1st Mariner Bank

1St Mariner Bank: Warning!!!
- glxpass - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - 9:16 AM

Almost verbatim from my post on www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance :

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

If you're as unhappy as I am with 1st Mariner Bank's policies, besides the Better Business Bureau and the appropriate regulatory agencies, please send your complaints to:

Pat Wellbrock, Director of Consumer Affairs, pwellbrock@1stmarinerbank.com. Her department is responsible for receiving and processing all consumer complaints.

You can also file an online complaint with the FDIC here. The institution information is:

First Mariner Bank
1501 South Clinton Street
Baltimore,MD 21224
(443) 573-4800

From FWF poster depreshun on 10/13:

What a crappy sign up. My account was confirmed and $2500 pre-authorized on my Schwab card. Received a welcome e-mail. I attempted to set up online access since the account number was included in the confirmation. It kept rejecting. After a painful chat session with a CSR, they now tell me the account was denied due to "too many recent accounts at other financial institutions". I explained my concerns for their apparent process. Awaiting a call back from a manager. I will post the outcome as a data point, once I know.

[update] Well, no luck. Katie at 1st mariner still would not open the account. She said it gets denied if there have been more than 4 bank inquiries in the last 2 years. [edit from glxpass: per Mary Scheufele of 1st Mariner, it's actually 3 ChexSystems inquiries in the last 2 years; 1st Mariner would be the 4th inquiry.]  I, of course, respectfully asked her to have their process reviewed. The chexsystems pull is done before funding and approval. Other banks send off an "under review" notice then either open your account or deny it. Her reasoning for an initial approval and respective "account opening" was "we have paperwork that new customers must fill out and return within 30-days of account opening. We want to be sure customers have time to complete it before the 30-days is up". My response to that was "why would I want to waste my time filling out paperwork and mailing it only to discover that my "approved" account ended up being "denied"?". She told me she would pass along my concerns to her management.

In summary, if you're a person who takes advantage of bonuses for opening checking accounts or chases rates by opening RCAs, 1st Mariner will gladly accept your application, allowing funding your account (even with a credit card), and then will reject your application for excessive ChexSystems inquiries and return the funds to your credit card 3 - 5 days later, reversing any CashBack or rewards you might have gained.

The net result: no $150 bonus from 1st Mariner, your funds tied up with 1st Mariner before they are credited back to you, and one more ChexSystems inquiry that might affect your ability to open checking accounts at other banks or CUs who are sensitive to recent ChexSystems inquiries, yet who at least have the integrity to reject your application during the application process.

Although 1st Mariner might have done nothing illegal, complaints to the above-mentioned agencies are very appropriate, especially WRT to their holding on to people's funds 3 - 5 days and giving the initial impression that opening one's account was successful.

This Bank Is A SCAM
- ttlunt - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 11:38 AM

Both my husband and I applied for the checking account this bank offered under a STATED nationwide deal.  They submited inquiries against our ChexSystems reports that resulted in 3-5x the normal hits against our reports which did a lot of damage.  Then they denied our accounts because we had too many inquiries, we needed to have 2 or fewer inquiries in TWO YEARS to qualify (so they said after the fact).  We ordered our own copies of our ChexSystems reports and noted all the hits from 1st Mariner, but we also found that my husband actually MET their ridiculous terms and still was denied.  This bank is nothing but a scam.

Ok If You Are Accepted
- Quovatis - Monday, December 27, 2010 - 10:16 AM

I got accepted for the account and everything worked as advertised.  It did take about 2 months to receive checks and they only gave me a debit card after I asked.  I did get the $150 bonus with just trial deposits from another bank.  DD was not required.

Having said all that, I'm just not comfortable with the bank and will be pulling my money asap.  From others' stories, I would avoid.

Don't Refinance Your Mortgage With This Bank!!
- foursaddles - Monday, January 7, 2013 - 10:56 PM

I refinanced my VA mortgage with First Marinor over six months ago. I have made every payment on time and every month I ask them to please report my loan to the credit reporting companies. I have dealt with several " managers" they all say and send me emails saying they will fix it. They still haven't reported my loan. If I was late they would report my loan negative. It lowers my credit score to not have my mortgage report but they don't care. All this bank wants is my money and to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest on me. Never never get a loan from this bank you will get terrible customer service and never get the credit for making your payments on time. There are hundreds of banks and mortgage companies out there. Please do yourself a favor. Go to another lender or you will be very very sorry.

Scared!!! Just Completed Applicaton
- Rene84 - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 7:40 PM

So, I just signed up for a new acct depositing my $50 BEFORE reading all of the reviews.  I too am in Chex Systems from mistakes in my past but was trying to stert fresh with a new account.  Is there anyway to reverse the deposit since it was JUST done? Or, what action should I take to ensure my deposit won't be held in the case of my application denial? 

 

Thanks!