We can play this finger pointing game all week long.

I'm with the other Credit Union people. And my mortgage is at USAA, who, even with mandatory arbitration, are still full of win to me.

Support your local credit unions. They only way as a consumer we have to encourage competition and keep these places from getting to big is to take your business elsewhere.

Seems pretty easy to me

I'm with HSBC and I've really enjoyed their service thus far. Additionally, I don't think they needed any bailout money which makes me feel like they must be doing something right. They have pretty competitive interest rates for their online savings account and it's nice to have my checking, savings and mortgage all under one website. They also have ATM's and branches that are local to me, my parents who are about 240 miles away and NYC so I can visit without having to worry about ATM fees if I need to withdraw cash.

Because these big banks (should) force the FDIC to hold huge amounts of capital to insure them, the FDIC should be charging huge premium rates to these big banks for insurance. Basically, if a bank is big, it should pay huge FDIC premiums, which would then cause the bank to split to get affordable FDIC payments.

I anticipate this solution requires little to no legislation and would quickly force big banks to split into smaller ones, although it would probably be advantageous to phase these payment changes in since the price shock to big banks would sink them if done all at once.

When I started out as a non-minor with my own account, I had bank one, which failed. Then I had Bank U... which failed. Then I had Wachovia, then Wamu. FAIL. ALL OF THEM...

My only fail was having Compass for years with no issues, then I moved and there isn't a Compass nearby.

Can I please get a bank that isn't Chase or BOA that won't get eaten by them???

@yodel: clinton was a huge friend of the bankers, so i doubt he would've repealed that legislation, but the legislation had more than enough votes to override his veto anyway - 90 senators & 362 representative voted yea. so please, let's put the blame where blame is due: capitol hill

when a small bank fails, they're gobbled up or paid out. when a large bank comes close to failing, uncle sam steps & in gives them interest-free loans to stay afloat.

i don't fault you for your decision - i fault the regulators with creating an environment where consumers feel safer at the very same institutions that created the economic turmoil we're currently facing.

Joined BofA three years ago and have been very satisfied. My local bank had maybe four branches around the city of Boston by the time I left. Now it's seven. It's still in good shape, but you're right about size - it seems the smaller banks are failing left and right, and the government fears the larger ones will follow suit.

Even if you split the big banks up or regulate tightly to an inch of their lives, there still is that possibility that one of the biggies will find themselves in a dire situation that will cause a bank run and a crash in the markets. Then all that splitting and regulation will have been a waste of time and have done nothing more than accelerate the failure.

It has been almost a year since the TARP was created and the Washington Post is still printing ridiculous distortions. The Treasury did not "give" banks one thin dime nor was the purpose of TARP to provide funds for acquisitions and TARP money has not been used to make acquisitions. For example, Wells Faro raised several billion dollars in a stock offering in order to fund the acquisition of Wachovia and did the FDIC and in turn the taxpayer a favor, since the FDIC was no longer on the hook for all those deposits. Why does the press have such a difficult time printing the truth?

/snark

@MisterE: I had Navy Fed but stopped because there are like NO ATMs anywhere. Not even on bases a lot of times. But they're a nice-to-have for me, not a must-have, since I've been with BofA I've had no problems. A lot of situations from the horror stories I read on here have happened to me, too, and have all transpired without incident, including five different countries in three weeks thanks to my job. So, I'm happy with BofA despite their reputation. But, then again, I like Starbucks, too, which is apparently blasphemous according to this site.

@ThinkerTDM: You're aware that most of the acquisitions happened pre-Obama, yes?

...and that's change I can believe in! Thank you, President Obama, for changing the "business as usual" that has become commonplace in government.

SO worth it though, to be done with those dorks :)

Also, to the educated 21st century banking consumer, geography is not really a good reason for choosing a bank. With the Co-Op network, just about any credit union account is good anywhere, even for ATM deposits and business you take care of at the counter like depositing cash. (Depositing checks can be done by mail.) Furthermore, some banks, like mine, offer unlimited ATM fee rebates. I went from looking for Citibank ATMs (IMPOSSIBLE in California) to using whatever ATM is in front of me. Even "expensive" liquor store ones. The $3 or whatever is automatically deposited in my account at the end of every month.

Moral of the story, why not choose a bank based on more than just what's nearby you?

Unfortunately, not everybody can bank with the "better financial institutions" for whatever reason (myself included)

One more thing here to consider if I ever move back to Santa Cruz (which I LOVE - I want to retire there, oh please please God).

Now THAT'S what I call a "corporate fat cat".

I currently bank with BofA and haven't had any problems at all.

The current situation is just asking for something worse than the crash that started the great depression.

When things stabilize, some anti-trust action might be a good idea. Just so they aren't too big to fail.

I would never keep all of my finances at one bank and certainly not at a big bank. They basically own your life at that point.

Their interest rates are pathetic so we've opened up a money market and CD at other banks.

I'm already with a smaller, localized banking institution so if I experience a problem, I don't really have anywhere else to go but to a large national chain bank. That's not good. Also, since I've had some financial problems lately, I don't think I'd be able to get another checking acct. at any other banks in today's "check everything" mode.