Washington Mutual = Stupid

Boo Washington MutualSo I’ve been trying to get my business self in order. I’m a freelancer and independent contractor, so I need to separate my personal expenses and business expenses from each other as much as possible. A way I’m doing that is by having two checking accounts. All my paychecks go into one and I pay myself out of there, minus taxes and a business withholding.

So, after waiting in line at Washington Mutual to talk to a rep and setting up an additional account, I try to link the two accounts together so I can do all my online banking magic and… no luck.

Apparently, Washington Mutual isn’t a single company. It’s a bunch. Each one dealing with a different area of the country. And wouldn’t you know it, accounts created at Washington Mutual in Florida can’t link or even work with accounts created at Washington Mutual in California. I fail to see why my digital assets in Washington Mutual can’t work with my other digital assets inside the same company. Does this make sense to anyone else?

How is this a smart business model? When I called Washington Mutual, their only suggestion was to close all my accounts and open up three brand new accounts. Wow. What a great suggestion. This isn’t a computer, restarting doesn’t put me back at a fresh beginning. Closing down an account would mean a boat load of companies to call, direct withdraws to change, and new account numbers to memorize.

Since I may have to start fresh to open accounts at a new Washington Mutual that’s not the same Washington Mutual as the Washington Mutual I opened my accounts at, maybe I’ll just try out Bank of America. There’s one closer to my house anyway.

Written on August 4, 2008 at roughly 3:39 pm. And by roughly I mean at that exact time.

16 Comments

J.Ipjian August 4, 2008 at roughly 4:08 pm

Woo hoo

Chris Jackson August 4, 2008 at roughly 4:28 pm

Thanks, President Andrew Jackson, for making sure our banking system is still messy two hundred years later!

Gianni Franco August 4, 2008 at roughly 10:24 pm

Wamu did not decide to be several companies. The federal government requires this of banks. The banking industry is heavily regulated by the federal government. if you open up a bank of america account in north carolina and then move to california, you will find yourself in the same predicament. I understand your frustration, but really, that in and of itself is probably not a good enough reason to leave wamu.

Aaron August 4, 2008 at roughly 10:52 pm

So, I have to stay with WaMu because they fail to have a system in place that handles what they know will happen since they are required to be several companies? That may be worse. The government is not mandating that they not allow customers who move to new locations to consolidate or openly manage their accounts. I don’t care if McDonald’s is franchised and owned by different people from around the world, but if I buy a gift certificate that says McDonald’s, McDonald’s had best honor it, regardless of where I bought it.

Tell me again that I shouldn’t leave WaMu for whatever reason I may have, regardless of how logical or illogical it may be.

Matt August 5, 2008 at roughly 5:59 am

Bank of America is the same as far as account origination and enduring the pains of relocating. Special deposit slips are required if you started an account in one state and move to another, special this and that, circle here check there. They are even worse because of all their crappy fees! Boo Bank of America. Oh and try to close an account with them and they will assess fees between the time you pay the last fee and the time they “close” your account. Its a never ending process. I’m not talking overdraft fees or fees associated with poor banking practices…just the normal every day fees.

David Brown August 5, 2008 at roughly 6:26 am

Hey - I can relate. I have a commerce bank account a started at 2 Wall Street. I now live back at my hometown in suburban Philadelphia. Instead of closing them immediately, why don’t you just transistion gradually. It just seems like the hassle you are referring to will occur because of the large amount of communication necessary to ensure proper transfer of all information to relevant parties. Simply start an account and everytime, moving forward, you do something, use the new account. Whenever you see a transaction which is automated or pre-processed for the old account, simply call the company and tell them you have new information. If you follow this methodology, you won’t be so stressed about this terrible transistion.

Aaron August 5, 2008 at roughly 8:25 am

Good idea David, maybe I’ll do that.

Shawn August 5, 2008 at roughly 8:26 am

Bank of America is worse. They can’t link washington to oregon. All banks are set up as multiple companies with the same problems. If you switch to BOA won’t you have the same problems with vendors, direct withdraws and the like?

Aaron August 5, 2008 at roughly 12:23 pm

To the guy who just commented with all the expletives and name calling, you’ve totally convinced me I’m wrong. I will stick with WaMu!

Aaron August 5, 2008 at roughly 12:29 pm

I just fail to see why their system is set up, regardless of the legality of their ownership, that all of my accounts cannot be managed by a single account interface. That’s just bad planning and design. They have no problem billing me correctly, or multiple times for the same event or service, but they have a problem making banking with them easier to accomplish.

Roland August 5, 2008 at roughly 6:12 pm

I’ve had the same problem with WaMu. Try this: establish a separate online banking login at wamu.com for each of the accounts (it’s weird that even though you cannot manage all the accounts under a single login name, you still log in to the different accounts/systems from the same main page.) Then, add one of the WaMu accounts as an “external account” (under Transfers I think) from the other WaMu account. This mechanism allows you to link your WaMu account to any other bank account anywhere, much the same way as you do with services like PayPal.

Aaron August 5, 2008 at roughly 6:49 pm

Interesting that you have to add a WaMu account as an external account to gain some access. That’s totally logical. I’ll give it a try, thanks Roland.

peter August 6, 2008 at roughly 1:04 pm

it is the same with Bank of America in that you are constantly required to know what state the account was started in, but I have my savings and 2 checking accounts linked under one online account - one in FL one in VA. I generally like BOA. Before when I had a company account with WAMU i liked them too. They tend to be customer focused - i’m surprised this has been such a pain for you.

liz August 13, 2008 at roughly 10:22 am

Not to add insult to injury, but we have BOFA and it sucks. In fact, they require you to have the face of an ass in order to open an account.

Aaron August 13, 2008 at roughly 10:42 am

It looks like banks are like cell phone companies: everyone hates the one they have.

Jeff September 9, 2008 at roughly 6:37 pm

For those that still think that the gov’t requires separate charters state-by-state you’ve been fed a load — it’s not true. I work for a bank (they suck too) that will allow you to open accounts (and use them) across the states we serve.

My bank, too, started out as several smaller banks but integrated several years ago. Short story: it’s a failing of WaMu, not the Feds.

Go ahead and comment. I won't make fun of you too much.