Client Review on Start Community Bank

Feedback:

While the staff is friendly and able, the consumer services are strictly one star in terms of modern banking. Limited hours (not a single late night -- closes at 4 pm on the dot), no useful web presence (or phone access -- both buggy), NO WAY TO MAKE A DEPOSIT APART FROM A VISIT (remote deposits are only for commercial customers). This might not matter so much if Whalley Avenue address wasn't their ONLY location. Worse, any deposit larger than $500 triggers a 7 day hold before your check clears, regardless of whether the check is personal, a bank check or a money order. Moreover, despite supposedly being a member of the Allpoint network, you cannot deposit a check via Allpoint and there are no plans to incorporate this ability as Allpoint rolls it out. Last time I stopped in, I asked for labels or mailing envelopes so I could at least use snail mail but they didn't have any, nor do they have a link to download a label template so you can print them out yourself. The $500 seven day hold was a shocker for me, given I purposely deposited a TD Bank check so it would clear quickly. (This unusually low limit is something that should be clearly disclosed before you trouble to open an account). Had I mailed a 'naked' check, I'd have assumed it had been lost. Also -- the website and telephone banking system are pretty buggy, even just to check your balance. But above and beyond all this, the biggest negative is the limits on electronic withdrawals, given the limited business hours. $350! And if you've gotten twenty or forty bucks cash back at the supermarket the same day, they deduct it from your limit. All banks have limits but few are this low in 2019 and I don't know of any that refuse to raise the limit by account holder request. So as hard as it is to get money into your account, it's even harder to get it out. (there's no phone app and no plans to create one). You can't even transfer money from your checking account to a Walmart money card -- I asked. Because the employees are so nice, I wish I could rate higher, but two stars is generous, given the limited utility of consumer accounts. (Note that those employees have no discretion when it comes to waiving account limitations, however personable they are). Start Bank might still be a good choice for locals who are trying to establish a banking history if their only other likely checking account option is the (otherwise more useful) Walmart Money Card.Really, though, a seven day hold on a $500 check -- especially a bank check -- is absurd, as is a supposedly old fashioned bank that doesn't have a mechanism to deposit checks via snail mail.