Adding Beneficiaries on Bank Accounts

I recently started looking into adding beneficiaries on my bank accounts. In the event that I pass early, I would like my assets to be passed to my wife and kids. In California, by default everything will go through probate where lawyers get some of my hard earned money. By adding beneficiaries on an account we can avoid probate. They call this TOD (Transfer on Death) or POD (Payable on death).
This is my experience in California regarding Wells Fargo, Chase, and Bank of America.

Wells Fargo:
1) In branch, easily added my wife as a beneficiary to all my individually owned checking and savings accounts. SSN not required.
2) Unable to add beneficiary for brokerage, Roth IRA, and HSA in branch.
3) Any number of equal primary beneficiaries. No secondary beneficiary.

Chase:
1) In branch, easily added my wife to checking account. SSN not required.
2) One primary and one secondary beneficiary allowed.

Bank of America:
1) In branch, easily added my wife to checking account. SSN required.
2) Any number of equal primary beneficiaries.
3) Unable to add beneficiary for Merrill Edge brokerage in branch.