First Niagara Bank is a New York-based bank that provides personal and commercial banking, risk management, investment, and insurance products and services. It is a publicly traded bank (NASDAQ:FNFG) that is also included on the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index.
The bank offers savings, checking, money market, and CD accounts, as well as online financial tools on its personal banking side. Although only its student checking account option does not have a monthly fee, its other checking account options offer different ways to wave fees. The student checking account also comes with a free First Niagara Debit Card through which customers can earn rewards to redeem through various retail partners. The bank’s savings account offers include a basic savings account with average daily balance requirements, a money market account that offers increased rates of interest when higher balances are kept, and eCDs that range in term lengths from 1 to 72 months.
First Niagara Bank online banking provides customers with web-based tools that enable them to manage their accounts, view front and back images of checks, transfer funds, and analyze savings growth. The bank also released a mobile banking app that allows customers to manage their accounts, deposit funds remotely, pay bills, and transfer funds while on the go.
First Niagara Bank was originally established in 1870 as the Lockport Savings Bank and remained as such for 130 years. After being reorganized in the 1990’s, the bank changed its name one last time to First Niagara in 2000. First Niagara Bank is currently headquartered in Buffalo, New York, and its FDIC organizational classification was changed from Savings Bank to Commercial Bank in 2010.
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First Niagara...A Nightmare!!!
After receiving a flyer in the mail, I opened an e-checking account with the promise of a 100.00 bonus. It has been a week since they ACH transfered my initial funding to open the account. The funds were withdrawn from my external account the next day but they were never deposited into the new account. After repeated calls to the bank, no one seems to know where the money went!!! The csr tells me she will check on the problem and call me back. No one returns my call. I have wasted a great deal of my time calling the bank and no one can find my money!! When I call the bank they just pass me on to another csr with no results!! This bank has the worst customer service I have ever seen in my life!!
You'll Get Better Service Burying A Tin Can In The Back-Yard
Hands down the worst bank I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. The down fall was immediate when First Niagra bought my old bank (Harleysville National)... First Niagra "automatically changed accounts to different types" started charging monthy service fees, and minimum balance fees on account that previously had none... the service at the branch level was poor too, tellers and managers just shrug and rol their eyes "that's just how it is" this bank changed my accounts started charging fees and when confronted about it... they kept the fees and threatened to turn me over to collections for the negative balance on one of my accounts (YES they charged enough in "new" fees to run my account into the negative. There Idea of customer service was to keep the money and offer to forget about the negative balance.... I would not ever consider doing business with this bank again... EVER
If I could have given a 1/2 star I would have
I Have Never Been More Unhappy With A Bank In My Entire Life
Months ago I was told that my bank account was to be sold to them. I wrote a letter to my bank and to niagara telling them not to do it. After filling out multiple forms that stated this I was told it was to be transfered. I called up HSBc and begged them not to transfer it and they told me it had already been sold. I call the government department that oversaw the transfer and they said they couldnt reverse it unless Niagara agreed to. I called Naigara up and they refused to.
I explained to them that I lived over 300 miles from the nearest location and they didnt care
I explained to them that i needed to renew my license and couldnt do it without a checking account and they didnt care
I explained to them that I had a child support check due and could literally go to jail if I didnt have a working checking account and they didnt care.
Hours and hours (literally hours I called at 3 pm and was on the phone to 7 pm) I begged, pleeded, threatened, said everything I could think of asking them to not do this until after I wrote out the child support check and renewed my license. They still refused. I had to use relatives to western union my ex-wife up the money, I was fined by my credit cards for not being able to send them a check, was almost evicted, I spent 200 dollars in cab fees because I couldnt access my account to get my license renewed. I had 5000 dollars in my bank account but could only use the money I had on me for a week because of them.
All in all they costed me about 400 dollars. No apology they dont care. I closed the account the moment it was opened and went to chase. Never in my entire life have i treated a customer with such rudeness.
My only plan now is to continually write letters to the Fed overseers and my congressional reps until I am refunded the money they cost me.
Terrible, Just Terrible.....
It's all been said already in the low scoring reviews that have already been written, but I'll add to them since First Niagara is JUST TERRIBLE! I was with my small, local bank (East Penn Bank) for around 13 years and never had a single issue. They were bought out by Harleysville National a few years ago. They instituted very few changes, so my banking experience remained the same, positive.
