Looking for advice on choosing a bank for my first job. Which bank do you recommend for young professionals? #firstjob #banking #financialadvice
Just landed my first job and not sure where to bank. Any advice for a newbie like me? #bankrecommendations #youngprofessionals
Hey there! Any suggestions on the best bank for a fresh graduate like myself? #bankingoptions #careerstarters
New to the workforce and need help choosing a bank. Any recommendations for a first-time jobber? #bankselection #financialbeginnings
NOT Bank of America or Wells Fargo.
Suggest a local bank with physical branches near either home or work.
I’d avoid fintechs.
Always, always, always go with a credit union.
Whatever local bank is offering a sign up bonus for opening a checking account!!
If it has Fargo or Wells in the name, avoid at all costs.
Brokerage accounts now offer debit cards and checking services. This is what I would do because you can easily shift your money into high yield money market accounts while it sits.
once you have some money saved up and meet requirements for chase theyll give you $600 or wo to open account
A lot of people are pushing for credit unions. I think credit unions are fine but down the line I’ve learned to greatly value ease of access in my money. For example, I was out of state with a friend. He attempted to get cash from his credit union. Needed to find ATMs. Had a lot of fees and daily limits. I just went to the local Chase bank and pulled out the exact amount needed with no issues.
I also have learned that depending on your needs, a credit union will not grant you loans for high value cars or homes. Bigger banks will also help you establish a credit card with them which in turn allows for better credit.
I’m making a few assumptions here based on you just turning 18 and getting your first job: Go with Chase. If you’re doing direct deposits, the account is free. Chase credit cards are probably the best cards you will have. With good history and usage, they’ll increase your credit line regularly. My largest cards are with Chase.
As you go along, I would suggest looking into BofA if you have interest in car or home loans. Then after that finding banks that offer HYSA.
Find the best rated credit union in your area
SoFi is pretty convenient imo, all online, and the 4.6% beats my local credit union. Their app is great, and my local credit union’s app sucks.
Credit union is the best however you need to check and make sure their technology is somewhat modern. Things like check deposits from your phone, or integration with your budgeting app. Some credit unions are way behind the times in this.
I had Wells Fargo, BoA, and 2 credit Unions (current still with them). I didn’t like the big name banks. Personally I would start with a credit union first. Move to a major bank later if you need to. I never had an issue with ATMs out of state with my credit unions.
I’d put some money in a high interest rate bank like sofi or capital one . Right now they have 4.60% rate. My current credit union is barely above 1%. I’d put 10% minimum into that savings and forget about it. Use direct deposit if you can.
If you don’t really travel, just use a local credit union.
If you go with a large national bank, stay TF away from Wells Fargo.
Go will Ally Bank, free atm anywhere. Competitive savings rates and you get reimbursement for atm usage up to $10 a month.
Whichever bank has a lot of ATMs easily accessible in your area. Also ideally one that doesn’t have or has a very low minimum amount you need to have in checking / saving
I think TD bank is pretty good for people just starting to bank.
I personally use a different one but that’s because they have business perks. But for a starter account TD is the way to go.
My first bank was Wells Fargo. Went in at 18 because I wanted to start getting direct deposit. Looking back on it…it was fine. Their bankers aggressively push products that cost money at various points of time.
When I went in at 18 they made me set up a savings account w an automatic $75/mo transfer from my checking acct to savings to avoid a monthly fee. So for years of my life I’d go in and transfer the $75 back to checking. It was free and took a few mins. In retrospect I think the idea is I might overdraft from the auto transfer and they’d get to charge me a fee. But you know what? It also taught me to check in on my money at least once a month, which is a good habit. Annoying but in a way it developed a good habit in me lol
They had me apply to a credit card w a $500 limit. I had no idea about cards at the time. I never carried a balance on it because I researched how credit cards work shortly after – I knew people get in trouble with them but never knew why. Paid it in full every month, since I learned if you don’t you get charged a ton of interest. I still have the card open to this day, used it for 5-6 years and haven’t touched it in over a decade. It’s still open, my oldest credit line still going strong. So in that sense I’m glad the WF banker suggested and signed me up for it, I wouldn’t have done it on my own and it’s helped my credit score through my life. Ofc I had to take initiative to learn about what I was doing, the risks and how to manage it.
I’d say WF isn’t great long term. I don’t use them anymore on principle, but I did WF from 08 til around 2020 and it was perfectly fine. Using a fintech (sofi) as my primary bank now, with a local credit union account open (Wings) that I just use to pay my credit cards. My wife uses US Bank, once in a blue moon we go in to get a cashier’s check (like when we were putting a down payment on a car).
Honestly banks are banks. Find the one that has a decent user interface and doesn’t charge you fees. You can have more than one, and you can close them too. If you’re just needing something with DD, as long as you talk to someone about how to avoid fees and follow those rules you’ll be fine banking most anywhere. And if they piss you off, just go open a bank somewhere else and move your money lol.
I’ve had good experiences with BECU. Others I know who use credit unions are happy with theirs. I’ve only ever heard horror stories from big banks, I know Wells Fargo especially is garbage. I’ve personally had no issues with Chase, but only minimally use them.
