First Niagara Bank
Reviews and Complaints

I use paypal a lot and they pull the funds from my Bank... Long story short there where 10 charges 1 for 500+ 1 for 200+ and 8 for under $50 each...There was 800 in the account...Could have put all in and charged me 1 overdraft fee for the 500 charge...Nope...they put in the 2 Big Charges then hit me for 7 overdraft fees...Got to love the way they manipulate the System...But reading the reviews here I see I am not the only one...I never seen more negative reviews on a business that still has their doors open. Doesnt anyone in corporate read these...Stay away from this Bank!
But if you enjoy paying overdraft fees then you will love this bank...

Since the beginning First Niagara Bank has not sent us the proper notifications of what our options where in lew of foreclosure. They have continued to deny us each time even though they did not submit all the proper information at the proper time. For example, we were not informed about an option for Forebearance until after the 12 month time limit then were denied the Forebearance because it was after the time limit. They have also lied in phone conversations which I have asked that the recordings be pulled and a supervisor contact me but to date have not heard anything.
I would like the foreclosure process cancelled and title turned over to us showing balance is fully paid as reimbursement for illegal actions and pain and suffering (I have anxiety and depression). I would also like an additional $250, 000.00 as complete restitution. I amunable to attach the latest letter sent as it is not a compatable file. If you need I can mail it to you just let me know.
If you need further information, please contact me at [protected] or by email at [protected]@yahoo.com.

This bank ripped me off multiple times due to overdraft issues. First overdraft is the default option when you first open your account - and their overdraft fee is $37! So I called them to have my overdraft authorization revoked. Soon I stopped using my card, and it's been that way a few years.
Surprise - a couple of years later I was charged with $140 for overdraft - which I revoked! When I called, they told me it's at the bank's discretion... Even though the bank didn't give me a single cent - the transaction was canceled - they charged me with $140! Also, there is an additional $35 fee if transaction is attempted more than once in a week. Most online stores keep trying to withdraw if the first attempt is unsuccessful, so with every attempt the charge accumulates. And I never once received a notice that this was going on!
I am VERY UPSET with the way that they handle their overdraft policy. They are very rude on the phone too! If you can, never bank with First Niagara.

I live in a different state and have an account with a different First Niagara branch. Someone at the Elizabeth branch withdrew money from my account for another customer because the "handwriting on the account withdrawal slip made it look like your account number." So, essentially, the geniuses at this branch committed identity theft.

They drained my account without looking at the name associated with it, the signature, or the fact that the person withdrawing the money was doing so from a different state!

When I called customer service, the problem was rectified. But then I asked, "What can I do to prevent this from happening again?" I was informed, "Oh, there's nothing you can do. They just didn't look at the account name." WRONG. I can do something-- switch banks. I told them that I consider this identity theft. They took my money without asking for a name or signature. They stole from my account. The sad thing is that the people at my branch are great, but if First Niagara allows these types of things to happen at the Elizabeth branch, I can no longer do business with them at all.

We had an agreement to repay a 42K loan to First Niagara by June 30. On 30 May, unknown to me at the time, a full 30 days BEFORE the due date, First Niagara recorded a "charge off" on the Credit Report of both me and my wife. I paid off the loan on 6 June, 24 days before the due date, only to subsequently find the "charge off" on my credit report! We received a letter from First Niagara that apologizes for the error and that they will "inform" the credit bureaus. 2 months later I'm still waiting for the fixes, and have been turned down for credit due to my "poor credit report"

This Bank just doesn't care!

After declining overdraft protection First Niagara decided to extend overdraft protection as a 'courtesy' on my business account. They were also generous enough to charge me $70 for that 'courtesy'. No only is it not legal it is the crummiest 'courtesy' I have ever received. My 'courtesy' response was to close my remaining account with them and to give them the 'courtesy' of a negative review in every location I can find. AVOID these fee hungry monsters.

DO NOT use First Niagara Bank- if you have money in that bank- move it somewhere else immediately. We have lived in 3 states now and have never experienced such horrible customer service or ineptitude from a financial institution. They don't have account records for those who had HSBC accounts, you can't close out an account without going in in person, they lost our credit and debit cards, our new address was never transferred so things are being sent all over the US... the list goes on- over 6 hours wasted talking to people and being put on hold over a 3 day period.

