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Claim Your BusinessBankOfTheWest has a rating of 2.5 stars from 8 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. BankOfTheWest ranks 59th among Banking sites.
Update July/7/22 It was now June and Bank of the West investments have paid promptly on the 15th as I was told. I was a bit concerned after the clerical errors I had to get resolved to get the account operational, which it now is. I was running a little low on my monthly account balance because I've only had it since January having been de-platformed from Security three months prior and I had to pay income taxes, etc. But on June 8th, 2022 I received a notice that my account had been charged a $25.00 service fee from Bank of the West. However, the very next day an electronic deposit came in that placed me well above the minimum requirement for services to be free, i. E. checks, money orders, etc. I immediately contacted the Senior Relationship Banking Officer explaining my problem. A $25.00 charge seemed a little stiff for my being 'balance deficient' for a single day. I told her in an email that I thought the charge should be prorated due to such a short time. She promised to look into it and would get back to me. A couple of days later, I received an email asking about the charge on my debit account and I sent the following response to the customer representative.: "I'm sure it was debit account *7679 which is where all my incoming interest resides but I discovered yesterday that it was showing a charge again. I had looked at it briefly a day or two ago while I was doing other things so I could have just been mistaken." I heard from thecustomer Rep. That there was now a team working on the problem, probably doing average balance calculations or something similar to establish a basis for the prorated fee. Then I began receiving daily updates from this individual telling me her team was still working on the problem. After about a week I received a refund response from the consumer advocate': "On 6/29/2022 1:52 PM, G****, Jennifer wrote: "Allen, I have refunded the 75.00 dollars to your account. "I was not aware of a change when it came to the premier account benefits. This account will not be a free account. What I can do is change it to the any deposit checking account. This account will be 100% free because of your SS deposits. It is just a code change on my end. Everything else will be the same." Senior Relationship Banker, Officer I NMLS #1108718 All my monthly charges were refunded for the last three months and I was floored. I had only been asking about prorating the current month so this was a very pleasant surprise. Security bank was always increasing or adding new fees to existing accounts such as limiting the checks I could write on a non money market account. It turns out the service charge problem for my debit account (which is also my checking acct) was because Bank of the West had changed the definition of a premiere account and the customer representative was not aware of it. Now I didn't have to get rid of the second debit card under the new category; I just had to make a deposit in that account once each month. And it still would be free. I then asked if future definition changes to the premier account would impact my saving account. Her response: "I am sorry, I meant to add that your savings account has no charge. The ONLY charge you received was in that one checking account that is it." JENNIFER G***** Senior Relationship Banker, Given the Bank's resolution and the level of service received, I have to upgrade their rating from four to FIVE stars! Update 5/3/22 After almost four months I can say the most unusual experience to date was getting acquainted with 'Bank of the West's 'Sr. Relationship Banker Officer'. I had never heard of such a position and wondered why it even existed. I thought it a strange title for someone merely setting up a new account. (First picture gives a synopsis of the basic types of checking accounts that may be selected). However, innovative Banks in today's market create and develop special positions to ensure' under educated and inexperienced employees 'do their jobs properly. The Officer position functions as a depositor advocate in addition to developing new accounts connecting you to the right person to resolve your problem and making sure it was fixed. And they will correct it themselves when all else fails as in the case of my debit cards foul up. I had elected to hold two 'Bank of the West' debit cards, one for international use and one for domestic purchases. The cards functioned backwards according to the original literature I received. Attempts to explain and demonstrate this case by showing that my domestic card was properly receiving ACH feeds at setup while my international one was incorrectly paying domestic claims (See the Last photo where the 1st entry in the log is a domestic charge to my international account) got me nowhere until I involved the Sr. Relationship officer who recognized and corrected the problem on the computer with me present. This was truly a welcome experience and a dramatic improvement over getting problems fixed at Security. So 'Bank of the West' remains simply the Best, not that there haven't been some trying moments, but overall it is a better experience than anything I encountered at most of my previous banks. Their online banking login is a big improvement over Security's system chiefly due to an email option to receive the security codes. Even at a 4 minute code lifetime I was able to get in 95+% of the time. The next major advantage 'Bank of the West' offers is a brokerage service allowing you to manage all your investments in one location. Even though I already have a separate brokerage elsewhere, the Bank of