conversation: User (roboplex22): "So I'm currently at Wells Fargo, with a teen checking account. I'm 16, and am starting a job tomorrow, and thus im starting to put more thought into where I put my money. I just learned that VyStar Credit Union is opening a branch in my town, and I'm intrigued. I like the idea of a smaller, community-based, non profit organization, but I'm kinda confused on the other things. My parents told me that I would be able to earn interest on my checking, but I'm not sure what else. In your opinion, what would be the merits/disadvantages of switching banks?\n\nThanks for the help!"
  Self: "Main wiki entry: [Financial Institutions](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/financialinstitutions).\n\nYou need to figure out your priorities in choosing a primary financial institution to do your banking business with. Some things to consider:\n\n - How important is a brick and mortar location to you? Could you do without any local locations, or even no locations at all and use an online bank/credit union?\n\n - How often do you need to use an ATM, and what kind of network(s) do the financial institutions you're considering have? Big brick-and-mortar banks usually only allow free ATM transactions if you use their branded ATMs. Smaller/online institutions may belong to an ATM network, and/or reimburse you for some or all ATM transactions.\n\n - What are the yields on the products the bank / credit union offer? This one's obvious - the higher, the better. Note that some high-yield accounts require you to jump through some hoops to get the higher rate. The highest yields I've seen for savings accounts that didn't require hoop-jumping were around or slightly more than 1%.\n\n - What are the account fees? You should not do business with an institution that charges a monthly and/or low balance fee for basic checking and savings. Also look at potential fees for other services you may use.\n\n - Are you deposits at the institution insured? The answer should be "yes", but make sure you check whether your deposits are insured by the FDIC (for banks) or the NCUA (for credit unions). I haven't heard of any non-FDIC/NCUA insured institutions recently, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there."
  