Long bank story

I decided to get a local bank account because Bank of America, despite the name, does not have any branches in the state of North Dakota. I can conduct most of my banking electronically, obviously, but when I need some cash there's only a couple of options (like cash a check at Hugo's, limited to $25). It's not practical - I need to be able to go to an ATM and it just seems like a good idea to have a local bank. 

In the meantime, I needed to do some community service type work at my job because it's part of how you're evaluated - service work. So I volunteered to be the treasurer (a job nobody wants) for the staff association at the library and for the regional chapter of the ACRL. Each account was held at a different bank. 

I went to the University Federal Credit Union to switch over the account for the Staff Association and I went to US Bank to switch over the account for the ACRL chapter. Both were kind of negative experiences* for different reasons. But it helped me because I was decided not to use either one of those banks. 

Instead, I picked a regional bank that a couple of people have recommended to me called Gate City Bank, which is headquartered in Fargo; Fargo is the Gate City. And it turns out, that is due to it being the "gateway to the West." Which obviously, I find hilarious because I grew up in the West and I certainly never thought of Fargo as the gateway to where I lived, but that's another blog post all together.

*my subsequent interaction at US Bank was excellent, so it's nice to know my initial impression is not a true reflection of their customer service orientation.