Best bank in America?

I’m with you on that! Honestly, JPMorgan Chase was fine when I was just using them for my personal stuff, but as a business client? Total disaster. I’ve never seen anything like it—the people working there are just completely incompetent and unprofessional. Now that I’m looking into taking out a personal loan, even my private banking feels limited; they obsess over the tiny, stupid details but can't explain any of the actual important things. They've become a complete mess. I was seriously thinking about moving everything—both my business and personal accounts—over to Wells Fargo, but I’m in the final stages of closing on a house right now and I just don't have the bandwidth to switch banks mid-process. And like you mentioned, I'm not even a "high-maintenance" client anymore; I canceled all my extra cards and kept only the basic JPMorgan Chase one, though even that doesn't matter much since it just encourages me to spend more. Once this loan clears, I might finally make the jump to Wells Fargo. My only regret is that I didn't do my homework sooner and open the business account at Wells Fargo back when I had the chance!

I had one last hesitation regarding Goldman Sachs. I really liked that you can hold all your different currencies in a single foreign currency account there, but I just realized Wells Fargo offers that same feature on their accounts too.

Basically, Wells Fargo has ATMs everywhere, plenty of branches, and you can withdraw cash at any local Post Office or through major payment processors. Their debit cards are Visa, the mobile app is excellent—I checked out a demo and it has everything Goldman Sachs's app does, including fingerprint login—and it integrates perfectly with federal digital ID services.

I think we can close this thread. 😁

You can actually hold a bunch of different currencies in your JPMorgan Chase foreign currency account too, if that's what you're looking for!

-Joe

I maintain accounts at both JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, but I am significantly more satisfied with Goldman Sachs across the board. Everything from their technical platforms to their lending products and general courtesy is superior.

briskjackal5 said:You can actually hold a bunch of different currencies in your JPMorgan Chase foreign currency account too, if that's what you're looking for!

-Joe

Four years ago, when I moved my money from JPMorgan Chase to Goldman Sachs, they didn't offer that. They're still behind the curve.

Look, here’s the deal. Things aren't exactly perfect over at Wells Fargo. Sure, you can hold multiple currencies in one account, but they charge you extra for it. $0.67 monthly for USD, $2.25 for EUR, and so on. Over at Goldman Sachs, the fee is fixed—I think it’s about $2.75 once it's converted back to whatever currency you actually hold.
With Wells Fargo, you can't just wire money overseas through their app or online banking; you have to physically go into a branch. That said, the fees are a bit lower than what Goldman Sachs charges.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a hassle. I’ll have to give it some thought.

Turns out I didn't end up at Wells Fargo after all. I went with Bank of America instead, and honestly, it was because of one incredibly stupid oversight—Wells Fargo doesn't offer a Visa Electron card for foreign currency 😵😵😵😵😵
. That means you can't even use it on PayPal. They only have this ridiculous prepaid card option.
Total amateurs.

Look, there’s absolutely no rule saying you have to keep every single one of your accounts at one bank just because you like their interface. If certain products don't meet your standards, move them. Maybe one bank is perfectly fine for your checking account and debit cards, but their foreign exchange rates are garbage compared to someone else. That isn't an issue. It's just basic logic.

Foreign currency accounts are my top priority. It feels incredibly stupid to be hit with a mountain of extra fees just because I maintain accounts at two different banks. A Visa card should be the industry standard by now. But apparently, they always find a way to mess things up.

driftingcrane83 said:Turns out I didn't end up at Wells Fargo after all. I went with Bank of America instead, and honestly, it was because of one incredibly stupid oversight—Wells Fargo doesn't offer a Visa Electron card for foreign currency 😵😵😵😵😵
. That means you can't even use it on PayPal. They only have this ridiculous prepaid card option.
Total amateurs.

Well, why didn't you just open a multi-currency transaction account? As far as I know, that covers both your USD and domestic accounts in one go.

Raymond Palmer3 said:Well, why didn't you just open a multi-currency transaction account? As far as I know, that covers both your USD and domestic accounts in one go.

I honestly don't know. The guy told me I could accept payments in USD, but only if they were sent in dollars, which isn't an option for me because of those conversion fees.

(By the way, Bank of America is still bottom-tier.)

