I should expand on that. If I was a “consumer”, and all I ever wanted was a home mortgage, Heloc, auto loan, checking/savings account, credit card, and good service, I would go to a credit union. If they are any good, you will be well taken care of.
If I had a small business or agricultural operation, and borrowed, less than say $50mm, I would look for an independent bank of adequate size. There are lots of them and they will fight over your business, to the extent it is worth fighting for.
In other words, those banks are going to treat you more than right if you are a good customer, but don’t expect to be treated like royalty because you keep $5k in your checking account, borrow $25k, and they have to call you for payments every month. They will be good to you, and they very much appreciate good customers. but they are in the business to make money, and they are also be pretty effective in determining if you are a “good customer”. They have a more long term outlook in developing their customers than the big banks do - they will conscientiously “grow” their borrowers, and they will bring more to the table than a credit union.
From there, you have to scale it up. But your business has to be very, very large to need, and to be best served by the likes of real big boys like Wells and JP Morgan.
