Zions Bank was founded by Mormon pioneers in Utah in 1873. In 1957, Zion’s Savings Bank and Trust Company (as it was known) merged with Utah Savings and Trust Company and First National Bank of Salt Lake City. It became Zions First National Bank – which is the bank’s official name today. However, it wasn’t until 1960 that the LDS Church sold its majority ownership to Keystone Insurance and Investment Company. In 1961, Zions First Nation Investment Company was incorporated in Nevada, and acquired ownership of the stock owned by Keystone. In 1965, the investment company changed its name to Zions Bancorporation, and in 1966, the company went public.
Today, Zions First National Bank is still a subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation. Zions is a full service bank, offering commercial services, consumer banking products, and business banking to its customers. Specialty services include ag finance, correspondent banking and private services. Nationwide, it is possible to access Zions Bank services via the Internet. There are offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.
Zions Bank offers competitive interest rates on deposit accounts, including savings, money market and CD accounts. The bank also offers interest checking accounts. The bank did accept TARP funds after the 2008 financial crisis, but has since repaid them.
Solid Bank
Never had a problem with them in 10+ years. Plenty of locations in my area, super simple to transfer money with the app, couldn't ask for anything more, except a higher interest rate savings account.
Charged An Inactivity Fee After 17 Years
I opened a ZionsBank account in 2007. At the time the interest rates were "woo-hoo". As interest rates came back to earth, I eventually reduced my balance to $1.00. The bank dutifully sent me e-statements (~200 of them) over the years and an occasional inactivity form. At some point I stopped bothering to check the e-statements since they always showed my $1.00 was in "good-hands". Well yesterday, the bank sent me a "nasty letter" threatening to "throw me under the bus" with ChexSystems if I didn't pay the "huge sum" of $4.00. Apparently, the bank decided to start charging my $1.00 rent. I did call the bank's general customer service and the "collections" department to rescue my $1.00 to no avail. So now I'm sending four of its sibbilings ($4.00) off to ZionsBank Corp. To be sure I'm enclosing this less than glowing review with them.
Update: I few days later the bank sent another letter indicating that they charged "some accounts" inactivity fees "in error" a few months ago. They indicated that they are crediting the account (now closed) $5.09 (presumably $1.00 in the account and the $4.00 I sent them), plus 9¢ for my inconvenience. A check arrived for $5.09 a few days later. I couldn't make this up if I tried.
Zions Bank Is Terrible
We have been with zions bank for over 10 years and have experienced a slow decay of this bank and it's policies. The last complaint is they shut off our debit card because of security alarm but did not let us know about it. They said they sent an email (No) and they sent a letter (No) .. Because of this so called security problem, they deactivated the card which caused late charges from St George Utilities Dept. They refused to pay the charges even though it was their fault. They are a 3rd world bank in my sight. I will look for a better bank that has more stars than 2. What a terrible shame for banking in America. What happened to Integrity in Banking?
Zions Bank Sucks
I am so sick of Zions bank. Every time I have to get something done here they fail. I’ve done wire transfers and they either lose it or forget to do it. They have a glitch on their website and I end up having to pay a fine. This bank sucks.
Frustrated User And Outsider
I have two bad experiences with Zions bank.
The first was when I was a poor college student. I had a checking account with them and I had several small overdrawn amounts which I knew about. It was early on in the semester. I was quick to get my account back in the positive and thought nothing of it, additionally paying the late fees. At the end of the semester I get hit with a bill saying that I had to pay the overdrawn amount separately and that I had to manually do that by coming into their office. They also put an interest fee on there. I was furious and let the manager know that their tag line, "we know who keeps us in business" was BS.
Second experience. I'm a business owner here in Utah and bank with Chase who is great. I do contract work for a company that banks with Zions and I receive a check monthly from this account. Every month, Zions puts the check on hold and makes me manually call them to clear the check. It takes up to 2-5 hours every month. Worst bank ever. Their processes are cumbersome and not efficient for the day and age we live in and nickel and dime you.
Bank Elsewhere
Zions bank is clearly managed by gray-haired old men who are technologically impaired. These are people who are so out of touch that they still believe “that internet-thingy is just a fad”. They wear Elsha Cologne, drive Cadillacs, make phone calls from landlines, and unanimously still believe that cow’s milk is good for you. They clearly don’t know how to service a home equity credit line. They repeatedly processed my payments incorrectly, resulting in late fees being assessed and calls from collections representatives. They have a broken system and an outdated style of banking. If you choose to have a home equity credit line with Zions, don’t plan on using that expensive smartphone you own for making bank transactions. With Zions bank you can’t make payments or transfers through an app or online, unless you have a Zions bank checking account. Nope! Instead, you’ll get to relive banking in the 1970s, where you visit the local branch and write a paper check every month to make your payment. But no worries because a teller will send you a dum-dum sucker through their high-tech air tube delivery system with each transaction. And you’ll get a receipt that was printed using a black and white dot-matrix printer. We’re talking old-school here. Alternatively, Zions bank will have the pony express deliver a payment coupon booklet to your house so you can produce a handwritten check each month that your local postmaster will deliver directly to Zions’ corporate office in his little white Jeep. You can rest assured that your payment envelope will be hand delivered by a white man in a white shirt. He will place that envelope in a metal tray which has been labeled “in-box” and is resting on the corner of a mahogany desk in a dark office within a tall red-brick building in downtown Salt Lake City. Then another white man in a white shirt and a white tie will use his letter opener, to open that envelope. He will then proceed to enter the payment into a ledger book that he keeps in his top desk drawer and is filled with debits and credits that only a banker who graduated from BYU in 1968 could understand. Honestly, this bank is horrible. Their website stinks and their app completely lacks functionality and looks like it was designed by a junior high student for a class project in computer science. Bank elsewhere, you’ll be glad you did.
ZIONS BANK IS NOT GOOD
Their services are not good, the communication, the fees, and knowledge are all around the worse. The fees are not stopped when you tell several teller, corporate and branch managers. I have had nothing but frustration.
Data as of Q1 2025
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 2270 |
| Year Established | 1873 |
| Employees | 9392 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.77% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 10.92% |
| Annual Interest Income | $1.03B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $87.99B$87.06B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $59.36B$57.42B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $76.01B$74.71B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $6.33B$5.83B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $697.4MM$699.3MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $307MM$239.4MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $2MM$6MM |
