Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Where you choose to store your money is ultimately a personal decision, and will rely on a number of personal factors and individual needs, but below I’ve reviewed the pros and cons of a couple NYC personal banking options.

Bank of America

Bank of America has been around for a long time, and you can’t travel far in the City without stumbling across several BofAs, making it one of the most easily accessible and visible banks in NYC. One benefit, according to many, is personal checking at Bank of America has no minimum account balance requirement. The Bank’s “Keep the Change” program (which rounds up to the dollar on credit purchases and transfers to savings) also makes it easy to mindlessly and automatically accumulate savings. Additionally, it only takes about 5-10 minutes to enroll in an account, which immediately allows you to begin depositing funds online. A drawback to the Bank is, being such a large corporation, it can feel faceless, intimidating and difficult to navigate. Many report the Bank’s customer service is not ideal (it consistently ranks very low in this category amongst consumers) and monthly charges (i.e. for debit card, maintenance, etc.) can feel like deceptive, hidden fees. Overall, based on user reviews, it ranks low in fee fairness but high in variety and satisfaction with services provided.

Chase

Chase also has a ton of locations in the City, and is a longtime, established bank. Chase provides a ton of free services for personal banking (i.e. debit card, Quickpay, etc.)—and many services in general—which banking customers consider a major competitive advantage. It’s also fairly easy to avoid the monthly service fee on a checking account, but when fees are accrued they’re higher than comparable institutions, say Chase bank users. Additionally, reward programs are not great according to customer reviews. While their interest payments are low, they do have a debit card that provides rewards similar to a credit card. Chase has also received many customer service complaints, which is to be expected with a large bank. Customers say the quality of online banking is good, even if their rates are not that competitive.

Capital One

Capital One has fewer branches than other comparable banks and has not been around nearly as long as larger institutions, though it does boast better rewards. Customers like the bank’s prompt online transactions and services, but larger deposits get held longer than at other, bigger banks. Capital One is reportedly good for customers who don’t have the best starting credit, and are looking to rebuild. Unfortunately this might mean more fees than other banks and limited benefits, resulting in credit limits not being very high. The bank’s customer service ranking has been on the climb in recent years though.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo recently took over Wachovia, and has been somewhat in flux in recent years. Branch and ATM locations were reportedly less widespread than other banks on the list, formerly, but since the merger, Wells Fargo is very easy to find in the City.  Online banking services consistently score high reviews, and the bank has averagely ranked financial health. Customer service at Wells Fargo ranks low, and customers report the bank is consistently changing procedure in a manner that seems confusing even to employees. Fees are allegedly high; their overdraft fee is higher than the national average, as are the majority of their other fees. Wells Fargo charges a fee for members to receive online bank statements, which many other banks do not, as well as a debit card fee. Interest rates are also ranked poorly. Wells Fargo also charges a fee to view your account balance at non-Wells Fargo ATMs.

TD Bank  

TD Bank is a good option for New Yorkers who do not foresee themselves needing more than fairly basic banking services. For one, they do not offer as many loan types as other banks. Similar to other banks listed here, however, their establishments are prevalent throughout the City. Their customer service is rated average, and also provides fewer service options than competitors. TD’s overall financial health is considered to be good. Interest rates and fees are ranked averagely compared to the national average. TD is considered trustworthy by overall customer standards, and again, a good option for those who prefer no-frills banking.

HSBC

HSBC operates out of New York City and has over 400 branches located here. At HSBC you can open an online savings account with very little money down, and transfer money between another checking account and HSBC for free on HSBC’s end. You can link an ATM card to this account, which has a higher yield than many other comparable banks. Interest rates are ranked average at HBSC, according to national standards. Some fees are higher at HSBC than national averages, but there is no fee for inactivity, and the “stop payment” fee is much lower than the national average. HSBC ranks strong in financial health. HSBC’s customer service was recently ranked very low, however.

—Compiled by Alissa Fleck

A 22-year-old man plopped onto a seat on the downtown 1 train last Friday, plugged his earbuds into his iPhone 4S and cranked up the tunes, dozing off to the hum of music in his ears. When he awoke, his headphones were still in place but his phone was gone. Disembarking at Lincoln Center, the victim found a police officer and used a “find my phone” application he had downloaded to the device that pinpointed its location. The GPS showed the phone at 107th Street and Madison Avenue, so police went and did a street-level and horizontal canvass, finding the phone in the clutches of an 18-year-old man, snoozing in a third-floor hallway. The police arrested the man after the victim was able to identify him as a fellow passenger on his earlier subway ride.

Spousal Support

A woman reported to police last week that someone had made unauthorized charges on her Best Buy credit card, racking up a bill of $1,285.64 at the electronics store. Turns out that the thief was her husband, who kicked her out of their shared home in January. He hasn’t had contact with her since—if you don’t count running up her credit card debt.

Costly Construction Theft

An employee of the company Stonehenge Restoration Inc., which works on home renovations, came to the 20th Precinct to report an odd theft that adds up to big bucks. The employee told police that he and some other workers had secured scaffolding onto the back of a private residence on West End Avenue and left at 5 p.m. on a Friday. When they returned after the weekend, he noticed that the cable securing the scaffolding had been cut and that four scaffold motors had been swiped—each worth $8,000. The rear yard of the building is secured by a metal gate and a padlock, and the building’s superintendent said that he noticed no unusual activity over the weekend.

Walk of Assault

A 50-year-old man told police that he was walking down West End Avenue after enjoying a few alcoholic beverages in the wee hours of the morning. Two younger men, apparently noticing his inebriated state and deciding to take advantage of it, approached the victim and beat him up, then stole his wallet, which contained his identification and $1,000 in cash.

Unusual Activity

A woman called the police after her bank, Chase, contacted her to let her know about some hefty transactions that had been made to her and her husband’s joint account. The bank told the victim that there had been $250,000 in transfers made from the account and that a fraudulent check for $40,000 had been written and addressed to an unknown person in Brooklyn. Another fake check, for $3,590, had been written against the account, and someone had contacted Verizon and had the couple’s phone calls rerouted to a Florida number. The bank was able to correct the erroneous transfers, but the perp is still unknown.

Stolen Saturn

A man from New Paltz drove to the city last week but wasn’t able to drive out after he discovered his car missing. He parked on West 68th Street last Thursday night, and when he returned around 10 p.m., the car, a purple 2000 Saturn, was gone. The victim waited to see if he could locate the car on his own, checking local impounds and tow yards, but the vehicle was nowhere to be found. Police didn’t find any broken glass as the scene where the $5,000 car was parked, but there were some cameras aimed at the spot that may lead to clues.