Advice for Banks/Online Banks?

[Ragamuffin]

After too many years I FINALLY have an ID which means I can do thinks like have my own bank account... finally! It's important to me especially because that means I can take commissions via Paypal with real money (compared to the Amazon credit I've been doing for the past year), and I can do things like open a shop or something to sell my art as prints.

Not sure how to do that though or what I should look for...? I'm doing my own research of course but it'd be nice to hear advice from real people with real experience and not just blog posts...

[OleGrayMane]

1) Understand the fee structures and balance requirements
2) Establish a relationship with the staff at a brick and mortar location who can help you navigate issues

I work for an FI, not on the front lines, and coincidentally took training for a new "change initiative" to improve "the customer experience". Why, I asked, did they start this all of a sudden? Oh, just government regulation about abusive and fraudulent practices. Remember that a lot of revenue comes from fees related to balances and transaction requirements and other landmines that seem designed to trip you up.

But that is the institution, not the people: while many of the back office people I work with make me want to scream, my local branch people are some of the nicest, friendliest, helpful people I've run into. Regardless of the institution you choose, I hope you find a similar experience.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

That's great to hear you have an ID now! I can't give much advice but I use TD since they had a young savers account. I like that they have a mobile app which makes it easy to check and move money around but I think most banks should have that system by now.