Primis Bank Reviews 17

Primis Bank advertises a great high yield savings rate. Consider this a warning before you open an account.

Customer service is shockingly bad. Expect extremely long wait times just to reach someone. When you finally do, the reps are completely inept. They cannot answer basic questions and constantly say they need to “check their resources,” which really means putting you on hold while they ask someone else. Then that person doesn’t know either, so it gets “escalated” to another team that never responds. You can easily waste hours on the phone and still get no answers.

Email support is just as bad. Messages sent through their clunky “secure” portal go unanswered, and the digital team never follows up despite repeated assurances. And if they do respond it's a boilerplate response and they ignore your questions.

Basic banking functions are unreliable. Simple ACH transfers have taken close to a week with no explanation.

Opening an account is also painfully slow even when every document is correct, and the website is full of glitches that make the process frustrating.

The high rate likely attracted more customers than they can actually support. The result is a bank with broken systems and useless customer service. The interest rate is not worth the headache.

Primis is a consistent bank, no surprises, great customer service, always there when you need them 24/7/365. This is the most important part of banking with them.

Bad Customer Service

Four times I have been told by reps that they will reset my account in 24-48 hours so I can finish my account registration (some error is preventing me). Four times they assured me that they will personally make sure it happens. Four times I have heard absolutely nothing...and the problem is not fixed. I couldn't trust them with my money at this point. I would recommend staying away.

The interest rate for the Premium Checking is awesome. I love knowing that I can leave more money in my HYCA than is needed for all my auto-pay bills and know I'm earning good interest (not 0.05%) on the extra money. I love the Perks Checking too! 50c earned every swipe! No fees. No hoops. ATM fee reimbursement. Great customer service.

I have been banking with Primis for many years before and after it went digital. My pet pee is that it truly has banker hours. It is digital and should operate likewise. However, it does not have any employees work the graveyard shift updating transactions and accounts. They work during day (banking hours). Digital banking should be more efficient and up to date anytime of the day and anytime of the week. Primis, get with the program!

One of the best banks I’ve worked with. Been a customer for a number of years now. A recent platform change is causing some serious issues currently, but I expect them to be ironed out in time. US based and prompt customer service is a major benefit.

Applied for a business checking account. Was very quickly denied and they refused to tell me why. I was able to get a report on my business and there was nothing that was a red flag. I currently hold bank accounts with two different banks for my business and there were 0 issues getting those accounts.

When I contacted support asking what the deal was, their response was this:
"We do understand the frustration behind your account application being denied. Unfortunately, we do not have further information on this matter. Due to your application being denied, you will not be able to reapply at this time and no corrections will be able to made."

In other words, they denied it, won't say why, say they don't have to, and refuse to let me do anything at all in regards to the situation. Here's what would have been a $400K-$1M revenue business using their bank instead leaving crappy reviews and filing complaints with agencies due to their apparently bias and unfair financial decision-making process.

Got a random text from CEO introducing himself and the Company. We talked for 20 minutes where he asked about the experience and areas for improvement. Learned alot about the Company and the people behind it. Hate that there has been some negative feedback but my experience has been positive and I hope his outreach efforts work.

Primis Bank is NO DOUBT the worst financial institution I’ve ever dealt with. I’ve spent hours on hold to try to reach someone, during one recent attempt after being on hold for 34 minutes they hung up!
I currently have a debit card that is expiring in less than a week, was told it would arrive a week ago, and as I write this I’ve now been on hold with them for over 20 minutes!
Primis bank customer service is non-existent. DO NOT USE THIS BANK…

Opened a checking account with Primis for the high interest. I noted from the start that customer support was difficult to get a hold of and it wasn't easy to integrate with other financial institutions however the high interest rate kept me. After setting it up and transferring funds to it I could no longer login. When I contact support after 30+ minute wait they just vaguely say it was for my security and can't give me any additional information, but I see a lot of other people posting online with the same issue. They never notified me or gave me any estimate how long the account will be locked. I transferred substantial funds from another bank and had payments set to pay today that will probably get interrupted and cause further issues. I regret opening an account with Primis. I am worried that Primis is the newest bank to collapse like Silicon Valley Bank because from what I read SVB customers had similar experiences before it was officially announced. I do take some comfort in that Primis does appear insured however in the event Primis is insolvent that could still tie up funds until it gets sorted out.

So I phoned Primis Bank to ask some questions about joint accounts and beneficiaries. Started as #5 in the que, after 10 mins, I was #1 in the que (thinking this is not bad), then I waited for 1 hour as #1 in the que, Hung up..... Not a very good impression for someone that wants to open a new account.

Primis is not for everyone. The checking account appears to have everything: an exceptionally high interest rate, excellent customer service, a seemingly endless list of features all accessible from your mobile phone. While the high yield is real, some of the other things, that you may have come to expect, may be there in a way that could be somewhat unsettling. After you discover that customer service is stretched thin, you may not be reassured by the fact that it is provided by 'real people' and 'not by bots'. In addition to minimalized customer support, you might also encounter some unrepaired glitches when using the platform. All of this may or may not be beyond your comfort level.
Note: Two years ago, Sona, a Regional Bank, with branches in Virginia and Maryland, rebranded itself as Primis. This new name is designed to highlight the innovative and rewarding nature of their new Nationwide savings and checking accounts. The promise to provide customer service by 'real people'/'not by bots', as well as an arcane description of the new platform, were included in the rebranding.

I have had a Prmis checking account for less than four (4) months. While the interest rate on their checking account in excellent, the bank is consistently fails to deliver services and has made egregious mistakes.

Checks were sent with the wrong checking account number. And most recently my account was debited 21,000.00$ (twenty-one thousand) for a $2000.00 two thousand dollar check.

Customer service waiting times or ridiculously long and, at times, in particular this evening there is no service on their 24 hour line.

As regards the wrong check account numbers on my, checks, I I finally reached a service representative--wating hours on the 'phone. The rep, very nice, politite, but limited in her ability to help, told me her superior would call and leave me a detailed message about overnighting new checks.
The superior did not leave a message. I called back many times, receiving a message of 37 - 40 minute wait times.
This evening, I checked my account a saw the $19,000 bank error. The Primis 24 hour number has no representative on duty tonight.. I left four messages and no one has returned the call. There is no way to communicate with this bank, by 'phone or online. The contact online url does not work.

Primis must be run by gangsters! They have cost me fees because of their illegal actions. They take deposited funds and do not credit accounts, then if you dare attempt to reach out to customer service……no response. A criminal outfit.

Primis has reversed its position in my issue and has done the right thing in correcting and I believe it is because the president of the bank stepped in and reversed an employees bad decision. I must say in the last analysis for me the bank has redeemed itself, and I intend on deleting my above review.

easy onboarding process, quick approval and ACH funding,
it is checking account with free checks (upon request)
no issues at all
they honored 5.03% rate for early depositors
current 4.77% rate is excellent

Update: I was contacted by the CEO and he explained the entire situation they were dealing with. He straightened everything out for me and fixed my locked account.

Initiated an ACH transfer from my old bank and Primis put a hold on that deposit. Called them and after a 45 minute wait i was told “I can only see on my screen what you see in your app”. I cannot help you until the other department gets in. Promised a call back; they didn’t call back so i had to call again and wait another 45 minutes. Once again no help and they said it was a glitch for the holiday weekend. My account is now locked for some unknown reason and nobody is answering the phone. I was lied to multiple times over the phone about the hold on my deposit, it was a glitch, it was fraud and so on. When the deposit was finally released they acted like it was never on hold!!!