Citizens Bank - Wayne

Good.

I took a cash advance from a teller named Tyler. He was friendly and professional. I put the $1,000 in a Citizens Bank envelope and tried to deposit the money. The envelope would not fit, so I returned to the bank and asked Tyler for help. He came out w/ me and said I did not need the envelope. So, I removed the $1,000 from the envelope and tried to redeposit the money. The ATM took my money but did not provide an acknowledgement of the deposit. Instead, I received 2 slips of paper telling me there was a problem returning my cash and to contact my financial institution, which is my credit union. I contacted my credit union, which began an investigation. Five days later, and I still do not have my money. The staff at the bank are very nice, especially Linda. I do have an account w/ this bank.

I went to the Citizens Bank branch in Wayne, PA to open a Premier Banking checking account, money market account, and CD. I was assigned a Premier Banker and am supposedly being given preferential treatment as a Premier Banking customer. I have had these problems: 1) When I was in the branch opening the account with the Premier Banker and assistant branch manager, the computer system was extremely slow ? they commented on it - and the office printer was not working. Also, I was given wrong information by the assistant branch manager about how the minimum balance for being a Premier Banking customer was calculated (the Premier Banker corrected her, but had some trouble making her understand how it is calculated!), and about early withdrawal options on a CD. The early withdrawal information was not corrected, and I only learned the correct information by calling customer service the next day. As a result of this wrong information, I bought one large CD rather than several small ones, so if I need early access to part of the money, a much larger early withdrawal penalty will be applied than if I had bought several smaller CDs. I had to contact the Premier Banker and ask that I not pay the larger penalty if I ever have to access part of the money, since I was given wrong info, and he agreed. But what a hassle. 2) The day after I opened my accounts, I called to get info about online access and the assistant branch manager said she would email me the info. She then send my account numbers and ATM number to me through email!! A huge security risk. And she got the ATM number wrong. 3) The Premier Banker sent my Welcome Kit to the wrong address. 4) About a week after I opened my account, the Premier Banker sent me an email with an image of a $2,000 check written on someone else?s account. Turns out he meant to send the email to someone else with the same first name. So this means he could also in error send my private banking information to someone else. Atrocious security procedures. 5) I also opened a safe deposit box at the King of Prussia, PA branch of Citizens Bank. I had these negative experiences: - When I walked in the branch, I was directed to the branch manager, who told me he had never opened a safe deposit box before, but he could open one for me. I had to ask that someone who has done it before be involved. - They had numerous computer problems including the system rejecting the box number numerous times. After about 10 minutes, consultation with someone else, and choosing a different free box number, they were finally able to get the system to accept the number. - They said that the card printer was out of paper so they could not print out the card for me that they normally give new safe deposit box customers. - The keys to the box were placed on the desk and I was then told to take them. They were not in any envelope ? just loose keys with no box number indicated on them. - I left the branch with only an unsigned standard contract in hand. After I got home I realized I didn?t even know the box number, and had to wait until the next day to call and get it since it was late in the day when I realized that I did not have the number. Hassle. - About 3 weeks after I opened the box, the branch manager called and said that he had not had me sign a certain card, so I have to go back to the branch to do that. More hassle. - When downloading data from the bank while in Quicken, incomplete info was downloaded for an ATM purchase. The download only worked properly when done from within the Citizens Bank site. There are however a few positives working with this bank: - The Premier Banker got me a CD rate that is as good as online bank rates, which is generally not possible with a bricks-and-mortar bank. - Access to the safe deposit box is very quick and easy. - The employees at this bank are all very nice. They are just not properly trained, they are provided with inadequate computer systems and equipment maintenance, and they are working under a management which apparently has very little concern for security and so has not implemented proper procedures for safeguarding the privacy of their customers? banking data. I had planned to use Citizens Bank for my checking, Money Market, ATM card, CD and safe deposit box but after the above experiences I have decided to use them only for the CD and the safe deposit box. I don?t trust them with any other banking. I am going back to Charles Schwab Bank. (I only left them because I needed a safe deposit box which they don't provide, and was required to have a checking account at Citizens in order to have a box.) I have used Schwab Bank in the past without any of the problems I have had at Citizens, not one. If Schwab had safe deposit boxes and if I hadn?t already invested in the Citizens CD, I wouldn?t use Citizens at all. One other note: The Premier Banker did connect me to a Financial Consultant at affiliated company Citizens Investment Services, who seems better trained and takes extreme precautions for security. I have been happy so far with the service at Citizens Investment Services.