Parkway Bank and Trust Company is headquartered in Harwood Heights and is the 21st largest bank in the state of Illinois. It is also the 400th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1964 and as of December of 2021, it had grown to 298 employees at 32 locations. Parkway Bank and Trust Company has an A+ health rating.
Amazing service
One thing I never liked was service fees and big banks. I never fully trusted them and I always wanted to find a good local bank to work with. Thanks to Parkway bank, I have found something that works great for me and has all of the features I want in a bank. There are no fees associated with this bank and that is music to my ears, because that is all I want. They offer free online banking and free mobile banking too. I am also glad that I do not have to have a minimum balance. It is easy to access my statements and everything too. It's good to be able to work with a bank that is right around the corner from me and offers everything a regular bank does minus the fees and aggravation.
Very Difficult Bank To Do Business With
I've banked with Parkway for over a decade. I finally have had enough and I'm closing my accounts. I had one fee in ten years.. ONE and it took an act of God for them to reverse it because "they don't reverse fees". That was over a year ago.
Their online portal is not user friendly and still has a phone number from 10 years ago attached to my account (that is used for verifying my identity no less) that no one is able to fix for some reason. A lot of the functionality that I get with other banks, I do not have access to with this one.
Last year, I went to use my debit card only to find out they deleted it from my account because I had not used it in over 6 months. These accounts were my "rainy day accounts" so I put money in and rarely pulled it out.. and when I went to finally do so, I couldn't.
So I've started to pull my money out.
Friendly bankers but all in all, not a great bank to do business with.
The Worst Of Both Worlds
Parkway manages to combine the expensive fees and hassles of the big banks with the limited services offered by small banks. Their online banking software is especially bad, I'd recommend avoiding them at all costs.
They Don't Protect You If You Use Their Debit Card
I purchased something online and the seller never delivered. The seller even admitted it in an email and I gave it to Parkway Bank. They found in the sellers favor even though he admitted to never delivering the merchandise. It was a $652.00 purchase. Parkway Bank does not protect their customers and I recommend that you do not use them.
Outrageous Fees
I recently suffered an injury and inadvertently missed covering an auto-draft from one of my accounts (totally my fault and I take responsibility for that). However, Parkway Bank charged an overdraft fee BEFORE the charge was even posted to my account (how is this even possible?). They then proceeded to charge me two more times, even though I immediately covered the auto-draft the minute I discovered it (less than 24 hours after it occurred). They continued charging me for TWO DAYS after I deposited more than enough money into the account. This single overdraft cost me $70! When I called to find out why I was charged both before and two days AFTER I handled the overdraft, I was told, "There's nothing I can do."
From what I've heard, this is standard practice by this bank. They charge multiple times for the same overdraft, even if the customer immediately deposits funds to cover everything. So, basically, expect a minimum of $70 for an overdraft at this bank.
I am pulling all three of my accounts from this bank and going elsewhere where I hopefully I won't get ripped off like this.
Worst Banking Experience EVER!!
I had explained my main bank was out of state (military friendly bank that I have belonged to for years) but I wanted to have an instate bank for issues that sometimes came up. My account was opened and after several weeks I received a call that they did not have all the information they needed and asked where I was employed. I asked why that information was necessary since my account was already open and in good standing. She said it was information that was asked for on the original application but had not been filled out. Although I felt it was unecessary for them to know I explained that I was not working--she asked "you're unemployed" and I said yes. A few weeks after that she called again and said I would have to list where my last employment was. I told her that was none of their business and had nothing to do w/ my banking with them. My account continued to be in good standing w/ limited transactions and I was using the account occasionaly to write checks to local merchants as needed. I was contacted repeadedly to the point of harrassment to list my previous employment. They initially gave the reason as being for my protection--if someone were to come in posing as me they could use it as a security question. I explained they had a copy of my driver's license as well as the origianl questions they asked (mother's maiden name) but later I was told ever since 9/11 they were obligated to gather as much information about customers as possible and they were well within their rights to do so. I again refused because I didn't feel it was any of their business and my previous work history had nothing to do w/ my free non interesting bearing checking account. I offered to close my account and was told since it had been less than 6 mos I would have to pay $50 to do so. A few weeks later after again expressing my concerns and refusing to give them personal information I did not feel they were privy to I rec'd a letter from them stating they would be closing my account in 10 days and sending me a cashiers check. I happened to be out of town when the letter was sent out so when I actually recieved the letter the account was closing the next day. Luckily I had no outstanding checks or any other issues w/the account which could have adversely affected my account or credit . I asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the checks I purchased which were now obviously of no value to me and to be paid the $50 for them choosing to terminate my account before the 6 month mark. Needless to say I rec'd nothing and was told they were w/in their rights to close my account because I refused to provide the required information--despite the fact that I had. Since when does a bank need to know where a person used to work and throwing 9/11 around to suit their needs is inexcusable!!!
DO NOT TRUST PARKWAY BANK
This bank is not to be trusted. They do not back Business Debit Cards for fraudulent use. They claim that Regulation E doesn't cover us because it is only for consumers. We are self employed and our accounts are tied to a social security number. We are consumers. When approached that no other bank and even Mastercard doesn't hide behind whatever fine print they think they are hiding from, they just didn't care.
They lied, cheat, and steal. They claimed they would help me with a card issue but later went back on their word. Affter trying to fight them for six months, I am taking my business and pesonal accounts to a bank that doesn't screw customers.
I have had many customer service issues with this bank. DO NOT PUT YOUR MONEY THERE.
I would give them O stars if I could.
Data as of Q4 2021
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 19008 |
| Year Established | 1964 |
| Employees | 298 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.33% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 12.07% |
| Annual Interest Income | $99.5MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $2.88B$2.87B |
| Loans | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $2.16B$2.20B |
| Deposits | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $2.28B$2.22B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $326.7MM$308.2MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $34.5MM$32.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $12.6MM$19.5MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $4.8MM$8.2MM |
