IQ.

8/21/2006 11:18:01 AM

yeah, Noen is right. You're putting your finances at considerably more risk than if you were to use a card

[Edited on August 21, 2006 at 11:22 AM. Reason : blah]

8/21/2006 11:22:20 AM

in the lounge you can pretty much ignore everything bethaleigh says - it's a safe bet if you are seeking the truth/good information - she's pure chit chat material

same goes with natalie### most of the time

8/21/2006 11:27:01 AM

When they run your checks now they give them back to you before you leave the store. There is no time for someone to take all that info. And if the check is in my posession, I don't have to worry about anything being taken. I know all the ways to steal identities and cards are just as easy (A place I used to work at required a course of suspicious activity and all the details.). Whereas with a credit card, I've had them walk out of sight with it before, sometimes they hold it until the entire transaction is over, and sometimes, another receipt prints out with your info on it that they do not give to you. It all depends on the store. Some print out more than the last 4 digits of the card number, and some print out your entire name and number; it all depends on the store. I don't care if you trolls don't like the way I protect myself against fraud or not, you're just miserable, sad, wastes of space in my opinion.

8/21/2006 12:12:15 PM

Quote :

"The way around that with them is to tell them to cash it and then deposit it so it will post immediately. I just asked them one day why it happened and a worker told me to do that. I have ever since!"

problem with that is: when you cash a check, they hold that amount of money from your account until the check has cleared, so you'll still have the same amount of money available. the only real way around it is if you go to the bank where the check originated and cash it there (for a fee if you don't have an account there). if your bank and your employer's bank are the same, then you're in business. otherwise, you'll have to deal with not having that money for a day or so, pay a fee, or change banks to one that isn't stingy like wachovia.

8/21/2006 12:25:53 PM

^That's never happened to me before. Are you talking about Wachovia?

8/21/2006 12:27:49 PM

yes. and it has definitely happened to me.

8/21/2006 12:28:56 PM

Quote :

"When they run your checks now they give them back to you before you leave the store. "

There are plenty of places that still do checks the old fashioned way.

8/21/2006 12:36:46 PM

Sure, but not many. And not at places where I shop. I didn't mean that all did that.

[Edited on August 21, 2006 at 12:39 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2006 12:38:50 PM

And being that I've installed, configured and used PoS (point of sale) systems for the past oh, 6-8 years, I can tell you that you are 1000 times more secure using a Credit/Debit card than a check.

Even if they give you the check back, its trivial to pull the info back up and take your identity. The key to a credit/debit card is the offender never actually gets an account number which limits what they can do, and its EXTREMELY easy to cancel/catch credit fraud.

If someone taps your bank account number, not only can they clean you before you know what happened, you have no recourse and no coverage against it.

Seriously, you have NO FUCKING CLUE what you are talking about. This is just one of MANY reasons why banks and retail are moving to credit/debit transactions only.

8/21/2006 12:51:57 PM

Also, if they have the new electronic check machines, it would be fucking hard to believe that they would have to take your card out of sight at any point since they'd also have the self swipe credit/debit readers. Why don't you go grab a shovel for all of that bullshit.

8/21/2006 12:55:53 PM

^i havent had my card out of my sight (except for bar tabs) in almost 6 years. And I charge EVERYTHING.

8/21/2006 1:55:47 PM