BankFirst (MS) is headquartered in COLUMBUS and is the 8th largest bank in the state of Mississippi. It is also the 439th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1888 and as of December of 2023, it had grown to 466 employees at 48 locations. BankFirst (MS) has an A+ health rating.
Great People, Great Bank
I have been a customer of Bankfirst for several years. I finally abandoned my old bank completely, closing a business account of 30 years, giving the entirety of my business to Bankfirst. I am regretful at losing a long relationship but they just could not, or would not, get with the program for online banking. Bankfirst has done so, and with great rates in their Reward Checking product. Steve A.
Long Application Process But Very Good Service
I opened a Kasasa checking acct here just after they dropped their rate from 2.5 to 2.0%. (Lucky me) My former bank, Peoples United in Massachusetts, had dropped their rate from 3.01 to less than 1% with notice whatsoever. Since I check this blog every month, I found BankFirst had the highest rate for non-locals-only banks at the time.
It took about 3 weeks to establish the account, needing to mail the application they sent to me after completing it online and then also needing to send them copies of my SSN & drivers license. But they're very friendly and helpful on the phone and in their written correspondence (they're in Mississippi if that matters).
They have one of the best home pages I have seen with very easy links to all your other banks showing balances in all your accounts (if desired and set up.) Transfers are easy too but there is a $2000 ACH limit per 3 days (they say $2000 per day but another transfer is not possible until the "daily" transfer is fully completed.) Should you need more than that faster, Walmart or Costco checks are the way to go. Their system also allows you to pull money out of another linked bank by ACH without fee, bypassing the high fees some banks charge to send money out of your account.
ACH transfers in from any other linked bank account in any amount satisfies the direct deposit requirement and there is no minimum transaction amount for the 10 required for the higher interest rate.
I'm not happy about the recent drop to 1.5% but at least they sent a notice (2 weeks after the fact) but at the moment it's the highest rate for up to $50,000.
Bankfirst's Reward Checking Account
Mine was reduced to $25,000 a month ago. They said they sent a message but I did not receive it. This month it paid on $25,000. The other day their webpage still said $50,000. Haven't had time to check it lately.
Data as of Q4 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 8870 |
| Year Established | 1888 |
| Employees | 466 |
| Primary Regulator | FED |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.17% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 9.69% |
| Annual Interest Income | $117.1MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $2.72B$2.4B |
| Loans | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $1.79B$1.5B |
| Deposits | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $2.36B$2.1B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $341.2MM$283.5MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $24.1MM$14.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $10.1MM$11.4MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2023vs Q4 2022 | $0$875K |
