First Citizens Bank (NC) is headquartered in RALEIGH and is the 3rd largest bank in the state of North Carolina. It is also the 16th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1898 and as of March of 2025, it had grown to 17,376 employees at 535 locations. First Citizens Bank (NC) has an A health rating.
Very Unprofessional
First they misspelled my name on the debit card. Then the reissue was never sent out. When visiting the local branch no one could help me in getting a new or temporary card. When inquiring about direct deposit forms, I was told they don’t give them out in branch even though on the website it says they do.
Never Let You Use Your Money
We opened our account in VA 2021 with a somewhat large sum of money and since then have had nothing but issues when trying to use our debit cards for transactions. We completely understand a bank trying to safe guard our funds and not allowing fraudulent transactions to occur, but this is well beyond that. First it was because I was trying to buy a sofa($1500.) I even called them to tell them we were making this purchase and we finally had to switch to our other bank card. Then I tried to use it for a monthly subscription($56/mth) again declined. I called 3xs they said they were not blocking it. We again switched to our other bank card. Tried to purchase a refrigerator($1500), this time when I spoke with CS they were able to make sure it went through. Now, we purchase some cabinets to be delivered from Home Depot. I got a text message asking if this was us. We replied "yes" and we rec'd a response saying no further action was required. Today, I get a message from HD that our order has been canceled. Guess why...you guessed it First Citizens declined the payment. We'll be closing our account and going back to our back in NY.
Going Downhill.....
We've been an FCB customer for almost 30 years and I'm about finished with them over issues with their Bill Pay. I've used Bill Pay for personal and business bill payments for years but this month I can't use it as I keep getting error messages. I've been on the phone for hours with support for several days trying to fix it but no one seems to be able to do so...so they've left me hanging. I'm having to go to individual biller sites to pay bills...ridiculous! One of the CSR's told me they recently purchased another bank and they might be having issues with the merge affecting the Bill Pay site. I say I'm all for business growth but first remember your loyal customers!
Total Harassment
Not only were my accounts set up wrong, received mistreatment from people in the Westwood branch numerous times but now they have opted to close my accounts after I have reported them multiple times for “unsatisfactory management” which is a lie.
It is sad that these banks act in this way and the people overseeing them do nothing at all to resolve these issues.
Stay Away, Really Bad
Really terrible bank with shady operations. They do not share important information with prospective applicants. Stay Away. Wish I had read reviews beforehand.
Not Business Or Customer Friendly
I opened accounts (checking and savings) with First Citizens so that I could transfer my funds from a state-limited Credit Union and have more flexibility in my banking options. Later I became a small business owner and opened a business account with First Citizens. I deposited a small amount of money into the business account and I left it alone while I worked on other aspects of the business. Time passed and I tried to log into my account. Each time I tried to log in their system asked me to reset my password. I only log into my account from one device, from home so I don’t understand why the system has such difficulty validating my device. When I finally accessed my account, I discovered that it had been drained of almost 70% of my funds! Where did the funds go? The bank took the money via fees for a second user. Who is the second user? The bank! The only entity doing “business” in my business account was First Citizens Bank, bleeding it dry with their made-up fees. When I went to close all my accounts and complain to the bank, they (staff at the branch) acknowledged the “error” and refunded $22.50 in fees but not all the fees. If they acknowledged the error why not return ALL the funds?
First Citizens Bank is NOT a business-friendly or customer friendly bank. DO NOT do business with this company.
Not Small Business Friendly
After 4.5 years as a customer, I received a new $15 fee for online banking. The only reason I am a First Citizens customer was for Free Checking. Customer Service said I could go to a branch and have them switch my accounts to a different online banking system with very little difference with no fee. Could they make it more difficult. AVOID THIS BANK. Worst in class technology and branches closed on Saturdays. Convenience is clearly not a consideration for them. They are so bad, I get my SBA loans through other institutions and just use their checking in case I need a local branch. If they want to nickel & dime small businesses, I'll take multiple accounts and tens of thousands of dollars to a new bank. First Citizens is NOT SMALL BUSINESS FRIENDLY.
Data as of Q1 2025
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 11063 |
| Year Established | 1898 |
| Employees | 17376 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.88% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 9.09% |
| Annual Interest Income | $2.9B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $228.6B$217.7B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $139.9B$133.8B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $160.1B$149.9B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $22B$21.72B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $1.68B$1.74B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $1.34B$1.21B |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $97MM$56MM |