Then First Niagara took over..... oh man :( Nothing but problems from the start.
- All of my local wonderful longtime employees, gone.
- Transactions were messed up immediately after takeover.
- My checking account type, was changed without authorization.
- They raised all existing fees.
- They added MORE fees for things that never had fees before.
- When I moved, I had to give them my new address 3 times before it was actually in correctly.
- Today I got a letter stating that they're raising their fees AGAIN, & now charging for my account type.
- Their online banking, when compared to other large banks, is definitely not up to par.
- They're a major financial institution, yet no smartphone banking apps.
I could go on & on. First Niagara as a whole is just terrible, a large financial bank with absolutely NONE of the perks of being with a large Bank.
STAY FAR FAR AWAY of First Niagara!
Data for Q4 2013
Institution Health
Texas Ratio
The Texas Ratio is an indicator of how much funds a bank has available compared to the total value of loans considered at risk. As of December 31, 2013 First Niagara Bank (NY) had $310.08 million in non-current loans and owned real-estate with $5.45 billion in equity and loan loss allowances on hand to cover it. This gives First Niagara Bank (NY) a Texas Ratio of 5.69% which is excellent. Any bank with a Texas Ratio near or greater than 100% is considered at risk.
Texas Ratio Trend
The Texas Ratio for First Niagara Bank (NY) decreased slightly from 6.36% as of December 31, 2012 to 5.69% as of December 31, 2013, resulting in a positive change of 10.52%.This indicates that the balance sheet and financial strength for First Niagara Bank (NY) has improved slightly in recent periods.
Deposit Growth
In the past year, First Niagara Bank (NY) has decreased its total deposits by -$1.1 billion, resulting in -3.89% growth for the year. A strong track record of growth is an indicator of consumer confidence and the bank's ability to strengthen its balance sheet. The growth First Niagara Bank (NY) has shown is below average.
Capitalization
Both FDIC and NCUA consider capitalization levels of banks and credit unions to be of high importance. Higher capitalization allows for a greater buffer when cover loans that may fail in the future. First Niagara Bank (NY) has $37.58 billion in assets with $5.45 billion in equity, resulting in a capitalization level of 14.49%, which is excellent.
Institution Statistics
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 16004 |
| Year Established | 1870 |
| Employees | 5807 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Assets and Liabilities | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $37.58 billion |
| Loans | $21.28 billion |
| Deposits | $27.17 billion |
| Equity Capital | $5.24 billion |
| Loan Loss Allowance | $209.27 million |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | $285.29 million |
| Real Estate Owned | $24.79 million |
| Historic Data - December 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $36.87 billion |
| Equity Capital | $5.17 billion |
| Loan Loss Allowance | $162.52 million |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | $285.29 million |
| Real Estate Owned | $10.11 million |
| Profit Margin - Quarterly | |
|---|---|
| Net Interest Margin | 3.53% |
| Return on Assets | 0.92% |
| Return on Equity | 6.58% |
| Interest Income | $1.21 billion |
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First Niagara Bank (NY) Savings Account Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01% | $200 | - | Statement Savings |
First Niagara Bank (NY) Money Market Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25% | $100k | - | PinnaclePlus Money Market w/ Bonus | |
| 0.20% | $100k | - | PinnaclePlus Money Market | |
| 0.20% | $100k | - | Pinnacle Money Market |
First Niagara Bank (NY) Checking Account Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01% | - | - | Pinnacle Checking | |
| 0.01% | - | - | PinnaclePlus Checking |
First Niagara Bank (NY) CD Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.75% | $5k | - | 30 Month eCD | |
| 0.75% | $500 | - | 72 Month CD | |
| 0.40% | $500 | - | 60 Month CD | |
| 0.20% | $500 | - | 48 Month CD | |
| 0.15% | $500 | - | 36 Month CD | |
| 0.10% | $500 | - | 24 Month CD | |
| 0.05% | $500 | - | 1 Month CD | |
| 0.05% | $500 | - | 3 Month CD | |
| 0.05% | $500 | - | 6 Month CD | |
| 0.05% | $500 | - | 12 Month CD |
First Niagara Bank (NY) has 442 locations. Click to view all First Niagara Bank (NY) locations.