22 Apr
Goodbye Big Bank, Hello Local Credit Union – Thanks to Quicken Dropping Us
This post is an example of what happens when companies put customer service last and the customer realizes there are other choices after all. Everyone who engages with customers (which pretty much means everyone) should be reading Seth Godin’s blog. That really is the sidebar to this post, but I think it’s so important I’m putting it right at the top.
I am consistently amazed by businesses that seem to go out of their way to make things more difficult for their clients. Not just slow, awkward or boring but down right more difficult.
The folks at Intuit, makers of finance software Quicken, seemed to do just that this Spring.
“We see you’ve been a longtime customer, but don’t upgrade to every new version we release; that just won’t do!”
A couple of months ago we got a notice from Quicken, the software we keep track of our finances with, that Quicken 2007 would no longer be supported. They release a new version every year or so with a $50 price tag, but we rarely see the need for new features. The version we are using works great.
In addition Quicken directly connects with our bank, Wells Fargo (we pay Wells AND Intuit a small monthly fee for this ability). Accounts are magically updated, transactions downloaded, and checks can be cut right from the software. It all works quite well and I am quite entrenched in that method of paying bills and balancing accounts.
Until now. The notice from Intuit says that although we will still be able to manually enter transactions, all online activity will be disabled until we buy Quicken 2010. There is probably a good reason, like they have undated a security encryption protocol and Quicken 2007 can’t read it, but the end result is the same: “If you want to keep the functionality you originally paid for you are going to have to pay us again.”
That was just the push we needed to bail on our big bank and its big bank fees.
So we made the plunge; one I had been putting off because it seemed too much hassle. We closed all accounts at our mega bank and opened a checking and savings account at our local credit union.
You know, it was easier than I thought.
It’s now been two pay-periods since making the switch and I love it. The credit union’s website is not as flashy and polished as the mega bank’s, but with their free bill pay service we can do everything we were able to out of Quicken.
We still have all the functionality, but none of the fees or advertisements.
Updating the check register in Quicken is now a two-step process (download the data, import into Quicken), but one I can live with. Especially considering we now aren’t paying a monthly fee to both the bank and the software maker! It probably takes an additional minute to balance the account… I can handle that.
Online bill paying is just as easy as shooting a check out of Quicken. In fact, it may be easier. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the online bill pay thing, but once I bought into the concept and really tried it for a billing cycle, I found I love it. The credit union sends emails letting me know a new bill has arrived. Then I check the budget to see when we are scheduled to make that payment and with one click I can pay it. Very nice.
One last account at the Mega-bank.
All that’s left at Wells is a Visa card. It’s our largest debt (currently about $15k) and will be the last one to be paid off. Here is where our debts stand as of this month.
So if you too are thinking about ditching your big bank and finding a local bank with a soul, I encourage you to give it a try! Get on their website and test drive their service. Go into their branch and do the same.
You may be blown away like we were and get reminded that banking and customer service can still go hand-in-hand after all.
the Dad
Posted by Music Man on 04/23/10 at 1:10 pm
Oh Dad! Very good for you. My wife and I ditched USBank a little over a year ago in favor of a local credit union and it was one of the best moves we made…and PRE-Ramsey at that! The credit unions are very friendly and I love the simplicity they offer.
On a completely nonrelated note: we are close to paying off our truck…..18 months early. That snowball is a-rollin’ now!
Posted by DuDuBoi on 04/24/10 at 5:21 pm
I fully agree with you on the credit union choice! I tried getting a loan through a LOCAL bank who’s motto is “We say yes to you”. They had me fill out this long form and 3 days later said “No”. That same afternoon after the NO, I went to the credit union, sat down with a real live person, talked with her and 30 minutes later had a loan. Guess what account got closed down the next day
Posted by the Dad on 04/24/10 at 5:47 pm
Good for you, Music man!
Posted by the Dad on 04/24/10 at 5:48 pm
Awesome, Duduboi! It’s incredible, isn’t it?
Posted by Yosemite Gal on 04/27/10 at 4:58 am
Dad, I’m so proud of you for making the leap. We haven’t had a checking or savings account at a MEGA bank for 20+ years. Our mortgage was with WAMU then Chase and now we just refinanced with our long time credit union.
We are now not paying for any MEGA bank’s furniture that is nicer than ours and it feels so good!
Posted by NicoleandDavid on 05/01/10 at 4:57 am
Hi! Out of the shadows I come today! I’ve been following your website since June 2009 when I reached my breaking point in the vicious debt cycle. I ordered every Dave Ramsey book Amazon.com had in their used book section and began to feverishly read. After much cajoling, I managed to get my husband, David, to read them as well. I was working one full time job, had a lucrative eBay side job, and was making no progress. My husband had retired in late 2007 from 20 years in the military and could not find a job. No forward progress! At least not in the speedy manor someone as impatient as myself would be happy with. We totaled our debts other than the mortgage and came away with a staggering $50,000 in the hole. We don’t live extravagantly, at least I don’t think we did. Our debt just grew over the years. Making payments to each monthly would knock them down some, but some crisis would arise and we’d move backwards yet again.
Cont’d in next post…..
Posted by NicoleandDavid on 05/01/10 at 5:04 am
Cont’d….. My husband finally found that great position in January 2010. Our snowball has swelled as a result. Unless something big takes us off track, the rest of our debt (other than our mortgage) will be gone end of July 2010. August begins Baby Step 3. We certainly could have been more Gazelle like over the last year, but our goal was a life change along the way. We have a big celebration planned for the end of Baby Step 3, we plan to have an inground pool installed! Paid for with cash! I stopped the eBay thing when my husband started his new job, but started it up again today for the pool.
I wanted to chime in and let you know how great it is to follow your journey while we are pursuing ours. We are weird for doing this, but it’s definitely a great weird feeling! Thank you so much for doing this!
Posted by the Dad on 07/13/10 at 6:53 am
Thank you, Nicole & David and Yosemite Gal! Man, you guys are doing GREAT!
Posted by Tam on 07/27/10 at 9:15 am
FINALLY! Wife and I talked about this several times…LOVE my free online banking with USAA–swear by it. Congrats! Enjoy! and Welcome!
Posted by the Dad on 07/27/10 at 10:27 am
It really is great. I can’t believe we stuck with a big bank for so long.
Posted by Jeffrey Johnson on 08/22/10 at 10:11 am
Just closed my accounts with Wells Fargo got tired them calling or mailing me to buy stuff. Still got account with Wachovia see how that does. Also hated fact they based out of Cal once had to dispute something by time got documents in GA deadline passed.