First Foundation Bank is headquartered in IRVINE and is the 11th largest bank in the state of California. It is also the 134th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 2007 and as of June of 2023, it had grown to 538 employees at 30 locations. First Foundation Bank's money market rates are 12X the national average, but it has a C health rating.
Update 9-26-23
I have now used them for several days, and it gets better and better and better. They have every single thing I ever wished for in a bank and then some: Savings with fantastic rates, checking with a perfect bill paying app, easy app for depositing checks, various methods of verification so if for some reason you cannot receive texts or calls you can still get in safely but without spending hours. On top of which, when I called customer service on three different occasions I got someone almost immediately and they extremely pleasantly and efficiently answered my questions.
I think I died and went to heaven. WOW!!!
Original review:
I am ditching Capital One 360 for making my life a living hell over the last month when I tried two very simple tweaks to my account.
Searching for banks online, I found I could get a much better return than theirs as well. First Foundation Bank had all the functionalities I wanted, a savings account with a terrific interest rate, a checking account with bill paying, and the ability to operate without a mobile, if so desired.
So I decided that it would be worth the lengthy application and approval process described in some reviews. Imagine my surprise when I opened two accounts plus added a joint holder and my church as a beneficiary (the two things I tried to accomplish with Capital One to the point of going insane) in exactly three minutes! WOW!!!!
What a joy!
I opened a savings account here for the 2.00% instead of the 0.05% offered by my previous bank. I called customer service to have them walk me through opening the account and the person I spoke to was really nice and helpful. I had a particularly positive experience this week and wanted to share. Excited to actually earn something on my savings.
On line set up was not an easy process. First application was rejected because I scanned my driver license instead of taking a photo and uploading to them(they didn't let me know the reason my application was denied until I called). They won't let you scan your ID. So I submitted a second application and took an iPhone photo of my passport and sent to them by email and it was approved. However, there still was a delay in getting account set up so I called customer service. I left a call back number and they called back after about 3 hours later. Then they had a problem identifying my wife's SS number on the application. So I had to send them a photo of her SS card. Then they had a computer problem and had to call back. Finally, the problem was resolved and the account was set up.Their website is very easy to use.
I opened an Online Savings acct with First Foundation Bank (FFB) and had $1000 transferred from my other Bank's checking account as part of account opening process. Afterwards, I was able to link the SAME outside checking account with my FFB savings account to transfer more funds to FFB. Soon thereafter I received an email from FFB stating my new transfer is on hold until I send them copies of two bank statements from the other bank to verify my identity. I called FFB and the Rep stated my account was being handled by their fraud dept. What??? I asked to be transferred to their fraud dept and spoke to the Rep and she stated that if I don't want to provide 2 statements, they can also accept 1 from the other bank. I stated that $1000 had already been transferred earlier from the SAME outside account without any issues as part of the account opening process, but she stated it was their policy. I transferred my money out of FFB back into my other bank's checking and closed my FFB account. They were making me jump through too many hoops and I didn't have the patience for it anymore.
UPDATE: Opened savings acct with Vio bank on 8/9/2023 and transferred funds from outside bank to Vio. No need to submit any proof of outside bank's statements like FFB had asked me to. Vio bank has been much easier to deal with. But I am not endorsing any bank over the other. FFB did not work out for me. It probably is a good bank. Hopefully it works out for you.
Overall | |
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FDIC Certificate # | 58647 |
Year Established | 2007 |
Employees | 538 |
Primary Regulator | FDIC |
Profit Margin | |
---|---|
Return on Assets - YTD | -3.06% |
Return on Equity - YTD | -33.14% |
Annual Interest Income | $284.9MM |
Assets and Liabilities | ||
---|---|---|
Assets | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $12.81B$11.23B |
Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $10.55B$9.39B |
Deposits | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $10.82B$9.60B |
Equity Capital | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.08B$1.20B |
Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $31.5MM$33.2MM |
Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $10.7MM$14.0MM |
Real Estate Owned | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $6.2MM$6.2MM |
Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not First Foundation Bank; we are a rate comparison website and cannot provide official rates or promotions.
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
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5.00% | - | - | Online Savings Account - New Money |
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
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5.25% | - | - | Online Money Market Account - New Money |
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
---|---|---|---|---|
5.40% | $2.5k | - | 12 Month Online CD - New Money | |
5.25% | $2.5k | - | 9 Month Online CD - New Money |