the West' brokerage account helps offset a pretty stiff deposit balance requirement of $25K in order to avoid monthly service charges and qualify for free things like money orders and cashier's checks that were formerly free. This means that you don't actually have to have $25K in your accounts. Your investments also count against this minimum. So if I have a $20,000 brokerage investment then I only need to maintain $5000 in my total bank accounts to qualify. Larger investments simply eliminate this constraint. Another great feature in their online banking system comes with an electronic payment system where you can pay any individual anywhere directly without a 3rd party app in addition to being able to disburse your money freely in your accounts. I get around the money order charges presently by using personal checks which are printed out a page at a time for free. The depositor advocate has lots of tips on how to avoid overdrafts, get money back on purchases made and avoid charges. I should be able to meet my minimum balance reqirement in about another month. My first dividends will be due in mid June 2022 so I'll have a better idea of just how good a deal this really is. Original The time had finally arrived for me to dump Security Bank. I wasn't looking forward to it because of all the tasks I would have to do to set up a new account and then I would still end up with another on-line Banking System pretty nuch like Security's. However, I was pleasantly surptised. Bank of the West has bought out the former Commerical Bank system and is presently a subsidiary of some EU or Canadian conglomerate. However I was attracted by their claim of putting customers first with a rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 1,671 reviews. Arriving at their facilities which were were locked, I tapped on the Window to attract a female teller I could plainly see in the background. I discusssed my desire to open an account when she came to the door and to my surprise, I was given a appointment with their relationship Bank officer. I had never heard of such a title. In our conversations I found out that she is the 'go-to-person' for all of your banking issues problematic and otherwise. This was a pleasant surprise as she does everything to get you operational on their system, setting up 'on-line] banking access in realtime. And the bank even permits use of the TOR browser which was a constant problem for me at Security. By the time I left Bank of the West, I was advised on How to avoid account over charges, my on-line Bank account was fully operational, I was promised a new debit card and I would have a brokerage account. This is the first bank I've ever had that has offered such services. When I returned home, I discovered that I could quickly access my account because Bank of the West has 'email' as one of its security options something that Security would never consider despite my attempts to garner it. The new account is simple and straight forward without the dozen or so tabs that security offers. I can do everything that security offers with no hasstle or uinexplained errors. But when I tried the text authorization code, I had not received it afer 5 minutes. So I'll have to try that option again even though I will rarely use it because email is so fast and reliable. Bank of the West could wind up with five stars if this option works better than security's text code and their brokerage account pans out. I have to award Bank of The West 4 out of five stars because everything they have promised so far has worked. I will update this review after I experience how my debit card and brokerage account function.
7 weeks waiting for title and 1 to 2 phone calls a week and still waiting for lien release paperwork. First time I need to do the title work since they don't send a title which will require me to drive 4+ hours to other side of state to get my title. Lender Beware I have several hours in phone calls to them trying to get this solved and today I asked for it to be emailed and they would not. Get your loan somewhere else
7 weeks waiting for title and 1 to 2 phone calls a week and still waiting for lien release paperwork. First time I need to do the title work since they don't send a title which will require me to drive 4+ hours to other side of state to get my title. Lender Beware I have several hours in phone calls to them trying to get this solved and today I asked for it to be emailed and they would not. Get your loan somewhere else
Tip for consumers:
Send the title, problem solving training for employees, do not require borrowers to have to go to DMV to do paperwork and pay for service
Products used:
RV loan
I recently paid off my RV loan with Bank of the West. As soon as they received the payoff, they killed my online account. Wondering what happened to my RV title after the loan was paid off, I have been attempting to contact someone with a heart-beat to determine where they sent my RV title.
For over two weeks now I have been trying to contact Bank of the West Customer Service for this issue. My god, what a stupid company. It seems like they do EVERYTHING they can to avoid talking to you. This starts out with one of the most onerous computerized phone trees I have ever experienced. Once you navigate their phone tree, you are put on hold for hours with no one ever answering your call. They have NO email customer support, No chat customer support, only their ridiculous telephone system that nobody ever answers.
Never again. I will never do business with Bank of the west again. EVER!
Update July/7/22
It was now June and Bank of the West investments have paid promptly on the 15th as I was told. I was a bit concerned after the clerical errors I had to get resolved to get the account operational, which it now is.