When I call for customer support I am expecting a friendly voice at the other end, someone who is more then happy to help me with my banking needs and provide me with excellent service. First Niagara Bank does not know customer service, nor do they know convenience. You would expect after a conversion they would be trying to keep customers who have had their bank switched by informing of new products and giving courtesy refunds of their insane fees. First Niagara does not know customer service, I would NOT recommend this bank to anyone and for current customers I would take your business elsewhere. TD BANK is located Florida to Maine, open early open late and has live Representatives 247/365 who are more than courteous and willing to assist. I am glad I have opened my accounts with them, they are MUCH better than First Niagara. It is a shame because New Alliance Bank was so well run, they sold out. Typical.

For those of you who have a credit or debit card through First Niagara--be careful who give your MasterCard number too. If you give your card number to a merchant who does not deliver their goods or services as promised, and you try to initiate a chargeback, First Niagara will put you through hell. For example, I had a charge from a merchant for $3, 337 for a web design project. It’s a long story, but to make it as simple as possible for all of you to understand…the merchant (who is just a lady out of California) had stated to me in an e-mail that I MUST sign the proposal in order for her company to move forward with our company’s web design project. I did not sign the proposal, but the merchant charged my credit card what should have been 1/3 of the proposed amount which was over $10K. The amount I was charge was $3, 337, but it was not a 1/3 payment, so I have no idea how the merchant came up with that figure. You’re probably wondering how she had my card number in the first place. Well, she had requested all my personal details as well as financial information when I came into contact her. She claimed all of my personal and financial details would be for a “company profile” that she would build, but that there would be no charges until a signed the proposal. It took over a month to discuss the proposal, the merchant and I spent a lot of time discussing the project, but she grew impatient and decided to charge me and start work.

I contacted First Niagara to initiate a chargeback several weeks after trying to reconcile the problem with the merchant. First Niagara came back to me a week later and asked me to supply more information after I had already written a very detailed statement. They wanted to know what the charge represented. I told them “how the hell am I supposed to know what the charge represents”, and then they wanted me to supply a copy of an invoice from the merchant… I said “what invoice, I never was provided an invoice by the merchant”…the entire time from start to finish I kept telling them that this charge was not authorized. Although the merchant had the credit card on file that did not grant the merchant permission to charge me as there was a proposal that needed to be sign. Then for a week, First Niagara sat in the back office trying to figure out how the merchant came up with $3, 337. They called me and said “the proposal states that the merchant will charge you 1/3 of the total amount, but $3, 337 is not 1/3 of the proposed amount” DUH. What do they think I have been trying to tell them? Finally, after enough back and forth, they finally processed the chargeback, issued me a provisional credit of $3, 337 (which I did not touch, as I knew that I would lose the chargeback). I’m very good with chargebacks and I understand how they work from a customer and merchant perspective.

This is going to get to involved but to make a long story short, First Niagara is a card issuer for MasterCard. First Niagara is bounded by the rules and regulations set by MasterCard. First Niagara Chargeback representative should know this. They should also know that MasterCard has a list of “Chargeback Reason Codes” that classifies a reason for dispute for a given transaction. Since I was claiming unauthorized transaction, they needed to select the code for that. Instead, they selected the code for “goods or services not received”, which in that case, that implies the cardholder (me) bought something from the merchant but haven’t received it. That implies I authorized the charge, but I’m disputing because I haven’t received something. When the merchant receives a “chargeback notification” from her merchant processor, she would only be required to provide a written rebuttal addressing all of the cardholder’s concerns…which she did…and therefore, the merchant processor (which is also bounded by the rules of MasterCard) has the power to rule in favor of their merchant and send First Niagara a copy of the rebuttal that the merchant had written. That’s how a chargeback works for a merchant. Whenever the merchant processor feels that the merchant has proved their case by providing supporting documentation, the processor will forward the merchant’s rebuttal to the bank (First Niagara) and First Niagara will forward that information to me. If the merchant processor felt the merchant’s response was not good enough, they would have sent the merchant a letter saying her information was insufficient, and therefore the processor would not send anything to the bank, and the bank will be able to recover the funds from the merchant’s processor. The reason code for “goods or services not received” is a fairly easy for a merchant to win considering we are talking about “services”.

I explained to First Niagara that “the non-receipt goods or services” is irrelevant to my dispute…I told them I’m not disputing the non-receipt of goods or services, as I never asked for them. I just want my money back for a charge I did not authorize.

So, as a MasterCard cardholder, when you lose, you are entitled to appeal the decision. The first dispute you do is referred to as “First Chargeback”. The appeal one, is called a “Second Chargeback”…and then there is a third one called arbitration. That’s where MasterCard gets involved and they decide in either the merchant’s or cardholder’s favor.

