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Understand the services available with a checking account and decide whether having one makes
sense for them
1. Be familiar with vocabul / ary ne / eded to manage a checking account
Name:
Bank Reviews
Part I: Locate some bank reviews
Even though you’ve just begun learning about checking accounts, you’re probably somewhat familiar with the banks you’ve seen in your own community. Let’s see what bank users say about these institutions using Yelp, a website that’s purpose is to “connect people with great local businesses,” by allowing consumers to write online reviews.
A. Visit yelp.com, and, at the top, search for “Banks Credit Unions” in your zipcode.
a. If you live in a large city, or where people tend to “yelp” businesses, you’ll see star ratings under each bank’s name. You can choose banks from this list.
b. If you live in a small city, or where people don’t tend to use yelp much, you may need to search at a bigger city near yours to find banks with star ratings.
B. Choose 3 banks or credit unions (each must have at least 2 reviews), and fill in the bank name address for each in the chart below.
C. For each of the banks you’ve chosen, read through the reviews. When you read positive feedback on the bank, summarize it in the green box. When you get to negative feedback on the bank, summarize in the red box. These can be bulleted lists; you don’t need to use complete sentences.
Bank 1: / Bank 2: / Bank 3:Address: / Address: / Address:
POSITIVE feedback: / POSITIVE feedback: / POSITIVE feedback:
NEGATIVE feedback: / NEGATIVE feedback: / NEGATIVE feedback:
Part II: Interpreting Reviews
Answer the questions below based on the notes you've taken in the chart and the reviews you’ve read.
● In general, were reviews of the banks overwhelmingly positive, overwhelmingly negative, or somewhere in between? Why do you think that’s the case?
● Though you may not know a lot about banks yet, what qualities or features seem to matter to consumers?
● What, if any, common complaints do reviewers seem to have with banks?
● Do a majority of the reviewers seem like credible sources to you? Why or why not? Were there any reviews you don’t trust? Why?
● A restaurant in a large city can have hundreds or even thousands of Yelp reviews; most banks seem to have single digit reviews. Why do you think this is the case? How does the number of reviews affect the reliability of the information?
● Reviews on yelp are voluntarily submitted by consumers who have used the business. Do you think it would be more or less useful if the reviews were written by professionals? Why?
● Based on your three-bank comparison, and your limited knowledge of checking accounts, which bank seems most ideal for you? What other questions would you want to ask before opening an account?