Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
This credit union editor's relationship with Bank of America just got bigger--and I did nothing to make it so. First, my MBNA credit card (my very first card on my own) got sold to BofA. Now, my best health insurance option is a health savings account through my husband's large employer. (This is not a complaint about CUES--CUES has outstanding employee benefits.) The health savings account's Visa debit card and the linked account are through BofA.
I handle the first issue by not using the BofA card (see my previous post about this card here), and I'm sure one day I'll get around to closing the account. This morning I called my credit union (chosen for proximity) to see if I could switch the HSA and debit card to be with them. It's not offering HSAs.
So I got smarter. I was able to locate a credit union we could join based on my husband's employment. I spoke to an able rep at the CU who said it will soon offer HSAs--and that she expects it will be possible to transfer our BofA HSA to the CU at that time.
Frankly, it feels funny to be such a believer in credit unions and to find myself with these incidental relationships with a huge bank. I honestly used to think, "Why would a credit union bother with an extra product like HSAs?" when the potential payback seemed so small. But maybe the payback wouldn't be in volume of accounts, but rather in the potential depth of relationship with members.
All of this also underscores how credit unions need to keep leveraging relationships with their single sponsors or select employee groups. In a perfect world, I could have elected to work with a credit union for my HSA during open enrollment last November! And HSAs aren't the only way banks are marketing themselves through employers. Check out this post, too!
