First Foundation Bank is headquartered in IRVINE and is the 12th largest bank in the state of California. It is also the 129th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 2007 and as of March of 2023, it had grown to 595 employees at 30 locations. First Foundation Bank's money market rates are 10X the national average, and it has a B+ health rating.
Related Posts
5/5 - First Foundation's Online Savings Reaches 4.85% APY
3/15 - First Foundation ONLINE SAVINGS ACCOUNT Up To 4.50% APY
1/30 - First Foundation Raises Rate To 4.20%
12/8 - First Foundation Bank Joins The 4.00% Club
11/9 - New Savings Rate
11/9 - First Foundation Bank Raises Online Savings To 3.60% APY
11/9 - First Foundation Bank Online Savings To 3.60%
10/14 - First Foundation's Online Savings Edges Up To 3.10% APY
9/24 - First Foundation Bank Savings Acct. Increase To 2.75%
9/13 - First Foundation Online Savings Now 2.25% APY
8/3 - Savings Rate Increase To 2.02% APY
6/18 - First Foundation Bank Online Savings Account Has Highest APY
6/17 - A 1.65% Savings Account At First Foundation Bank
6/17 - First Foundation Online Savings Increase To 1.65%
5/5 - First Foundation Bank Online Savings Account Is New Rate Leader
5/4 - First Foundation Raises Online Savings To 1.00%
1/8 - Rate Drop - First Foundation Online Savings - 0.75% To 0.60%
10/20/20 - Rate Drop To 0.75% 10/20/20
8/7/20 - First Foundation Dropping To 1.00% Today
6/19/20 - Rate Drop To 1.20%
6/4/20 - Rate Drop To 1.45%
5/21/20 - Current Rate Leader First Foundation Savings Drops To 1.60% APY
5/10/20 - Updated Minimum Balance Required To Earn Stated APY From $1000 To $.01
3/25/20 - Rate Drop To 1.735% - 3/24/20
3/6/20 - Grandfathered 2.20% APY Accounts Down To 2.00% Effective Today March 6, 2020
2/5/20 - First Foundation Bank Online Savings APY Remains Competitive
11/20/19 - FFB Grandfathers In Existing Customers To 2.40% Savings Account
11/11/19 - New Money Only
10/14/19 - First Foundation Bank Online Savings Account Earns 2.40% APY
3/3/17 - 1.07% Money Market Special & 1.25% 13Mo CD Special In SoCal
Worth The Trouble
I opened this during Covid, completely online. Yes I did have to submit forms of ID, I had to do a couple extra things to add a beneficiary to the account, etc. Once it is open, I leave it open even if only leaving $100 there. They are very quick to raise rates when Fed moves, and stay competitive. Their online transfers have holds and limits to size, if you originate them on the FFB website. Your initial deposit (which can be very small until you get things set up fully) will take time to have hold released. But once that is done, you can link your account at your other institutions, for example Schwab or any other. Then you are able to push/pull any amount you like in the account, and there are no holds because the money originated from an outside bank and came in as ACH. I rarely use the transfer facility at FFB, I originate everything from other banks. I have moved $100K in and out many times, and I think you can do multiple transfers same day at Schwab if you want to go over $100K. All the complants here are from people who are frustrated with the setup early process and don't have patience to get it all set up before you put any real money in it. Start with $100, realize it may take some effort to get it all organized, THEN start using it. I like it as well as MySavingsDirect which both are very competitive now.
High Rates, And Successful Interactions
Update: Even better! Dec 2022
FF's been raising rates to be in the top 5 regularly. When I get the urge to look at depositaccounts and think about rate chasing, I wait less than a week, and they've raised. Now 4% APY.
Raised ACH limits to a very reasonable 100k a day, 250k a month. They have a fast transfer that's also free for 5k max a day. My gripe is that the standard transfers take 4-5 days to credit. When a family member exceeded the check deposit rate, they raised for the day a couple of times.
I've had more interactions with newaccounts when I needed something and to open for family. Always prompt and helpful and effective. I still prefer them to chat & messaging (that seems not as effective.)
This is fun. I leave my funds, and have to do nothing to keep getting top interest. I haven't seen any fees.
They've added some helpful features. The credit score report has good info. The link to your other accounts is nice and gives totals, but a tad glitchy at updating a couple of my accounts. But it's nice to have one place to open and see what's happening at all my accounts from credit union to 401k (shows the daily transactions.)
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Original review
FF's rate's been consistently higher than other banks. They went down after I opened, but so did everyone else and they were still higher. They've just raised to 1.65% when everyone else is at 1% or .7%. They're A or A+ rated.
The time I needed to add higher amounts (or was it remove?), I got a wire fee waver and it was done promptly.
I tried ACH at first but each limit doesn't open up until the last ACH has fully cleared, so it takes too long. I use my broker (who has high limits) to push pull larger amounts if needed, without problems.
The customer service is mixed. Some interactions go smoothly. Others not so well. The online messaging person isn't very good. Chat wasn't very clear either. Tone's are cheery though.
You need to ask for the new accounts dept.
Recently needed to deposit a large check. New accounts raised my mobile limit for the day.
Mostly my funds sit there and I do nothing, so it's worked well for me!
So Far So Good
Opened account with them beginning of March and was happy that they do not do a hard credit pull. Initial funds went in quickly. Had a couple of issues. 1. on 2nd time adding funds I was advised that I needed to provide a bank statement with my name listed (as apparently the info they had just had my wife name as the sole owner of the account. Not sure why this was not caught when I set up the account and deposited several $k which already posted to the new account). I contacted Customer Service was given info on how to quickly handle and within 2 days it was done on their end. 2. When going to add funds the 2nd time again was told that they needed to make two micro deposits and I needed to verify. Huh??? Didn't I do that when I made the initial deposit??? Anyway went though that process which took another couple of days but since then NO issues at all. Their website is better than any of my other online banks and funds get moved and post quickly. As long as their rates remain near the top I have no plans to leave. Customer Service was quick to answer and at least seemed knowledgeable.
Just Stay Away
The worse bank so far…..
It’s a hassle to open bank account to bring them huge amount of money , specially today, when banks are not in the best position !!!! LOL
Can you imagine if you want to get credit from them ????
Extremely unprofessional . I should trust negative reviews before gave to the bank all sensitive information .
Just pick another bank….
Data as of Q1 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 58647 |
| Year Established | 2007 |
| Employees | 595 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.31% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 3.24% |
| Annual Interest Income | $138.1MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $13.59B$10.45B |
| Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $10.64B$7.87B |
| Deposits | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $10.08B$9.04B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $1.28B$1.17B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $31.1MM$32.8MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $13.6MM$10.8MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $6.2MM$6.2MM |
