American Bank is headquartered in Allentown and is the 62nd largest bank in the state of Pennsylvania. It is also the 1,202nd largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1997 and as of December of 2020, it had grown to 65 employees at 1 location. American Bank has an A+ health rating.
Great Service And Product
I have used pcbanker.com (now ambk.com) since 2001. I have been very happy as they have consistently ranked near the top in interest rate provided. They have not really updated their site since I joined, so it still has a late 90's look and feel. I'm still able to query easily for transactions I need to find and perform online bill pay and do ACH transactions. The ATM reimbursement is great, but I have gone over the $6 limit at times due to the ever increasing rates ATMs seem to be charging.
One thing to be aware of is that their high interest rate fall significantly on deposits past $10k. This causes me to move my money around quite a bit. I wish the high interest limit was set a bit higher.
When you call or email, the customer service is great and fast. They took care of an issue I had in Peru where an ATM did not give me cash, but still charged me.
Very Decent Small Bank
I've been using this bank for a number of years now - initially just casually as a second checking account next to my then main account with everbank. When everbank jacked up their minimum balance requirement for free billpay to $5000, I closed that account and American Bank became my main bank incl. direct deposit.
To me the billpay features a bank offers is a make or break deal issue. Nothing I've seen and experienced so far can beat everbank's billpay (for my purposes that is) with the crucial feature of 'projected balance in future view' being automatically implemented and including any scheduled billpay payments. So that was nice.
American Bank's billpay feature does things a bit differently. The biggest difference is that projected balances are not automatically updated with newly scheduled billpay payments (done on a linked external website). Rather you have to go back to your account register and enter your new billpay manually. The projected balance then gets recalculated. So, it's a bit less convenient than everbank's billpay, but it does the job (which, e.g., can't be said of Ally's newish checking account:-( The upside is no maximum for daily or individual billpays (unlike, e.g., everbank), which comes in handy if you want to pay off a credit card with a large balance transfer just before the promotional APR jumps from 0 to whatever %.
The APR is decent with 1.10%, the free billpay monthly minimum balance of $1000 is acceptable - certainly more so than everbank's $5k!
ATM fees get reimbursed the next day. You can mail checks for deposit in pre-paid envelopes - drop a message and they'll send you another 10 envelopes. I receive many small checks, so recently I resorted to depositing them at my no-interest, no-fee Citizens checking account (inside my grocery store) and then ACH them to American Bank. Unfortunately, their minimum is $10 for each ACH transfer, so I keep mailing them the smaller checks. Keyword ACH: American Bank only allows you to withdraw money from your external accounts - you cannot deposit money from your American Bank account to other accounts. However, I have Ally and now WTDirect as hub accounts, so no real issue there. Setup of new external accounts is again a bit cumbersome: not only do they the usual trial deposit, but you also have to mail in a void check (who still gets checks these days???) or other proof of your ownership of the new account incl. FULL acct. no., ABA routing number and your name - sometimes tough to get from online-only accounts that don't send you paper statements:-( Other than that, the ACH transfers work fast.
Customer service is great - people online or on the phone are always very friendly, responsive and try their utmost to solve any problems you may call about.
All in all, I'm quite happy with this bank and would only take my business to another bank if I saw a better deal and/or better features (see above). I had high hopes for Ally's checking account (no minimum balance for free billpay), but when I learned that they don't have projected future balances that include scheduled billpay payments, I told them no thank you - maybe down the road Ally will implement this valuable feature and I'll have a second look.
Shareholder CD Special For 12 Month CD 1.55% APY.
This is offered annually to stock shareholders of American Bank in Allentown, PA. A coupon accompanies their annual report which needs to be redeemed to qualify. I do not have a bank account with American Bank but I am a shareholder.
Minimum amount is $500.00; maximum deposit is $10,000.00; offer is limited to one per shareholder. This year the offer expires 7/31/12. I believe they have had a cd special for the last couple of years with the APY varying each year. Do not know if there is a minimum number of shares to own; once a shareholder you will have to contact bank for additional details.
Funds transferred from an existing American Bank account are not eligible. Rates are subject to change at any time without notice. A penalty may be imposed for early withdrawal. Offer applies to new American Bank CD accounts only is not valid with any other special promotion.
The Shadow
Do Not Trust This Bank
I noticed money was being taken out of my account every month. There was no explanation.
When I asked about it, they said I had authorized the transactions, but they would not tell me where the money was going. I asked for proof of authorization. They would not give me proof.
I told them I withdrew any permission I may have given. They told me I couldn't.
That is just flat out crazy. A significant amount of money was disappearing every month and these people would not given any explanation.
I had to close the account and open an account at another bank to stop these authorized withdraws.
I think these people are crazy. I would never trust money with these people.
Data as of Q4 2020
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 34422 |
| Year Established | 1997 |
| Employees | 65 |
| Primary Regulator | FED |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.35% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 13.09% |
| Annual Interest Income | $26.7MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $733.3MM$640.4MM |
| Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $588.6MM$518.2MM |
| Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $551.2MM$478.5MM |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $75.5MM$69.0MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $8.0MM$6.8MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $522.00K$407.00K |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $0$0 |