Big vs. Small

You may find yourself faced with a choice between a big national or regional bank, whose name you know from a major advertising campaign, and a smaller local bank, which has a lower profile and serves just your area.

Big banks usually offer more convenience: more branch locations, a wider range of products and services, more ATMs, more account options, online banking services, and an automatic bill payment service, for example. You may find the fees you pay are higher than at a smaller bank, or that the combined total balance you need in all of your accounts to qualify for free checking and free ATM withdrawals is higher.

Smaller, local banks may not offer as many branches or ATMs, full online banking services, or the same range of products and services that the big banks offer. They may provide more personal service, more user-friendly and weekend hours, and lower prices.

It’s up to you to decide what matters most to you. For instance, if you’re used to doing everything on the computer, you’ll probably want electronic bill payment and online banking services. But if you don’t have a computer, whether a bank offers those services probably doesn’t make a difference to you.

The same is true with ATMs. If using a debit card is the primary way you get cash, you’ll probably want a bank with branches near your home and your workplace with an account that allows as many free withdrawals from the bank’s machines as you want to make.