AmiSight 6/29: Who Do You Bank With, And Are You Happy?
- Ami Kassar
- Jun 29, 2022
- 1 min read
I would love to hear the reader's perspectives about who you bank with for your business and if you are happy with the relationship. This question is not tied to lending; it is connected to core checking/business operations.
I have always preached that I am not a big fan of big banks, but I also admit that for a long time, I secretly just banked with Wells Fargo anyway. (I am like a shoemaker whose kids don't have soles on their shoes). About a year ago, I had an experience with Wells Fargo where they lost one of my wires. I spent over a dozen hours on the phone speaking to random people from various departments across multiple states to resolve the matter.
I finally had enough. Instead of transferring to a smaller bank in my neighborhood, I picked a partner bank in Sacramento. (We're in Philadelphia). The experience has been nothing short of excellent!!
What is your banking experience?
We switched to our local credit union. Mostly great, no fees, bill pay is a bit slow, but I love the small bank!
I started out with a regional bank called Pioneer Bank but the service went downhill as they grew, and I answered a timely cold email from another banker at Comerica Bank who caught me in the middle of some frustration about Pioneer. I made the switch even though it was a massive pain and I'm glad that I did. (Pioneer was acquired by Sunflower just as I was leaving.) They have been great and I was able to get employee credit cards through them and most recently, a line of credit.
It can be overwhelming to think of the "unwind" but it might be well worth the pain.
I bank with signature bank and they do a good job with business relationships
Have banked with a local regional bank since Day 1. Had a horrid experience in the 90's while banking with Wells (personal) and fired them outright. I have a personal relationship with the VP of Business Banking and it saved our bacon when he was able to get us into queue for the first round of PPP (the local branch was making a list of potential applicants). He and I served on boards for community organizations, as did my branch loan officer. These relationships make the difference. Once, my payroll contractor made a huge error and double debited my payroll while I was literally in the process of moving from CA to AZ. The bank knew it was atypica…