When I moved to Atlanta I worked inside the First Union building, so it was natural that that became my bank. But then it was sold to Wachovia, which was in turn sold to Wells Fargo. So I belong to Wells Fargo by accident.
It was when they started flirting with adding debit card fees that I really had enough. That, coupled with the fact that I didn't choose this bank in the first place.
I opened a checking account with a credit union about a month ago. And even though they backtracked on those fees, I think a lot of stealth fees are going to creep into their place.
I'm planning to shut my Wells Fargo account before the end of this month. One thing that makes this whole thing disturbing to me is that I have six figures invested in different financial instruments at Wells Fargo. I had that much money being managed, and they were going to turn around and start charging me for a debit card? I was a high-growth customer who they should have been courting.
The credit union has worked out nicely. My account is very easy to manage, it's easy to transfer money, and when I was on my honeymoon in Jamaica last month, I was able to withdraw money and didn't even pay any international fees.
While other banks are busy hiking fees, these financial institutions are bucking the trend by offering free checking and other perks.
