Banco Popular is a Puerto Rico-based financial institution operating in the United States as Banco Popular North America, which has for branding purposes named itself Popular Community Bank. Both institutions are subsidiaries of Popular, Inc., a holding company. Popular Community Bank offers personal and business banking solutions to meet consumers’ and business owners’ needs.
On its personal banking side, Popular offers standard deposit accounts including checking, savings, money market, and Certificate of Deposit (CD) accounts. Its checking accounts options can be categorized into non-interest bearing and interest bearing accounts. The senior checking account gets all the benefits of the free checking offer, plus interest accumulation. A savings account is available and comes with a monthly service charge unless a minimum account balance is maintained. Money market accounts offer a higher interest rate and come with an ATM card for checking account functionality. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are offer in term lengths ranging from 30 days to 120 months and have a grace period between maturity and renewal. On its business banking side, Popular provides cash management services as well as checking and savings deposit account offerings.
Popular Community Bank online banking allows customers to manage their deposit and loan accounts by transferring funds, tracking spending, making payments, and paying bills. The bank has enabled its website to work in congruence with a web-enable phone and has also released mobile apps that provide account management on popular smartphones.
Popular Community Bank is the consumer-facing name for Banco Popular North America, a New York, New York-headquartered bank established in the United States in 1961. It serves its customers through multiple branches located in regions across the country.
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5/18 - Popular Community Bank (NY/NJ/FL) Ups Special CD Rates
2/15 - 2% 3 Year IRA CD At Popular Community Bank Branches [NY, NJ & FL]
1/11 - New CD Specials With Higher Rates At Popular Community Bank
7/22 - Popular Community Bank Has 6-Month Rate Optimum MMA Guarantee
7/16 - 1.26% APY Money Market Promo - Effective 5/27/16 For 6 Mo Min
7/30/11 - Banco Popular To Have New Name In August
7/6/11 - Banco Popular's Checking Bonus Continues But There's a New Gotcha
12/7/10 - 2.50% Relationship 5-Year CD At Banco Popular
9/20/10 - $125 Checking Account Bonus At Banco Popular In CA, FL, IL, NY & NJ
6/28/10 - Checking Account Bonus of up to $125 at Banco Popular - CA, FL, IL, NY & NJ
1/30/10 - Banco Popular $125 Checking Account Promotion - NY and NJ
10/25/09 - 3.50% 60-Month CD at Banco Popular in CA, NY & FL - Local Only
7/10/09 - $125 Checking Account Bonus at Banco Popular - CA, FL, IL, NY & NJ
7/10/09 - 2.50% 15-Month CD at Banco Popular in NY & FL - Local Only
12/1/08 - 14-Month CD Special at Banco Popular with Yields from 4.00% to 4.35%
9/12/08 - Money Market and CD Specials at Banco Popular
8/29/08 - 4.75% 11-Month / 4.50% 4-Month CD at Banco Popular in New York.
8/16/08 - 4.11% 7-Month / 4.15% 9-Month CD at Banco Popular
6/11/08 - 4.75% 60-Month CD at Banco Popular
3/20/08 - 4.00% Money Market Promo with Yield Guaranteed to June 30th at Banco Popular
11/18/07 - $125 Checking Account Bonus at Banco Popular Continues
10/24/07 - 5.15% Money Market Account Promotion at Banco Popular
8/7/07 - $125 Checking Account Bonus at Banco Popular
10/3/06 - 5.60% 8-Month / 5.65% 16-Month CD at Banco Popular New York
7/19/06 - 5.50% Money Market Account for 3 Months at Banco Popular California
6/29/06 - 5.50% 8-Month / 5.75% 16-Month CD at California Banco Popular
3/16/06 - 5.00% 7-Month / 5.15% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank
The Bank That Gives Back
I started banking with Popular Community Bank in 2012, and it was an amazing decision. When I opened up a checking account with them, to my surprise, I was gifted with a brand new toaster as a welcome gift for opening an account. The tellers went above and beyond making me feel welcomed with them. They offered me coffee and cookies as I was filling out the paper work. They always show great appreciation to their customers and are constantly rewarding their costumers with gifts. In 2014 I opened up a savings account and was gifted a suitcase as a gift. Their fees are really low and their mobile and website is very organized and easy to follow. They also have an app for your account managing. I am extremely happy to bank with Popular Community Bank.
Hidden Fees And Continuing Problems
I was at first very pleased with the ease of setting up an account (Business Account). However, a couple of red flags occurred which would make me hesitant to continue working with Popular Community Bank or recommend them:
1. The online banking system had an error and didn't have the correct phone numbers for our "one-time" verification step. After calling Customer Service 4 times throughout the course of a couple months to fix the number so we could log-in, each time the fix was temporary. We continue to have to call Customer Service each time to log into our account. This problem is still not fixed. I'd be curious to know whether this is an issue that many accounts faced, or if it is only an error with our phone number that for some reason has not been able to be fixed.
2. There is a charge every month ($5 per month) if you do not log into online banking. This was a hidden fee (i.e., not told to us when we registered for the account), and we accumulated fees over the course of the months without knowing. Despite the online banking phone number error that contributed to our inability to log into our online account, these fees were charged.
There are additional problems we faced in-store (e.g., managers dismissive of issues, poor customer service, near-loss of our organization's files), but these two issues have been ongoing issues for us.
Worst Banking Experience
I tried to open a CD with Popular bank because they had good rates. Should have just stuck with a tried and true bank because Popular's requirements are ridiculous.
They emailed me saying that I need to return the 'welcome package' that they mailed to me or my account will be closed - I never received this in the mail. No worries, I get a copy emailed to me and print it. There are no instructions about where to mail this on the actual document, so I email them to get an address. The instructions were super unclear on this doc - long story short I mailed them 2 different copies that were apparently wrong. They ended up closing my account because they didn't have the welcome package on file.
I've opened countless accounts at other banks and have never had this happen.
The website is also confusing to use - there's 'popular bank' vs. 'popular direct' which are two different sites with different logins. Not sure why they can't just fix their websites and combine them like other major financial institutions do.
Could Not Open Savings Account
I couldn't open a savings account with this Bank for some reason. The application process kept failing at the end. When I called they could see my failed application but couldn't suggest anything but to answer the questions faster. Maybe I could chalk this up to them being really careful/secure but I have exceptional credit and _already_ have a CD with them!
Just took my money elsewhere and opened an account with CFG Community Bank (great rates).
Data as of Q2 2022
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 34967 |
| Year Established | 1999 |
| Employees | 688 |
| Primary Regulator | FED |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.04% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 5.89% |
| Annual Interest Income | $199.0MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $10.82B$10.20B |
| Loans | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $8.79B$7.80B |
| Deposits | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $8.48B$7.74B |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $1.85B$1.86B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $101.2MM$123.9MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $31.6MM$36.1MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $1.5MM$1.5MM |
