Applying for a checking account

[gristy]

Unhappy with my current bank, I am applying for a checking account with a different bank. After filling out a short application online, I received an email with an attached "California Notice At Collection", which had all kinds of onerous statements about "collection of personal information" that I would have to agree to:

• “Categories of Personal Information” are as follows:

• Identifying Information is information that identifies an individual, such as the individual’s name, social security number, government-issued identification number (e.g., driver’s license, identification card, or passport number) or other similar identifiers.
• Associated Information is information that relates to, describes, or can be associated with a particular individual such as a signature, postal or email address, telephone number, insurance policy number, bank account or card number, and any similar information.
• Characteristic Information is information related to characteristics of protected classifications under state or federal law, such gender or marital status.
• Commercial Information is information of a commercial nature, such as records of personal property, products or services purchased or considered, or other purchasing histories.
• Biometric Information is information related to the measurement or analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics, such as a fingerprint or voice pattern.
• Internet Activity Information is information related to internet or other electronic network activity, such as a search or browsing history, or interactions with a website.
• Geolocation Information is information or data related to a geographical location, such as a device or Internet Protocol (IP) location.
• Audio Visual Information is audio, visual, electronic, or similar information.
• Employment Information is professional or employment-related information, such as employment history or status.
• Education Information is personally identifiable education information that is not publicly available.
• Inference Information is inferences drawn from any other category of personal information to create a profile about an individual reflecting potential or probable preferences, behavior, abilities, or other similar predispositions.

What do you think about all this?

[Enter stage left]

1. Please...go talk to a Federal Credit Union...

Banks are for profit, credit unions belong to the members.

[unweird]

5. This

Been using Federal Credit Unions for decades now.

[progree]

6. Me too, since about 1980. But then they got taken over by THE WELLS FARGO OF CREDIT UNIONS -

Trustone Financial Credit Union (Minnesota and Wisconsin). Which I've written a little about in #4 below.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Some CU's are open to anyone

[SharonClark]

2. I think the bank is providing very clear

definitions of everything it is asking you for.

I’m with the previous poster - check out a credit union instead.

[Patterson]

3. When you order checks, try not to start with #101.

That tells businesses you have a new account, which is a red flag to them. Try something like 2001.

[progree]

4. Some credit unions really suck, I have had a hell of a time with Trustone Credit Union in Minn/Wisc

It would be a very long long story (actually several stories), some day I will post how they cheated me ($200) and then separately on another issue fucked me over costing me $1400.

Yes, I appreciate their loan rates are lower and their CD rates are higher than my bank, but their management stinks to high heaven. They are truly the Wells Fargo of credit unions.

And I very much doubt that the "Know Your Customer" law or whatever they call it, I forget, is any different for a credit union than for a bank.

EDITED TO ADD: I wondered too how they could be so bad, isn't the fact that they are member-owned (that's us) wonderfully wonderful? So why is the management so venal and incompetent?

The answer is that they are in competition with banks and especially other credit unions, a number of which in our area have folded or been merged out of existence. So they have to make the metrics, to have the lowest loan rates and highest deposit rates and so on to stay in business. If that means cheating with undisclosed hidden fees, or skimping on training and personnel salaries (thus sometimes hiring and retaining not particularly bright people, resulting in too many comedy of errors except its not funny when it costs $1400), well that's what some credit unions will do. The "member-owned" meme doesn't change human nature, unfortunately.

[Enter stage left]

7. I was a Realtor/Broker for over 25 years...

I ALWAYS advised my buyers to check with their credit unions before committing to their banks.

My daughters bought 3 houses with me thru Federal Credit Unions. Never a problem.

I can't & won't say all Federal Credit Unions are created equal, or treat their customers equally, but there are some banks that I VERY STRONGLY advised my buyers and sellers to NOT deal with.

Not going to name names, but they are some of the biggest (most profitable) banks in the US.

I was a very successful Realtor, because all of my buyers and sellers would recommend me to their friends and family.

PLEASE...check with your credit union first.

[progree]

8. Alls I will say is choose your credit union as carefully as you would any other financial institutio

n.

One way that does NOT work, at least with the filthy evil venal Trustone Credit Union, is check their reviews on their Facebook pages.

Why? Because after a couple of weeks they deleted my review. And this after claiming they can't delete the many spammer reviews that all recommend Trustone (thus adding to their overall rating score). Spammer reviews promoting bitcoin and Forex schemes.

So I posted again. After about a month that was deleted too. (Even though there are reviews going back to 2016).

When I discovered that, I tried to post again, but this time I found I was blocked from posting reviews.

God I hate them with all my heart. And God I hate them with all my soul.

By the way, I kept my reviews careful, truthful, and moderate "just the facts" language, so they would have no legitimate excuse to delete them (edit: and I didn't name any names or anything that could identify anyone).

As I said in another post, I've been with credit unions since about 1980, and banks and several other financial institutions, so this isn't my first rodeo.

[Enter stage left]

9. I am so sorry about your bad experience with your credit union...

There are outrageous examples of banking whenever there is MONEY involved.

If they deleted your reviews, they should be held accountable.

Sorry!

[progree]

10. Thanks 😊 ❤️ /nt

[Enter stage left]

11. YW