In 1852 Henry Wells and William Fargo brought banking to California. In 1998 Wells Fargo merged with Norwest bank. Today in 2007 Wells Fargo has over 25 million customers and over 7,000 branches in the United States and 14 other countries.
Currently, this is where I do my banking. For one main reason, they appear to be the only bank that is familiar with a trust fund called “The Cogan Account”. It is a trust fund for minors who work in the entertainment industry. After 15 or more banks not so politely telling me, “I have no idea what that is!” I finally found one who did and that was Wells Fargo. Residing in the entertainment capital of the world, I was shocked at the lack of knowledge about banking and the entertainment business. So with that said that is why I do my banking at Wells Fargo. They have a greater knowledge in all area of banking, customer service is excellent and they “work” for the customer. I feel much safer knowing my daughter’s money is in good hands at Wells Fargo as well as my minimal sad little checking account funds.
They offer three types of checking accounts. All very basic with no fine print to read.
1) BASIC CHECKING ACCOUNT (My account)
– Minimum to open $100.00
– Monthly fee $5.00
– Free debit card with rewards (1 point for every $4 you spend) Good for airline miles and gift certificates to numerous places.
– Free online banking and Bill Pay
– Overdraft protection
– Fraud and Identity Theft protection
2) College Checking Account
– For college students only
– Minimum to open $100.00
– Monthly fee is $3.75
– Free debit card (with same rewards as the Basic Checking Account)
– Free online banking and Bill Pay
– Parents can transfer funds in to the account without a fee
3) PMA PACKAGE CHECKING ACCOUNT
– Minimum $100.00 to open
– With a maintained minimum of $25,000 no monthly fee (fees vary greatly from bank to bank)
– Free online banking and Bill pay
– Free Checks
– Free debit card (with same reward program as offered with the other two checking accounts.)
– Unlimited ATM use fee-free
– Discounts on any type of loan
– No fee for money orders, cashier checks or travelers checks
– Free safe deposit box
– This account is best used in combination with other accounts such as savings, IRA’s, mortgages etc.. to maintain the monthly minimum balance.
Another reason I like Wells Fargo is your not bombarded with numerous choices. They make banking simple.