The lesser of evils
 

I have been with Bank of America since 2006, but I have not been very satisfied with them for the last few years, and recent events have pushed me to change banks.

While shopping for a new car over the summer, I went to the bank to apply for an auto loan. I was ready to speak face to face with a manger to go over my income, loan amounts, interest rates, and possible cosigners. Instead, I was told all loans are done online and that I should go home and apply for one. I was a little disappointed that BOA has given away such an important task for a bank manager to a generic online form. The online application was very basic and did not take into account savings I had outside their bank. Solely based on first year guarantee pay, I instantly qualified for a $24,000 loan at 4.0% interest. I was appalled that only 3 years since the economic collapse, they approved me for a loan I could not afford to pay based on the information I gave them. The recent monthly fee to own a debit card has indicated to me not only is BOA irresponsible, but they also they do not value their customers.

I am looking facts, opinions, and thoughts on other bank options. I live in NYC, use my debit card for everything I can, and I am looking for good online bill payment features.

Join your local Federal Credit Union. They are customer owned so they have better service.

I Google'd "NYC credit union" and ten pages of them were listed. There's gotta be one near you.

Cheers!

I suggest checking out (no pun intended) Key Bank, if it has a presence in NYC. It is one of the big banks, but seems to have avoided a lot of the negative publicity so craved by BoA or Chase or Wells Fargo. It does not charge a monthly fee to use your debit card.

Credit unions are a good alternative, but they are not entirely perfect either. Many, like BoA in your case, want you to apply for loans online. After laboriously entering everything in, you get an email telling you a loan specialist will be looking at your application. Soon you get a phone call from this specialist who then wants you to make and send copies of pay stubs, stock statements, mortgage information, debt information etc etc etc. Then a loan committee gets together (at a time of their convenience, not yours) to decide on your fate. They are not always customer friendly; they slavishly and mechanically follow some rules from the NCUA (National Credit Union Association).

In any event, may I also suggest getting a "no annual fee" credit card with a low interest rate. If you pay off your credit card each month, you are essentially getting a free loan, and building up good credit at the same time. Some cards are attached to mileage plans so it comes in handy to build miles. I used my credit card for everything and managed to fly (for two) roundtrip to NRT a few years ago, and ready to do so again next year.

Like a lot of people, I believe BoA is evil and corrupt. They think nothing of sticking it to the customers on one hand and accepting a taxpayer bailout on the other. It's disgusting. Everyone who has an account with BoA should close it immediately and move someplace else. No corporation is too big to fail. None. It would make my day to see BoA finally close down.

USAA has been great. If you (or a relative?) has any military service, they'll let you open an account. One of the nicest "perks" is that they reimburse ATM fees. Not sure of the exact amount, but I recall it's around $2.00 for the first 10 ATM withdrawals per month.

Check them out at www.usaa.com; it may be worth the look.