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Thursday, March 17, 2011 - 7:30 PM
(1 stars)
Cannot Recommend
First National Bank (LA)
(1 stars)I look for several things in a deposit account:
1) a great rate on a relatively high balance threshold
2) quick ACH transfer service (not a bank that floats my money for two days)
2) strong online presence that includes Yodlee/Mint.com support
FNB Arcadia had a decent rate on their Kasasa rewards checking account, 3.55% on 15K when I opened my account. As with other rewards checking accounts, the requirement was 12 debit card purchases and one direct deposit per month to receive that rate. After having the account opened for only two months, during which I met all of the requirements but kept my balance just over $15K, I received a notice that FNB deemed I was not using my account as a "primary checking account" and closed it, disabling my debit card without notifying me. Embarrassingly, I discovered this at a cash register as I attemped to use my card when the cashier told me my card was lost/stolen. Not the way to treat a customer.
FNB does not have an ACH transfer service. Like many small banks, they recommend you set up your other accounts as payees in the bill payment solution. While this results in an ACH transfer, it seems less than professional to do it this way.
FNB does not have a strong online presence. The servicing and bill pay sites are outsourced to two different vendors and look quite unprofessional. Yodlee does support FNB, but Mint.com does.
1) a great rate on a relatively high balance threshold
2) quick ACH transfer service (not a bank that floats my money for two days)
2) strong online presence that includes Yodlee/Mint.com support
FNB Arcadia had a decent rate on their Kasasa rewards checking account, 3.55% on 15K when I opened my account. As with other rewards checking accounts, the requirement was 12 debit card purchases and one direct deposit per month to receive that rate. After having the account opened for only two months, during which I met all of the requirements but kept my balance just over $15K, I received a notice that FNB deemed I was not using my account as a "primary checking account" and closed it, disabling my debit card without notifying me. Embarrassingly, I discovered this at a cash register as I attemped to use my card when the cashier told me my card was lost/stolen. Not the way to treat a customer.
FNB does not have an ACH transfer service. Like many small banks, they recommend you set up your other accounts as payees in the bill payment solution. While this results in an ACH transfer, it seems less than professional to do it this way.
FNB does not have a strong online presence. The servicing and bill pay sites are outsourced to two different vendors and look quite unprofessional. Yodlee does support FNB, but Mint.com does.
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2. Thursday, March 17, 2011 - 9:47 PM
The bank usually let you know if they are picky on customers' usage of debit card transactions. I always ask beforehand like how much the debit card transaction has to be typically. If the word "primary checking" or "minimum amount" are mentioned, then be extra-careful on the debit transactions. For primary checking, they mean the expenses have to be a bit diversified (e.g., supermarket, utility, gasoline, coffee is ok for 1-2 transactions maybe) and the (or average) amount needs to be at some minimum level (say $5 or $10). The ACH can be of the order of $250 to even $1,000.
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