My first encounter with Washington Mutual Bank was as a Mystery Shopper*. I was assigned to open an account, make a few transactions, and then close the account. The purpose of the assignment was to evaluate the service that I received from Wamu. Over the course of a month, I visited three branches and called another for a phone consult. Overall I felt that the product that they offered was a superior product and I was impressed by the quality of service that I received. I was so impressed, in fact, that when I needed a new bank 'for real,' I chose Washington Mutual with which to open a checking account. The quality of the products that Wamu offers and the level of service their employees have provided since that time have continued to be impressive and superior, even with the few glitches that I have experienced as Wamu customer.

Wamu offers a free personal checking account that includes free checks. It never costs anything to use a Wamu ATM card if it is being used at any Wamu ATM and it costs nothing extra to use the ATM as a credit/debit card. All of Wamu's online banking & bill paying privileges are free as well. Wamu also offers its checking customers a savings account that is free as long as $25 per month is deposited into it from the checking account. The manager who opens customer accounts will gladly set up an automatic transfer of these funds to the savings account if that is what the customer desires. The employees at Washington Mutual are all very friendly and easy to talk to. They never forget that a happy customer is the backbone of a successful business. Customers are always greeted within a half of a minute of entering the lobby and customer questions are always answered kindly and with efficient simplicity. I have enjoyed all of the the benefits of being a Wamu customer.

As much as I have enjoyed my banking experience with Wamu, there have been a few bumps in the road. A service charge was debited from my savings account even though I did make the proper transfers into it from my checking account. Granted, the problem reoccurred, several times in fact, but the manager of my branch put the money back into my account each time that it happened and tweaked the settings of my automatic transfer until it finally succeeded in keeping the charge from happening again.

Even though I had to work out a few problems with my account, I am glad that I chose Washington Mutual as my bank and I would recommend it to anyone who I know that is in the market for a new banker.

*It has been several years since I mystery shopped Washington Mutual so I no longer have an obligation of secrecy in regard to that assignment.

Learn more about this author, Kristen Logsdon.
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