Popular (BPPR)
Most Decent Bank In Puerto Rico
Banco Popular is a decent bank for Puerto Rico residents. It offers a wide array for checking and savings account, which I personally use in my day-to-day life. A lot of people complain about its fees, which, I'll agree, have been steadily rising, but in my particular checking account, the E-Account, which I've had for 7 years, I've only ever encountered one service fee, which was a 0.50 fee for using a check. It was a fee that had been recently instituted and from then on I've learned to avoid check on my account. Compared to national banks, it's nothing to write home about. However, for Puerto Rico residents, it's probably the best option since its the largest bank, which means there is more accessibility to ATM machines. Their mobile app soars over the competing banks. It is a very user-friendly platform that is easy to navigate and allows you to do the basic functions of checking transactions, making payments, and scheduling transfers. Moreover, I lived in New Orleans for five years and I never had any problem using this card in the United States, so it's good to have if you live in Puerto Rico and travel a lot.
High rates for really bad service
The process of buying stuff online is not the issue but their security measures seem outdated with current times. Also, they seem to have problems with the authentication with certain sites such as Amazon and Ebay that makes it really difficult sometimes to buy items online. Their fees are more than other banks in our area. While I like some aspects of the bank, I'm just not sure if I'm going to stay with them.
Deposit Summary
They are really good in having the different tools in their website to let you work around your saving accounts. You can also pay almost every bill through their direct deposit system. You can set it up in different way or options that makes it really flexible for those with multiple accounts. They earn ok rates on their savings account. The people at my local branch are nice but I really use the online banking more.
Data as of Q4 2020
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 34968 |
| Year Established | 1999 |
| Employees | 7027 |
| Primary Regulator | FED |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.01% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 11.95% |
| Annual Interest Income | $1.70B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $55.21B$41.63B |
| Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $20.67B$19.53B |
| Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $49.36B$36.48B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $4.32B$4.23B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $740.0MM$432.0MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $709.0MM$651.0MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $97.0MM$143.0MM |