I was running a little low on my monthly account balance because I've only had it since January having been de-platformed from Security three months prior and I had to pay income taxes, etc. But on June 8th, 2022 I received a notice that my account had been charged a $25.00 service fee from Bank of the West. However, the very next day an electronic deposit came in that placed me well above the minimum requirement for services to be free, i. E. checks, money orders, etc. I immediately contacted the Senior Relationship Banking Officer explaining my problem. A $25.00 charge seemed a little stiff for my being 'balance deficient' for a single day. I told her in an email that I thought the charge should be prorated due to such a short time. She promised to look into it and would get back to me. A couple of days later, I received an email asking about the charge on my debit account and I sent the following response to the customer representative.: "I'm sure it was debit account *7679 which is where all my incoming interest resides but I discovered yesterday that it was showing a charge again. I had looked at it briefly a day or two ago while I was doing other things so I could have just been mistaken."
I heard from thecustomer Rep. That there was now a team working on the problem, probably doing average balance calculations or something similar to establish a basis for the prorated fee. Then I began receiving daily updates from this individual telling me her team was still working on the problem. After about a week I received a refund response from the consumer advocate': "On 6/29/2022 1:52 PM, G****, Jennifer wrote:
"Allen, I have refunded the 75.00 dollars to your account.
"I was not aware of a change when it came to the premier account benefits. This account will not be a free account. What I can do is change it to the any deposit checking account. This account will be 100% free because of your SS deposits. It is just a code change on my end. Everything else will be the same."
Senior Relationship Banker,
Officer I NMLS #*******
All my monthly charges were refunded for the last three months and I was floored. I had only been asking about prorating the current month so this was a very pleasant surprise. Security bank was always increasing or adding new fees to existing accounts such as limiting the checks I could write on a non money market account.
It turns out the service charge problem for my debit account (which is also my checking acct) was because Bank of the West had changed the definition of a premiere account and the customer representative was not aware of it. Now I didn't have to get rid of the second debit card under the new category; I just had to make a deposit in that account once each month. And it still would be free. I then asked if future definition changes to the premier account would impact my saving account. Her response:
"I am sorry, I meant to add that your savings account has no charge. The ONLY charge you received was in that one checking account that is it."
JENNIFER G*****
Senior Relationship Banker,
Given the Bank's resolution and the level of service received, I have to upgrade their rating from four to FIVE stars!
Update 5/3/22
After almost four months I can say the most unusual experience to date was getting acquainted with 'Bank of the West's 'Sr. Relationship Banker Officer'. I had never heard of such a position and wondered why it even existed. I thought it a strange title for someone merely setting up a new account. (First picture gives a synopsis of the basic types of checking accounts that may be selected). However, innovative Banks in today's market create and develop special positions to ensure' under educated and inexperienced employees 'do their jobs properly. The Officer position functions as a depositor advocate in addition to developing new accounts connecting you to the right person to resolve your problem and making sure it was fixed. And they will correct it themselves when all else fails as in the case of my debit cards foul up.
I had elected to hold two 'Bank of the West' debit cards, one for international use and one for domestic purchases. The cards functioned backwards according to the original literature I received. Attempts to explain and demonstrate this case by showing that my domestic card was properly receiving ACH feeds at setup while my international one was incorrectly paying domestic claims (See the Last photo where the 1st entry in the log is a domestic charge to my international account) got me nowhere until I involved the Sr. Relationship officer who recognized and corrected the problem on the computer with me present. This was truly a welcome experience and a dramatic improvement over getting problems fixed at Security.
So 'Bank of the West' remains simply the Best, not that there haven't been some trying moments, but overall it is a better experience than anything I encountered at most of my previous banks. Their online banking login is a big improvement over Security's system chiefly due to an email option to receive the security codes. Even at a 4 minute code lifetime I was able to get in 95+% of the time.
