What bank are you with? Why?

[medicowallet]

In my "modern era"

NAB (and Ubank)
CBA

Used to have my money spread out over some more banks.

Why am I with them

Because I used to bank mainly with the CBA and they gave me the %$&#@ then I went to NAB and after the hassle of re-opening SMSF and trust accounts with another bank, when they gave me the %$&#@ it confirmed my suspicions that all banks and bank managers are incompetent fools and that it makes very little difference who you bank with.

I do review the best deals for my cash rate every month, and if there is a product which will make me money for changing, I will.

MW

 

[DB008]

Some with BoQ.
One of the reasons is because of the free security token. Even is someone gets into my accounts, it's pretty much impossible to transfer money out of it.

http://www.boq.com.au/online_enhancedIB_security_token.htm

 

[waimate01]

Lotsa banks, StGeorge primary.

Pro tip: have your credit cards with institutions with which you have no other relationship. Then, in the event of an unresolved dispute, you can stand your ground. Otherwise, the bank has the right to resolve an issue by helping themselves to funds from other accounts or adding on to existing loans. Once, after a year of back-and-forth about a disputed credit card transaction I was able to resolve it by sending them a letter saying 'this matter is now closed'. That wouldn't have worked if I'd had other accounts with the same institution. (They still have the right to go after you, but it's so much harder when they can't just help themselves to your money)

 

[blue0810]

In my "modern era"

NAB (and Ubank)
CBA

Used to have my money spread out over some more banks.

Why am I with them

Because I used to bank mainly with the CBA and they gave me the %$&#@ then I went to NAB and after the hassle of re-opening SMSF and trust accounts with another bank, when they gave me the %$&#@ it confirmed my suspicions that all banks and bank managers are incompetent fools and that it makes very little difference who you bank with.

I do review the best deals for my cash rate every month, and if there is a product which will make me money for changing, I will.

MW

Agree.

All banks are just banks. At end of the day, they only need our money .

 

[Lantern]

Summerland Credit Union.

Why?
It is the only institution with a branch in the village I live in.

Bit of a amusing story.
My employer banks with SCU and Westpac.
When they made me a signature with Westpac, I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to prove my identity.
They kindly explained that if I had an account with them, the hoops would have been fewer and larger.
I explained that I did have an account with them until they closed the branch in the village.
They left me rather than me leaving them!
Barstewards.

 

[damien275x]

Credit Union Australia
Why.. because it's the default account I have had open since I was 15.

Do I care about service or fees, no not really, I don't keep any money in the bank. I keep it in gold in personal vaults and deposit boxes. (I come from a family who have lived through 2 currency collapses) .. so they don't trust digital money. It's also good because Gold has gone up a lot, but if you operate and transact in it on a daily basis over the long term (say 20 years) like my parents and grandparents do.. it just averages out to money that doesn't get devalued

 

[Onceblue]

Anz and a Commsec account.

Years ago, just divorced with kids, wanted to buy out the ex from the family home.
All other banks and brokers said no to a mortgage. My branch manager at the ANZ knew my banking history over years and said yes. I've moved on financially but that decision made all the difference to me at the time.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Gringotts Bank store all my important documents and gold bars. Unsurpassed security.

 

[Smurf1976]

CBA for my main accounts. Also have online accounts with ING and BankWest and my broker is Etrade (ANZ account for cash).

There has been no reason to change from CBA so I haven't, apart from opening the other accounts for either brokerage use, or for reasons of keeping some $ separate from the rest (eg money that will need to be paid in tax I keep in a separate account until it's due).

Not that I ever opened a transaction account with CBA in the first place. Back in the 1980's I had an account with SBT which then merged to become the Trust Bank. In due course that was taken over by Colonial, and just a few weeks (or maybe months, but it wasn't long) later that was taken over by CBA. All the old account numbers still work, and I know that I've got one payment that still goes via the old Trust Bank account number.

 

[Julia]

ANZ as primary bank. Never had a reason to change. Have always been treated really well and value the personal relationship in a fairly small branch.

Also use any bank at all for Online At Call or Term Deposit a/cs. Presently have these across several institutions.

Imo the most customer friendly bank all up is Rabodirect. They go out of their way to give customers great service and have a very functional website/funds transfer operation.

 

[pixel]

ANZ as primary bank. Never had a reason to change. Have always been treated really well and value the personal relationship in a fairly small branch.

Also use any bank at all for Online At Call or Term Deposit a/cs. Presently have these across several institutions.

Imo the most customer friendly bank all up is Rabodirect. They go out of their way to give customers great service and have a very functional website/funds transfer operation.

Same here for paras 1 and 2:
1. A few months before migrating to Perth, we sent a (rather substantial) cheque to ANZ Head Office on St Georges Terrace, to put it into an account and wait for us to rock up with passport number xxxx.
No problem - and none at any time in the decades since.

2. Sure, for TDs, even CMAs, you have to chase the percentage fractions behind the decimal point.

But for my Trading CMAs, I have for years been with Macquarie. Most online brokers are happy to deal with them - I use PariTrade and Pershing. For NSX stocks, I had to open a separate account with Macquarie as an FSB; not many brokers are offering NSX - none online. I also maintain a smaller Westpac account, which gives me the same interest (RBA cash rate, calculated daily) as Macquarie, but has the added benefit of reducing brokerage by $5 a trade.

 

[sinner]

My post is identical to Julias except my primary is CBA (a consequence of the DollarMite campaign in the 80s/90s), I've had my main CBA account since I was 5 or 6 years old!

Otherwise very similar in having multiple accounts across institutions and credit unions and happy to move my money between them.

I also have a few foreign currency denominated accounts, like my HSBC HKD account and also a EUR account.

Re Rabobank, I agree there too. From my perspective Rabo is great because they aren't a regular bank which doles out mortgages and credit cards, AFAIK their main business is agriculture lending.