Thinking of dumping my longtime bank. Where should I go? [View all]

[Genghis_Sean]

I've banked at Chase for many years. They're competent for the most part, but they've screwed me or attempted to do so one too many times. Is it not true that it's better for our country's citizenry if more people used credit unions? I'd welcome a person with some expert knowledge on the subject to advise me.

Here's the deal: I'm an 8th grade English teacher in Indiana married to another 8th grade English teacher in Indiana. We have one child and we've been struggling to get out of debt for a while. Some years ago, I bounced a few checks and Chase charged me a bunch of fees for each one. I went in and talked to someone and they waived the fee this one time. Years later, it happened again, and this time they refused. I don't object to them charging me a fee, but $20/check is ridiculous, particularly when the money is back in the account within 24 hours. I think I went over six times for a total of like $60. Nevertheless, I was charged $120 in fines for those six checks.

I asked what kind of overdraft protection they could provide for me, and they got me a Disney credit card that would draw $50 or whatever amount I was over whenever I bounced a check for a fee of $10. This provided me with some kind of protection.

Then Obama came along and revamped some of the banking laws so that they could no longer charge me these huge fees when I went over. So, Chase starts trying to get me to sign up for a plan to get money if I overdrew, but would charge a fee. Basically, as far as I could tell, they wanted to trick me into permitting them to fine me again. I said no thanks.

Yesterday, I deposited a check and they told me they needed to talk to me. They are now no longer permitting customers to use a credit card as overdraft protection. Instead, they have to use a savings account holding at least $300. Clearly, they want more fine money from me.

I'm considering switching to a local credit union, but how do I determine whether or not a bank is a subsidiary of a bank like Chase or not? Would this actually make any difference? I'd welcome someone's expertise on the matter.