Which bank is better: Fifth Third or WaMu?

Question

I have Citibank and in my opinion is the best bank I've ever had. But they recently moved their location from where I live. I live in Tampa, FL and they had a branch really close my house, but last time I went there they had closed it down. Now I searched everywhere for another location, I called and even checked on their website and the closest branch to my house they have is in Clearwater! That's like an hour or so away. I dont really wanna have to drive an hour all the way to Clearwater w/e I need to make a deposit or something, it's crazy!

So I still wanna keep my account with them coz I have direct deposit and I love those Thank You points, but I want to open another debit account with a bank near me that I can actually go to for deposits and etc.

The 2 I'm considering are Fifth Third (weird name if you ask me lol) and Washington Mutual. I need to know their pros and cons and which is more realiable. I only need the account for debit, not credit. Can anyone help me decide?

Answer 1

Interesting question. WAMU has great service and they are free. The problem is that WAMU is getting caught up in the mortgage crisis. Maybe not as bad as IndyMac, but quite a few bad loans. I would be concerned about them going under. I wouldn't have that big of a concern with 5th 3rd. Excellent bank. With that in mind, excluding any of the benefits you described, I would go with 5th.