So, I started a “Second Chargeback” but First Niagara told me that the merchant has provided enough proof and that the original decision stands and they are not going to process anymore chargeback for the transaction.
First of all, as a cardholder, it is my right to exercise a chargeback, and I am entitled to a second chargeback within 45 days of the decision of the first chargeback. First Niagara is so ###ed. Instead of just submitting the second chargeback, they sit on their ### in the back office saying the decision stands.

All they have to do is submit a second chargeback…the merchant will get another chargeback notification, she will have to provide a rebuttal and then the merchant processor will decide if the merchant’s information is sufficient enough and if so, she wins the second chargeback, if not sufficient, I win.

You can kiss your chargeback rights good bye if you deal with First Niagara.

This bank is a fruity intuition. STUPID or INCOMPETENT isn’t even the word to describe them.

This is just one problem.

Other problems include but are not limited to:

They will bury a $35 non sufficient funds fee in your bank statement where you most likely won’t see in a bunch of transactions. In 7 years, they did this twice; I was able to get them reversed.

I called First Niagara to close one of my debit cards because a merchant had my card number and couldn’t trust them enough to ensure they cancelled my monthly services. The bank told me “we can stop a merchant from doing business with you if they have your card number”. WHAT ! It’s my money; I say who charges me and who doesn’t.

Then they told me even if you close a debit card, a merchant can still charge you……..this is not true……if you close your credit or debit card out, it cannot be used again. STUPID.

I went there to get my debit card pin#s setup. I went to use it a store, they wouldn’t work. They screwed up and told me I need to come back and get the cards repined. I think they need their heads repined.

For the poor people, they charge them NSF fees in the multiples. First Niagara engages into a systematic process that they take out the largest sums of checks first. For example, if you have $1000 in your account, and you write a check for $950 and four checks for $75/each, First Niagara will ALWAYS take out the largest sums first, and then take out the $75 checks so that you incur $35 NSF on each $75 check vs. one $35 NSF fee on just the $950. Bank of America had been sued for this.

First Niagara overall is a terrible bank.

OH, I’M GOING TO WORK HARD THIS YEAR AND POST STUFF IN THE NEWSPAPER AND THE RADIO ABOUT THEM.
AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN GET TO SWITCH FROM FIRST NIAGARA TO ANOTHER BANK WILL MAKE ME HAPPY.
I WANT THEM TO LOSE BUSINESS BIG TIME NOW. I’M PISSED OFF. AND IT TAKES A LOT TO PISS ME OFF!

I've had better customer service at a Dollar Store. They are incapable of completing the most simple tasks in a modern way. They have no mastery of basic web or transaction technology. They use archaic business processes to complete simple tasks such as changing the address on an account.
I see that the company is continuing acquisition and expansion. Their systems are not ready for scale.

I had my banking accounts with a local bank for years without a single problem until several years ago these rip-off artist came in our towns and bought out all the banks. Now we have Niagara Bank, NBT Bank, Bank America, and Citizens! All big banks with big dreams of screwing the public over and becoming the BIGGEST! I had a balance of $116 in my account when I noticed I had sent out all my bills but forgot to deposit my check. Keep in mind, the bank gives every single person that walks through their door a $500 overdraft protection!

The next day I go to the post office and I have several overdraft notices each for $30! My online bank payments came to $530! When I went to school $500 over draft protection plus $116 account balance came to $616! Someone tell me if my addition is incorrect please?

Needless to say, these crooks took all of my account balance as fees and then turned off my message communication line so I could not dispute the issue! I am closing my account with these money thieves and taking my business to the credit union! Not only have I had better experiences with credit unions in general, these 'BIG BANKERS-LIKE THE FOUR I MENTIONED ABOVE (and by the way there are many more) HATE CREDIT UNIONS! My suggestion to folks is STAY CLEAR OF THE MEGA BANKS. THEY'RE WALL ST IN DISGUISE--RIPPING OFF THE POOR!

The credit unions are much more customer friendly and I'll guarantee you they will give you your loan request over the MEGA BANKS any day! MEGA BANKS are for the 'millionaires and billionaires' and they are not interested in you and I other than our money! (just to make their corrupt port folios look better than they really are) Just look at California just several weeks ago with the MEGA BANKS!

I also believe you should not keep all of your eggs in one basket! Self explanatory! And keep in mind these MEGA BANKS are still making the 25% and 30% plus interest rates and giving you 2%-3%! How's that for GREED! My savings is not in banks at that rate! They are not in Wall St either because they're more corrupt than the banks!

Hope this sheds some insight for folks before you end up like the folks in the 30's depression! We are already there just the government is giving us a line of 'BS' as always!