The next major advantage 'Bank of the West' offers is a brokerage service allowing you to manage all your investments in one location. Even though I already have a separate brokerage elsewhere, the Bank of the West' brokerage account helps offset a pretty stiff deposit balance requirement of $25K in order to avoid monthly service charges and qualify for free things like money orders and cashier's checks that were formerly free. This means that you don't actually have to have $25K in your accounts. Your investments also count against this minimum. So if I have a $20,000 brokerage investment then I only need to maintain $5000 in my total bank accounts to qualify. Larger investments simply eliminate this constraint. Another great feature in their online banking system comes with an electronic payment system where you can pay any individual anywhere directly without a 3rd party app in addition to being able to disburse your money freely in your accounts.
I get around the money order charges presently by using personal checks which are printed out a page at a time for free. The depositor advocate has lots of tips on how to avoid overdrafts, get money back on purchases made and avoid charges. I should be able to meet my minimum balance reqirement in about another month. My first dividends will be due in mid June 2022 so I'll have a better idea of just how good a deal this really is.
Original
The time had finally arrived for me to dump Security Bank. I wasn't looking forward to it because of all the tasks I would have to do to set up a new account and then I would still end up with another on-line Banking System pretty nuch like Security's.
However, I was pleasantly surptised. Bank of the West has bought out the former Commerical Bank system and is presently a subsidiary of some EU or Canadian conglomerate. However I was attracted by their claim of putting customers first with a rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 1,671 reviews.
Arriving at their facilities which were were locked, I tapped on the Window to attract a female teller I could plainly see in the background. I discusssed my desire to open an account when she came to the door and to my surprise, I was given a appointment with their relationship Bank officer. I had never heard of such a title. In our conversations I found out that she is the 'go-to-person' for all of your banking issues problematic and otherwise. This was a pleasant surprise as she does everything to get you operational on their system, setting up 'on-line] banking access in realtime. And the bank even permits use of the TOR browser which was a constant problem for me at Security.
By the time I left Bank of the West, I was advised on How to avoid account over charges, my on-line Bank account was fully operational, I was promised a new debit card and I would have a brokerage account.
This is the first bank I've ever had that has offered such services. When I returned home, I discovered that I could quickly access my account because Bank of the West has 'email' as one of its security options something that Security would never consider despite my attempts to garner it. The new account is simple and straight forward without the dozen or so tabs that security offers. I can do everything that security offers with no hasstle or uinexplained errors. But when I tried the text authorization code, I had not received it afer 5 minutes. So I'll have to try that option again even though I will rarely use it because email is so fast and reliable. Bank of the West could wind up with five stars if this option works better than security's text code and their brokerage account pans out.
I have to award Bank of The West 4 out of five stars because everything they have promised so far has worked. I will update this review after I experience how my debit card and brokerage account function.
Tip for consumers:
This appears to be a customer service oriented bank wih no surprises that continues to be true 6 months later.
As you can see by the total 1.5 star rating for Bank of the West, they are a troubled institution. They operate as a predatory lender. Be very careful.
My father was convinced to take out an interest only loan, 15 years ago on his death bed. Father passed 4 months later. My brother took over the loan as it was for a business. My brother has since passed. The business closed. Now Bank of the West is attacking my mother who has dementia, who is 89 years old and nothing to do with the loan.
Interest only for 15 years Bank of the West had no intention of ever collecting principal.
Scare tactics on the elderly disabled citizens is never acceptable
Products used:
Loan
The online banking is great. Bill paying and in bank transfers are easy and fast. I don't know what it is like to work for the bank, there is always new tellers.
Between the stellar customer service, easy to use online banking and low fees Bank of the West is awesome. After suffering through the subhuman experience of banking with big guys like Wells and BofA I am very appreciative of the consistently high level output by a relatively small institution. I moved back east ten years ago but their online banking is so good that I saw no reason to close my account even though the closest location to me is 2000 miles away. Highly recommended.
I would call this bank an absolute joke, but it's definitely more nefariously run. Therefore I'm calling it what it is - A legal scam.
I've been sent a lot of CC offers for "spend 1,000 and get 200". I use those cards and get the offer. Done deal, no hassle. Everything is explained properly in the offer letter.
This bank sends you the offer, with wording similar to all the others... HOWEVER, upon receiving the card, you will realize that you probably missed some fine print of having to SET UP A BANK ACCOUNT WITH THEM to even use the card.
There are multiple serious issues with this -
1. The way they set it up, you have to sign up through their app... no website option. The app doesn't work the best so... great approach you stupid bankers.
