Wanting a safe deposit box is a good reason to line up a bank in advance...boxes are not always available. We secured ours at the closest bank to our house, early on when the bank had just opened and our neighborhood was being built.

I would suggest a local credit union like Campus USA.

For us Citizens Bank has everything we need and more convenient than any other around. ATM’s at every postal station. The main branch is a mile and a half away from the Santo Domingo gate. We live in Santo Domingo. I don’t know what you expect from a bank however they have served our needs for 10 years.

If you are already banking online with a national bank, keep that and sign up with Citizen's First here in TV. Citizen's has ATM's in almost every Postal Station, and all over the squares....very quick and easy to get cash. I stayed with Bank of America when I moved here because my electronic checking and auto deposits were already set up and working well. I established a ACH link with BAC and Citizens and my stock broker so that I can easily move money around. This way when I travel, I have ATM cards with a national & worldwide bank (BAC). Been here 11 years and no problems.

Citizen First Bank

BOA Bank of America, they are all over just about in every state traveling from North to south.

We didn’t open a new account — just kept the old one.
 

You may want to stay with your current bank if they have branches in TV. We’ve been with BofA for 50+ years. When we moved to the villages earlier this year, we kept our old BofA account (from Virginia) so we didn’t have to go through the process of changing our on line banking (which includes automatic billing and auto pay), and getting new debit card, etc. The only think we did was order new checks with our new address. The downside is BofA does not have an atm on every corner. But with the ability to get (no fee) cash back when we food shop and the fact we go out several times a year anyway, that does not present a problem for us.

Just because your own bank doesn't charge an ATM fee, doesn't mean the owner of the ATM machine doesn't charge an ATM fee. There are several ATM machines around, that will charge a fee for every transaction you place in that machine, UNLESS you use one of THEIR authorized bank cards. The one in Walgreen's is an example of that.

Almost all banks will allow their customers to use their ATM machines for free. But, some banks will allow their customers to use other ATM machines and the bank will pay the fee, so the customer pays nothing. I think that is what the poster meant by a "no fee ATM policy". One bank that has a no fee ATM policy is Schwab Bank. Most banks do not have the policy.

All the biggies have multiple offices here. But if you want a really friendly bank with even more offices, try Citizens First.

If it makes a difference to you, know that Citizens First is owned by the Developer.

I use online only banks for savings. Getting 3% and 4%z. I use Synchrony and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. For brick & mortar, I use TD. I’ve been there twice in 8 years.

Thank you everyone
 

What a great community where people are so willing to help! The advise I have been able to receive on this forum in this and other matters is priceless! Thank you all so much!!!!

not to start an argument here, but i was VERY upset the way boa treated me when 2 of the accounts were 'hacked' by a fraudulent zelle transaction. the people working @ the bank were very caring & understanding, but the overall experience with the managing of the accounts was awful. 1st thing they told me was it's very common for zelle to 'hacked' for lack of better word. it's also common to expect a 50/50 chance of getting our money back after any disputes. they told me i was compromised by a gasoline pump scanner: the info of the card in question was used to get access to the accounts. despite my many inquiries, the only help i REALLY got was from the wildwood police, who told me i need to give their fraud team the full 45 days to investigate, then come back to them if funds are not replenished. here's the catch-boa absolves themselves by stating zelle is a 3rd party app., & not responsible. so i find out who owns zelle, & it's BOA, Wells fargo, Truist, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank. something fishy here, so now i'm curious to know if anyone else here has gone thru the same thing?? Citizen's handles fraud by scanning transactions, & if an 'odd' charge shows up, they shut the entire acct down until a new card is issued. when all is said & done, i'm sticking with citizens

Every Postal Station? Not any more...

I saw one on Hillsborough, but there are none farther south that I've found...

Hi, I am also from Connecticut. What I did was research which banks were in my Connecticut town & which were also in The Villages. I found several, & I chose Bank of America. I closed out my local Connecticut bank accounts after opening new accounts at a Bank of America office. A good reason for doing this ahead of time is that Banks these days have 'know your customer' regulations, they don't impact us much, but for accounts less than 90 days on their books they do delay the availability of deposited checks. Also, if you take care of automated deposits ahead of time it relieves some of the 'to do' items during moving, plus if you get checks you will have the time to receive the new checkbooks. Good luck in your new house.