CFG Bank is headquartered in LUTHERVILLE and is the 4th largest bank in the state of Maryland. It is also the 295th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1997 and as of March of 2023, it had grown to 245 employees at 2 locations. CFG Bank's money market rates are 12X the national average, and it has a B+ health rating.
very easy to open a CD, probably took less than ten minutes for initial submission, and just a couple more minutes to add beneficiaries. received confirmation email almost immediately, and online login instructions the next day. funds withdrawn from funding back quickly, without verification deposits. can't recall a more straightforward new account process, and rate over 5% apy for 12 month certificate.
I wanted a bank that had a high APY, I could remove a large portion of my deposit quickly if something should come up, was verified FDIC certified for my deposit, and customer service would service my account with actual US citizens (not foreigners who may or may not be extraditable if they committed crimes with my deposit). CFG was the bank that fit those requirements. Unfortunately, I should have put, "Would actually create my account" to my list of requirements. When I applied for an account, the web app gave me an "account number" on the spot. Their application requested a photocopy of my federal ID. Since I did not get a "Real ID" when I renewed my driver's license, I sent them a copy of our passports (you have to have an account connected to at least two people to open one). Three business days later, I got an email saying they still need a copy of our driver's licenses. I sent them the requested data the same day. It has now been 9 days and I still have no account, and nothing more has been said. I'm starting to wonder if they actually give people bank accounts anymore or are some of their employees just taking advantage of the surge in people setting up money market accounts looking to take advantage of the high interest rates right now, and just harvesting a bunch of identities to sell on some .onion site or some other dark web medium, leaving CFG to deal with all the lawsuits later. I'm kinda surprised at this point that they haven't asked for my health insurance card.
Until I hear otherwise, I caution you to look elsewhere if you don't want to end up as a statistic.
***UPDATE***
So, after calling back two more times, they said on March 16th that there has been a surge of people wanting accounts created, so they're just "waiting on the person working on it to finish." I understand they may not want to disclose the details of what they do, but it makes me feel like they have something to hide. They promised that the account would be created the next day. It was as they said, but since the next day was a Friday, I was not able to confirm their test ACH deposits until Friday, so the actual initial funding did not post to the account until today (Tuesday). Since I had no idea what to expect with account creation time frame, and I wanted to make sure the funds would be available, I initially signed up for the minimum $1,000 deposit. Since the deposit I want to make is > the $25K limit, I now have to call customer service to have my limit temporarily increased so I can TRULY make my initial intended deposit, which will hopefully get deposited tomorrow.
So, for those of you following along at home. From the day I signed up to the day I expect my full money to arrive, will have been 17 calendar days (16 if you tell them the full amount you wish to deposit up front) with multiple phone calls along the way.
To be clear, my low rating on Customer Service is not the Customer Service team that you call on the phone, but their clear as mud explanation of what to expect when you sign up for an account. If they explained all this BEFORE you sign up for an account, and how long you can expect everything to take, instead of just leading you along, step by step, (and maybe giving you hints of things you do that can make it take longer or shorter) then this would have been a more pleasant experience for me.
Another tips for those of you who care to know such things, they don't automatically link the account you use for initial funding to your CFG account for future deposits or withdrawals, you have to add it yourself, and either give them your linked account's web username and password (OMG really? You just don't even suggest this kind of stuff. If my username and password got stolen from my linked account, guess who I will immediately blame?!) OR you have to do the same test ACH deposit confirmation they did for initial funding, which they dissuaded you from doing by warning, "it will make it take 1-3 days longer."
Overall. I think I like this bank, but they need to work on their communication skills.
OK, I had the scathing review here, but as a surprise to me, a CFG representative reached out to me even after hours. He also explained that they are working to improve their system, which definitely needs a lot of improving.
So maybe they will be OK after all. It is a "we'll see" at this point, so I will come back and update.
I have had nothing but difficulty opening an account at CFG. First, it asks for A Lot of personal info about how you intend to use the account. The bank should change its name to CIA Bank. Ok, I thought, nothing wrong with added security measures. Secondly, for some reason, CFG is unable to transfer funds into my account at Wells Fargo to verify ownership. Other online banks have had no problem. So, as a result I had to add a second external account to transfer funds. But, the deal breaker is after opening my account, I find they have put limitations on the amount of funds I can transfer into and out of my account. Its $25,000/day, $30,000/mo. into the account. Out of the account and into my external account its $5,000/day, $30,000/mo. Of course, there is no mention of these limitations when opening the account. As a result of these limitations, I am immediately closing my account. I am a real estate investor. When I need my cash, I need my cash within 2 days, not a month or more. I have an account at savebetter.com. I have money at 5 of their member banks and credit unions. None of them have any limitations on the number or dollar amount of transfers into or out of the account.
Overall | |
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FDIC Certificate # | 34294 |
Year Established | 1997 |
Employees | 245 |
Primary Regulator | FDIC |
Profit Margin | |
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Return on Assets - YTD | 3.57% |
Return on Equity - YTD | 39.24% |
Annual Interest Income | $89.9MM |
Assets and Liabilities | ||
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Assets | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $4.46B$2.78B |
Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $3.39B$2.02B |
Deposits | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $3.97B$2.37B |
Equity Capital | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $403.1MM$255.7MM |
Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $53.2MM$38.4MM |
Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $51.5MM$7.4MM |
Real Estate Owned | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $0$1.5MM |
Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not CFG Bank; we are a rate comparison website and cannot provide official rates or promotions.
* The APY shown varies based on the deposit amount. Expand the listing to see APYs for other deposit amounts.
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
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5.20% | $1k | - | CFG High Yield Money Market | |
4.37% | $1k | - | Business Money Manager Plus | |
3.97% | $250k | - | Business ICS Money Market |
CFG Bank Locations | ||
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CFG Bank | 11 W Ridgely Rd | Lutherville, MD 21093 |
Baltimore Branch | 1615 Thames Street | Baltimore, MD 21231 |