Peoples Bank (WA) is headquartered in Bellingham and is the 7th largest bank in the state of Washington. It is also the 426th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1921 and as of December of 2020, it had grown to 445 employees at 24 locations. Peoples Bank (WA) has an A health rating.
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Best Bank Ever!
I have been a loyal People's Bank customer since 2000. They have helped me with a construction loan, refinance, and my daily banking needs. Every employee is professional, efficient, helpful, and friendly. Recently, I began using the online banking and bill pay system. It is well organized and easy to use, saving time in my hectic schedule. I have convinced friends and family to make the switch and they love People's Bank too! Honestly, I would not bank anywhere else. My experience has been positive at all the branches, but the staff at Mount Vernon is truly exceptional!
Excellent Service
I have been with People's Bank for over 7 years, and have multiple accounts and mortgages with this establishments. I have been very satisfied with the service I have received. The very occasional mistake was rectified promptly. People's Bank has remained stable through the banking crisis by conservative lending and cautious banking practices. I would recommend People's Bank to friend, family and colleagues.
Local Yes, Competent NO - Bad Experience And Leaving Them
Not such a good bank and now we are looking to switch. Based on this post, we opened a checking account and applied for a mortgage. Have been with Peoples since Fall 2013. First problem, the Grover branch in Lynden pre-qualified us for a mortgage at a certain ARM rate only to have the underwriting department later declined it days before our closing (Canadian do not qualify for that rate and we were offered an Alien rate with a huge premium). The "senior" mortgage rep knew we were non-residents as it was clearly stated on the application, our passports, home address etc so what when wrong there? I emailed the Executive Vice President to complain about this two weeks ago and he was supposed to look into it - have not heard back yet. Incompetence maybe? 2) Twice, used online payment to pay our US Visa (another US bank). Both times, first time, it took more than 2 weeks for payment to arrive. They could not explain why online payment took so long. Second time, we initiate online payment request on Dec 18...by Jan 9, still no payment arrived so we pressed for answers only to learn from the call centre (not the branch) that they actually use a third party to manually issue a cheque to the payee because their system is not connected to my Visa issuer bank...had to stop pay it...caused a whole bunch of grief and interest charges by Visa and the Branch Manager actually suggested I go to Visa to ask for interest forgiveness. Hey, why allow your customers to think they are getting online payment when you are snail mailing the cheque - just don't allow it for the banks you cannot do electronic hand shake with! Local bank yes, capable, NO. BTW, they do not have VISA credit card - only debit card. Now we need to start all over. Washington Federal maybe...Peoples get the mortgage money from them anyways. The branches close to the Canadian border think and may advertise that they cater to Canadians but our experience suggests otherwise.
GREEDY JERKS!!!
They claimed they sent me four letters which were all returned to them, and then charged me $5 for each. I believe they sent them to the wrong address. When I complained they returned half the money and terminated my account. They were extremely rude to me! They obviously don't like people. so i would suggest they change their name to "GREEDY JERKS"
Same Experience As Doglover
I'm leaving Peoples too after having the exact same experience as doglover with a check from E-Trade. Guess they had never heard of them either. To make matters worse the teller accepted the check and then called me at home 2 hours later to explain they were doing me a favor by releasing $5,000 in 2 days but the other $15,000 would have a 10 day hold ! I have other checking accounts at other banks, where if gven the option at the time of deposit I would have taken the check to one of them. I asked someone at another branch about the check hold policy and was told it was discretionary so discretionary I guess they decide what to do after they take your check and you've left the building.
I closed my business account with them when I tried to add a savings account to my existing business account and the same busy body teller said she couldn't find my business registration with the State so they would have to close all my accounts. The Bank manager was smart enough to find it when I called but the damage was done so I went to US Bank.
Not So Nice After All...
I switched from Chase to People's bank of Washington, based on the idea that they were a friendlier, local bank. Things were fine until I went to deposit a check from Fidelity Investments (heard of them?). I had taken money because I had a need and wanted to have the check post the same day After I received the overnighted check, I found out that People's bank was skeptical of the validity and refused to call Fidelity to verify funds saying that it would do them no good to call. They were going to put a 2 day hold on 1/2 the check and then a 7 business day hold on the remainder. I asked what the logic was in that - meaning if they knew in 2 days that the check was "good" why would they hold the remainder. The banker stammered but had no answer. Clearly they are using my money for their profit. Really a deal breaker for me.
I have a car loan and savings account at BECU so I drove there and they released funds immediately - wasn't even an issue.
I say stick with the non-profit credit unions and run from for profit banks....ugh.
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 6158 |
| Year Established | 1921 |
| Employees | 445 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.76% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 7.34% |
| Annual Interest Income | $75.4MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $2.44B$1.98B |
| Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $1.75B$1.53B |
| Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $2.20B$1.75B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $231.3MM$223.6MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $35.7MM$19.2MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $6.0MM$1.6MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $0$0 |
