Charma1ne

[QUOTE=COB76;10246107]Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC all did (and have done for some time) this when I left the UK.QUOTE]

I am in the UK right now and I am going to investigate this as I was shocked when I was shown it in NY lol maybe its just because I have always been a Clydesdale/Bank of Scotland girl?!?

Yeah the UK use chip and pin but America use swipe so thats kind of on par with each other...and I stills tand by the getting a card to use there and then thing lol

Cx

COB76

If you use the ATM's to cash a cheque you get a receipt with a photo of the cheque on it. Hopefully it's not just a SE England thing.

Instant card was cool though, I agree. I personally prefer Chip & Pin to swipe / signing.

GeoffM

What?

Charma1ne

Its a tv programme reference

Cx

ian-mstm

Unless you're a visitor, you are a resident.

Ian

yellowroom

absolutely, much more secure if someone gets hold of your cards. I find it shocking that I make purchases on my credit card all the time and no one checks the signature or asks for id.

In fact on a recent business trip to the uk I bought some petrol using my company Amex card and had to produce id because they didn't accept cards without them. Got looked at funny because the only id I had on me was my Virginia driving license.

Bob

First choice would be any local credit union.

For convenience and the fact they're everywhere, BoA, but they are the biggest wankfest of shitness ever, for a bank and they will shank you in the arse at some stage, probably multiple times, with hidden fees and other shenanigans that they are known for.

Bob

If it's VISA, they aren't allowed to ask for ID, unless the card is unsigned, I think Mastercard is the same. Don't know about AmEx.

yellowroom

Just slightly worrying that someone could lift my purse and have bought half of best buy before I've noticed it's gone.....

Bob

Shouldn't matter though, because of the VISA protection...hassle mind, but not a real issue.

MarylandNed

TD Bank.

They are currently touting themselves as "America's Most Convenient Bank" during their expansion into the US but it's actually a Canadian bank ("TD" stands for "Toronto Dominion"). My daughter attends university in Canada and has a TD account there and also one in Maryland. She's very impressed with them. They even transfer funds between her US & Canadian accounts for free.

Bob

They're great on the east coast, gets a little spotty for branches towards the middle of the country, though they've been buying lots of banks to get a presence, but some really weird state laws out there has put certain restrictions in place on what they can/can't do, as a way for local banks to compete better against the larger national chains.

Irony being those banks the state are trying to protect are all broke and closing

Rog.Dodge

Hey Folks - thanks for all the input and I agree it clearly can vary by branch and even person and so I really shouldn't completely trash WF. Interestingly enough they came up with a new issue yesterday and that is that I should complete tax form W9(?) and this might help to get some things moving (not that it answer's why they never sent me a debit card for a new account). Does anyone know about this tax issue?

Also is Credit Union somehow different a normal bank - I get that impression from reading the thread.

Roger

MarylandNed

Yeah but they have a strong presence in NC which is where the OP was asking about.

dbark

We have had no problem with Bank of America. Like others have said it depends on the people at your local branch. Also I have a Barclays account in the UK and can transfer funds between the two, as they have an affiliation. Can use my BoA debit card in Barclays ATMs with no fees.