"As far as Mike's recommendation for credit unions, do some comparison shopping before joining. I have accounts at a credit union, and I haven't found them to be the best deal for anything. I've looked at them for home loans, vehicle loans, credit cards, and money market accounts, and none of them competed with other sources for those products. I'm sure some credit unions are better than others, but I haven't been blown away by anything about mine. If a friend's wife didn't work for them, I wouldn't bother keeping deposit and checking accounts with them."
As with all things, your mileage WILL vary.
Smaller credit unions may not have the ability to compete with the larger corporate banks on rates, but the advantages may be less tangible in nature, such as a better, and far less cattle call, customer service experience or more local service options.
I belong to two of the largest credit unions in the United States -- Navy Federal (the largest, which rivals some national banks), and Pennsylvania State Employees.
When I bought my current Forester I looked at both for financing and was more than a little startled that I could do better by financing through a bank. I put part of that on the fact that both institutions have instituted risk based lending, which in my opinion has driven up rates for everyone on commodity loans.
Because of my credit rating I do get the best tier rates on other loans and credit cards, but it's still a little annoying.
I keep my mortgage with them primarily because while they sell the loan, they don't sell the servicing. If I ever have a problem, all I need to do is call Navy Federal. I don't have to sort through all of my freaking mail to see who owns my mortgage servicing for this month.
Back when my ex and I bought the house, we 3 different mortgage mortgage companies in the first 6 months.
Insanity.
The one thing I truly hate about Navy Federal is its phone system. It takes forever to actually reach a live human being if you need human service.
Their online banking portal (I was on the team that set up the first comprehensive NFCU online banking back in the mid 1990s; I wrote a lot of the customer documentation) is truly top flight. Even better, you can often text chat with a human FAR more easily than trying to get someone on the phone.
A few years ago my credit card was compromised. I called in to cancel it and get a new one. Wait time was 20 plus minutes. Friend recommended I try the text chat. In less than a minute I was chatting with a human who canceled my card, issued a new one, and because I use it so heavily, expedited delivery of the new card for free. Normally that expedited delivery would have been $35.
So yeah, the human touch that I've found to be very lacking in my experiences with large banks.
