Comments on: 10 Reasons Your Bank Never Wanted You to Read

By: Michael Bowler

Michael Bowler — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:22:10 +0000

I looked at their website and it looks good. I’ll keep my eye on them. Maybe I’ll do an article on them fairly soon when I’ve got some research down on them. Thanks for the comment.

By: SP

SP — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:49:55 +0000

Since we are talking about banks, I found this new bank, they are just establishing, it might be little off topic but I wanted to share with you. It`s called e3bank, they are raising funds to protect the environment and establishing based on sustainable society. I really don`t know what their interest rate will be:)

By: Michael Bowler

Michael Bowler — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:09:56 +0000

Totally agreed. Not only is that terrible, but it is also why I prefer a smaller bank too. M&T may be merging, but they are two small banks merging together to form a larger small bank that they promise will work even more efficiently. I’ve had no problems thus far, and am actually impressed with them. If I still see the same or better service, I’ll be a happy puppy.

By: Chris McClelland

Chris McClelland — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:30:14 +0000

That’s terrible Britt. I have also seen my fair share of mergers in my time. It’s one of the reasons why I continue to deal with smaller banks.

They tend to have much better customer service, pay better APR, and don’t have as much internal problems as larger banks have.

By: Britt

Britt — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:00:02 +0000

Yeah, my guess is that constant mergers caused the problem and they were (are) constantly playing catch-up to get the databases in synch. My original account was opened with Crestar in 1994, and I didn’t have a problem until they became SunTrust around 2000.

When I graduated college that year, I moved back to my hometown and requested my address be changed from my college apartment to my new home. It took multiple attempts and about six months to get the change! Luckily, my roomates still lived at the same apartment where my statements were going, so I didn’t have to deal with identity theft concerns. But here’s the kicker… At the time, I worked for SunTrust! And it still took me that long to get the change implemented.

Fast forward to 2006-2007, when I had the check problems I mentioned above, and they still had my college apartment address in their database. Although, to their credit, they hadn’t been using that one.

By: Michael Bowler

Michael Bowler — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:03:15 +0000

Wonderful addition. I never thought of that one. My sources didn’t even suggest that as a common problem with banks. I should have thought of it myself seeing as I had that problem with the semi-national bank I was with. I was with them for five years and my address on the check was misspelled during the entire tenure I had with that bank. Thanks for the feedback!

By: Britt

Britt — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:29:52 +0000

How true. Let me add #11 to the list:

My actual account information is incorrect!

My accounts are with SunTrust. Two years ago, I moved and ordered some checks with my new address. After finally purging my college address from their database, I got checks issued with the wrong address and my mom’s name instead of my wife’s (it was a custodial account when originally opened).

After finally getting somewhat correct information on the checks, the check company delivered the checks to the local SunTrust branch TWICE, and instead of just holding the checks for me, management told me they were required to destroy the checks! Finally, after six or seven weeks and multiple meetings, I got some checks I can at least use.

But my address on the checks is “316 EasTRD” instead of “316 East Rd”. I figure it’s close enough, so why bother messing up this delicate balance of information?

You’re right. With my local bank, I’ve never had a problem like this.