WaMu went belly up

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/wamu.html

Not to worry, the branches will be open tomorrow and JPMorganChase will be absorbing most of it.

I know, they just get folded into Chase. But, consider this...

-- I have several types of accounts with WaMu (personal checking, savings, and business checking). Looking over Chase's website, I find their terms on those accounts are a lot worse than the ones I have (had?) with WaMu. For example, monthly service fees where all of my accounts have been free.

-- I don't like having my accounts in a bank with one of the most predatory lending records around.

And, of course, it's another blow for Seattle, which lost Boeing to Chicago several years ago. When I moved here a quarter century ago, we had SeaFirst, Rainier Bank, Old National Bank, People's Bank, Puget Sound Savings Bank, and Washington Mutual (along with several others whose names I cannot now remember). Over that time, all have either folded or been taken over by out-of-state banks. Aside from a couple of miniscule mom-and-pop regional chains, banking in Seattle is now just a remote outpost for banks located in New York, North Carolina, and California.

I guess we'll be taking a look at shifting our accounts to Boeing Employees Credit Union, which is open to any Washington resident. At least their basic accounts are still free. But it's going to stink not being able to go to a WaMu branch out-of-state, and having to make sure I have enough money when traveling out of Washington, or having to rely on ATM withdrawals with hefty service fees.

So, goodbye Boeing, goodbye Sonics, goodbye locally-owned banks...I wonder if Microsoft's next?