Hey Chuck, not bad…
After some disastrous experiences with the local banks of rural NH, I ended up switching to Charles Schwab Bank a couple of years ago. There were several reasons, including the fact that Schwab refunds all ATM fees (saving me hundreds a year), and pays interest on checking accounts. When I signed up, I was admittedly a bit worried about how customer service would work, given that the nearest Schwab branch was an hour away, in Manchester. Two years later, I couldn’t be happier. The over-the-phone customer service is better than the in-person service I’ve gotten from branch managers at local banks around here, and somehow the vast distances between me and my bank don’t seem to get in the way (having a great Web site helps).
Here’s an example. On Friday morning, I put a check into the mail in Plymouth. On Monday at 1:30pm, the funds from that check were available to me. That’s about 1 business day by my estimate, and that includes sending the check to Orlando, FL. I’ve waited 5 days for a check for similar amounts to clear because they were ‘out of state’ (all the way from Massachusetts) and ‘a large amount’ (it wasn’t) even though I’ve personally dropped it off at the small, local banks I used to bank at. Obviously, Schwab was ready to provide online banking before they went into the online banking business, and it shows. In fact, it’s better than in-person banking. Thanks, Chuck.
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