2. Upon setting up the acct. You will have to do some digging to find their AUTOMATICALLY APPLIED FEES: a "paper statement" fee of $3 for every account, monthly. Automatically turned on... and they like to use double-speak to say they are "green for the planet". If that were the case you would automatically make things electronic with the option to OPT-IN instead... I want to say this is dumb, but they know what they're doing; BOW is owned by BMO, a major player in the 2008 collapse, and one of the top financiers of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. (watch Madoff on Netflix) The only green the care about is money.
The other fee, which really gets me because of their stupid wording and how they have things set up, makes it really feel scammy - Upon signing up, you will see " $10 service fee waived with ANY deposit of 0.01 or more... So you would think, GREAT! Set up auto-transfers of 0.01 to avoid a $10 "save the planet" (lmao) fee. Again, HOWEVER, when you go to set up any kind of AUTOMATIC transfer, it has to be at least $10. And that's how they get you. The difference in the wording of "any DEPOSIT vs. TRANSFER"...
So, to avoid a "service fee" of 10 bucks, you deposit 10. Great, now, they take that $10, and, thanks to new rules of banks needing 0% reserves (thanks COVID), They get to take your $10 and "invest" it (gamble it away on Wall Street by giving it to hedge funds that bet against American companies, effectively destroying our economy and markets from the inside out.
This kind of nefarious, immoral yet legal, business practices are why we can't have nice things anymore. I hope to god this bank becomes nothing more than a bad memory.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
I'm going to go use MidJourney AI to make pictures of banks on fire now.
As a financial professional, I am frequently asked by my client to recommend financial institutions for their needs. In the past, I have been very supportive of Bank of the West (BOW), but no longer.
I contacted BOW concerning one of my clients who was looking for a local bank with whom to do business. This client is a multi-million dollar corporation headed up by a 34-year-old female president. She was looking for a local bank that could offer them a line of credit as well as the other banking services they required.
Bank of the West (know known as WestStar) advertises themselves as particularly interested in helping local businesses and they had assisted a variety of my clients in the past. Unfortunately, it seems they are only interested in doing business with men at the helm.
My client was turned down because "the Equity doesn't add up" which, in my experience as a financial professional of more than 30 years and multiple Master's degrees in the field, is simply not possible. One cannot have equity that 'doesn't add up' since the equity is, by definition, the result of all the activity of the business.
Therefore, one need only look at the activity to determine any changes in equity.
It is obvious to these seasoned financial eyes that the 'reason' was fabricated because it makes no sense and, in this world of computerized accounting, is, frankly, impossible.
Worse, when I attempted to speak to the reviewer who was the head of the loan department and a Board Member, he was borderline abusive about my client - implying fraud but not outright making the accusation - and personally insulting to me which was highly unprofessional.
I have a variety of clients who were approved for larger loans with much less income/profit and who provided less-accurate financial information on their businesses to the bank. I know this because I saw everything they submitted when they brought it in for my review after the fact.
This business provided much more information that was more accurate and professional because I prepared it for her to take to the bank. Her annual growth has been astonishing, her income exceeds that of every other business I sent to BOW but one and her profit margin is higher than most. Her income and assets to debt ratio are both better than the majority of the businesses that were approved and, in fact, her debt base is lower than all of them. These are the very things looked at by financial institutions in the loan approval process. So, since every one of the factors used to evaluate loans was better, why was she not approved like all the other businesses? What is the difference?
Since they refuse to provide a valid financial reason for the rejection, I have no choice but to assume that the real problem was that the management/ownership of the business was not to their liking. Unfortunately, the only difference between the management of the approved companies and this one is that the other businesses have men at the helm.
Which then begs the question of gender bias and prejudice. Obviously, I cannot say for certain this is the case, but the circumstances certainly lead this educated and experienced professional to believe that it could be.
Either way, i shall not be recommending this financial institution to any of my future clients. I require an institution that is trustworthy, consistent and that isn't going to dissemble when asked a valid question.
Regardless of their real reasons for refusal of my client's loan, at the very least, Bank of the West is none of these.
Bank of the West is a regional financial services company chartered in California and headquartered in San Francisco with $83.8 billion in assets as of December 31st, 2016. Founded in 1874, Bank of the West provides a wide range of personal, commercial...
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