What kind of question is that... I think I know which one is the absolute worst. It's JPMorgan Chase.

Rebecca Green7 said:Look, there’s absolutely no rule saying you have to keep every single one of your accounts at one bank just because you like their interface. If certain products don't meet your standards, move them. Maybe one bank is perfectly fine for your checking account and debit cards, but their foreign exchange rates are garbage compared to someone else. That isn't an issue. It's just basic logic.

Of what? Products?? 🤣 What exactly are they "producing" here? Predatory loans?

Robert Smith2 said:What kind of question is that... I think I know which one is the absolute worst. It's JPMorgan Chase.

Zira is headed straight for paradise (well, basically a total meltdown) in just about a year!

Just look at how many Zira branches they’ve shuttered over the last couple of years versus how many they've actually opened—spoiler alert: it's not looking good.
And how many branches are even left in downtown or the greater metropolitan area of NYC? Not many!

Moving everything over to IB? Yeah, okay, sure. As if. 🙄
Bank of America has officially jumped into first place!

But hey, let's ignore the stuff the average customer actually notices for a second.
A few months back, the middle and top Management at Zira were having a massive identity crisis. Nothing weird, you might say—they love shuffling things around every few years. But man, those business calls were bizarre—like putting the HR director in charge of Finance? Talk about a weird shake-up.
But hey, if they think that's a genius move... whatever.

Anyway, let's get right to the heart of the matter.
The Fed Chair Vujčić basically handed the Zira Board of Directors an 8 (that's eight, folks!) member group.
Is there any other bank in this whole country that operates with such a weird, uneven number of board members?
How are they even supposed to vote or make decisions without a tie-breaker?!

Are the red flags starting to pop up for you yet?

Zira just hired the perfect employee to finish the job: someone whose sole mission is to kill the bank!
The client behind the scheme? The Italians.

By early 2017, Zira will be gone. Maybe Bank of America grabs them, or maybe we'll see the biggest shareholders play it smart under Luković's leadership... we'll see.

Man, I don't know if she was just talking nonsense or what, but at the end of the day, I'm their customer. 🙂
Basically, looking for a different bank.

But which one? Have you guys decided on the best option yet? Right now, I really need a solid checking account—both domestic and foreign currency—and I’ll be looking at taking out a loan sometime in the next two years (thinking about building a house, maybe some kind of investment loan).

edit: also, having a killer mobile app like the one Bank of America has would be pretty huge.

Board Member
Lorenzo Ramajola (born '75) earned his economics degree at the University of California. Back in 2004, he joined the UniCredit Holding Company within the Integration Office. Fast forward to 2008, and he moved over to ATF Bank—one of the UniCredit Group's subsidiaries—over in Kazakhstan. There, he took charge of Planning and Control, Asset and Liability Management, and Capital Management, eventually stepping up to become the Board Member in charge of Finance Management in July 2011. Once ATF Bank was sold off, he circled back to the UniCredit Group in August 2013 to join the M&A team.

The exact same thing happened in Kazakhstan, and honestly, it’s going to happen here in America too 🍿

Rachel Turner2 said:Man, I don't know if she was just talking nonsense or what, but at the end of the day, I'm their customer. 🙂
Basically, looking for a different bank.

But which one? Have you guys decided on the best option yet? Right now, I really need a solid checking account—both domestic and foreign currency—and I’ll be looking at taking out a loan sometime in the next two years (thinking about building a house, maybe some kind of investment loan).

edit: also, having a killer mobile app like the one Bank of America has would be pretty huge.

Don't sweat it, people aren't going to lose their cash; it'll just flow from one pocket to another.

Right now, I’m leaning toward Erste or Royal Bank. Royal Bank is a bit pricier, but at least you can find an ATM whenever you need one. Bank of America? They're bottom of the barrel.

driftingcrane83 said:Right now, I’m leaning toward Erste or Royal Bank. Royal Bank is a bit pricier, but at least you can find an ATM whenever you need one. Bank of America? They're bottom of the barrel.

Why's that? I mean, they have plenty of ATMs if that's really the dealbreaker for you.

Charles Ramos7 said:Why's that? I mean, they have plenty of ATMs if that's really the dealbreaker for you.

Sure, they do. But their mobile app is garbage, and they hit you with hidden fees on every foreign exchange transaction.