City banking

Today I have opened a checking account in Citi Bank. I am quite cautious of banks because even here they like to disguise rapacious fees somewhere in fine print (or, alternatively, a 50-page manual). They even offered me a more advanced account type for free for the first year. Well, we will see. My colleagues have accounts in different banks and I have not manages to find a bank substantially different from the rest as well (I looked at WaMu, BofA, Patelco - all of them are located a few blocks from my current office).

What is interesting is that from the bank's point of view I cannot have a permanent address here in my status. As a corollary, only my mailing address is in the US (I even had to write a paragraph explaining why I was opening an account here while my residence was in the Evil Empire). It looks like anything less than a GC makes you a second-class resident.

As for a credit card, the manager suggested I return in a month. Those 30 days with the bank will establish a relation and improve my chances. As a matter of fact, I would agree even on a secured card. In spite of all the bank guarantees they say it is safer to use credit cards on the Net so this issue is quite important for me. Anyway, I expect to receive my checking card (and my first real checks I assume) next week.