My grandmother opened my checking account when I was four years old. My family knew the owners of the bank and one of the people on the board was a friend of my father's, so they had an affinity for that bank.
There was only a single branch all the way downtown so it wasn't handy at all. And from my perspective, when I was a teen it was just another stuffy old bank. My account sat dormant for a long time. But when I got into college and opened a savings account, I started using it. I worked summers so I could put that money in there.
And then when I got a house loan from them when I was 22, my perception really turned around.
A funny story that sticks out in my memory is about 20 years ago, a business partner and I bought a piece of real estate and held onto it for a long time. We finally sold it to this very stuffy silk-stocking law firm. At closing, we had on our best suits and were feeling like big shots. But when we got to the parking lot and needed to pay a dollar, neither of us even had a penny. We had to walk three or four blocks to the bank just to get a dollar. So luckily, Missouri Bank was there for me in that moment.
Being the Luddite I am, I don't have a debit card and never use an ATM. I only use credit cards, cash or checks.
The bank has stayed pretty much the same -- just like me. The only difference is that now I'm making deposits instead of my grandmother. I think it's a really good thing that it has remained a community bank. At the big banks, you see mistakes being made that would never happen if you saw the people at church and at community functions.
We found 8 with zero ATM fees, free checking and high-yielding accounts.
