I’ve been carping on my friends lately that they should dump Bank of America. Their latest scheme to extract money from their customers comes in the form of a $5 monthly fee for debit card use. I’m hoping the $5 monthly fee can be sufficient impetus to finally dump that shitty bank.
I’m a proponent of Arianna Huffington’s Move Your Money Project.  By proponent, I mean a booster: someone who touts the principle as one worth following. Though as much as I’ve touted the project, I still have an account at a national, too-big-to-fail bank: Wells Fargo. I have my main accounts with Wells Fargo for the simple reason that there is a Wells Fargo ATM across the street and a Wells Fargo branch a block and a half away. This convenience is hard to give up, but I dislike being a hypocrite even more than giving up the convenience (and I do feel like having a Wells Fargo account makes me a bit of a hypocrite).
Since Wells Fargo is also planning on a debit card fee, I’ve decided it’s a great opportunity to open an account at a local credit union and move my money.
I have two to choose from, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union or the San Francisco Fire Credit Union.
The San Francisco Federal Credit Union has three stars on yelp and an ugly website, so they’re out.
The San Francisco Fire Credit Union has five stars on yelp and a pretty website, so I’m going with them. Also, I can sign up online! After fifteen minutes suffering though some seriously annoying user interface issues on their website, I have an account! Yay!
If you’re going to join me in moving to SF Fire Credit Union, I suggest you go into their branch. The new-account stuff on their website is frustrating and may turn you off.