[John_W]

If you are coming from the Baltimore area like we did, then we went with Sun Trust. We had a branch in Abingdon a 1/4 mile from our house. We set up our automatic deposits and everything else in advance. When we had closing on our house in Abingdon, we deposited the check immediately at the branch and when we arrived here the money was available for our closing on our new home.

Sun Trust is all over Florida and other parts of the USA. I was a little concerned about using Citizens. They are throughout TV area but in other parts of Florida not so much. We have three Sun Trust banks in TV that we use, one on 466 on bank row and two on 441/27. They use to be inside Walmart, which was really convenient. However Walmart wouldn't renew their lease because I've heard that Walmart is considering bringing in their own banks. GO O's!!!

[Villages Kahuna]

Originally Posted by The O's

In preparation for our upcoming move, we want to set up a checking and savings account. We're wondering which one people are using. trying to find something without fees (by meeting their requirements). Thanks for any/all help.

I'm a JPMorgan-Chase retiree, so that was my main checking account even before they built the branches here a year or so ago. But I also had a checking account at Citizens First that I opened at the same time we closed on our house. I didn't know why at the time, but they have a small office right in the Closing Department to open accounts and give you checks and an ATM card before you leave.

For a long time before Chase built here, I considered closing my Chase account and using only Citizens. It's really a nice bank, convenient and with almost all the services offered by their competitors. It's majority owner is our Developer, so you pretty much know the quality and consistency of service to expect.

You couldn't go wrong with either of these banks. But there are a lot of local conveniences with Citizens First.

[Bonanza]

I'm very surprised that no one has mentioned BB & T which is conveniently located as an outparcel to Colony Plaza, a stone's throw from Citizens.

We have an account at Citizens also, but I much prefer BB & T. They have much less customer traffic, are knowledgeable, cordial and the wait time to see someone is insignificant. They have been around for decades and have somewhere just under 2,000 branches, so they aren't a 'fly-by-night' institution.

I certainly recommend them as an excellent choice.