Ultimately though, you should treat choosing a bank like choosing any other business – read reviews of the local branch that you’d have to use if you need in-person help. Look them up online to see if they’ve committed fraud or anything of the sort in the past. Compare their offerings against others to confirm that they’re right for your specific financial preferences.
I like capital one. They let you open a ton of savings accounts that you can easily see through the same login. I use them for different savings buckets with automations putting a little in each one each paycheck
If you qualify. USAA or Navy Federal are the way to go.
Please … pleeeease read “A Simple Path to Wealth” from JL Collins and set yourself up for success. You’re in position where small changes will yield big wins on your life. Become aware of them ASAP.
I like Chase. Everything is right there on the app. All my cards, my loan with them, checking, savings. I can pay bills online or send money from the phone. The prime card is chase backed as well so it’s there in the app too.
My wife was with a credit union. It was kind of laughable. To deposit money, she would have to go to the muni building, floor 3, down the hall there was an office there. No online support whatsoever. She switched over to Chase too.
Keybank will literally give you $200 for opening an account and depositing $500
Try to get into a credit union.
Part of it depends on where you live (and where you are most likely to go) to ensure you have branches there. Good luck. If you can (I know not everyone can) I suggest putting money into the retirement and, once you have started that, paying yourself in a Savings account. But that is a medium term goal not an immediate term.
I have banked with bank of america, chase, and capital one. IMO, capital one has been the best, because the high yields savings account is much, much better than the other two (the other two dont even offer a high yields savings). So you’re losing out on free money. Not only that, but the Savorone and venture X credit card combo is the best out IMO. Chase is okay, but avoid bank of america. Ive heard they are involved in pretty shaxy stuff
Chase is the best bank my wife and I have worked with, plus since they have some of the best credit cards it keeps things all in one app.
Charles Schwab. They pay you for basic checking, free atm in the world-no atm fees. Strong savings/investment encouragement and financial education
The problem is what you need the account for will determine the best account to have.
Personally, I love using USAA as my wife brought it with her when we married. If one of your parents/grandparents were in the service, they can help you get setup. I’ve never had a bad interaction with USAA and they can get you started with a low-limit credit card to start building credit. They gave us the best rate on our car loans and I haven’t had anything to complain about with their insurance.
Credit Unions are great for local communities, but if you’re planning on moving anytime soon, they’re a pain in the rear to deal with. My Credit Union screwed me out of a couple hundred dollars when I moved because my used car loan through them wasn’t pulling from the account correctly and they wanted me to come to the office to fix it. Screwed my credit up as well since they were counted as late payments. It only happened when I moved for work though.
I keep switching bank roughly twice a year… why leave out those bonuses
There is a lot of nuance to this question. The first to this is your location and convenience to be honest. If I was in your position I would pick a bank that you naturally go by during your normal daily activities. Just make sure it’s a checking account that is fee free and don’t overdraft. Get yourself a secured credit card to start building your credit then open up like a brokerage account like Schwab and their investor checking and an IRA and brokerage to start saving for retirement. I buy t bills in the brokerage and use that as my savings and emergency fund all in one. Their investor checking account gives unlimited fee reimbursements for ATM withdrawals at months end. Great checking account. So something fee free local for cash and then online account for features. That’s my 2cents.
use a local credit union. this gives you any local access that you might need. Esp car loan, etc. But also setup an account at Fidelity or Schwab and link them. Learn/start investing now as well.
I’m a big believer in having at least two different bank accounts. It has saved me before when one account was temporarily shut down for fraud because I still had access to the other. So you could go with a credit union and a bigger bank as well. Just confirm you’re choosing banks that don’t have fees!
I’d go with a local credit union. Their rates are comparable if not better for credit cards if you need one, they don’t try to upsell you all the time, and you actually make (small) dividends on your checking and savings because it’s a community bank.
Avoid BoA, Truist, Wells Fargo by all costs. I had a BB&T account (prior it to being renamed/merged into Truist) that fraudulently opened an account without my go ahead (it was some random checking/savings). They’re more interested in their tellers/bank operators making their sales numbers than actually managing your money with any sort of responsibility.
If you don’t travel a lot it’s likely best to go with the biggest regional bank presence in your state/region of the country. If you have to go with one of the big boys I’d vote Bank of America.
Fuck Wells Fargo. Also fuck US Bank
Schwab is great. All on-shore support, knowledgeable people. No branches for banking, and they refund ATM fees every month.
Honestly, I’d suggest two: Local credit union, and online bank somewhere. Set up your direct deposit with your CU, then transfer whatever you want to put into “savings” into your online bank. With Zelle you can do almost instantaneous transfers between the two of them, and it’s often good to have a local branch that you can walk into when you have any issues. The online bank is probably going to get you 10x the interest rate that you’d be getting at your local bank/CU.
Ally, or a LARGE credit union near you. Avoid Bank of America. Wait to use a bank until you have higher income
Chase, and for savings at Marcus Online savings account