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June 2023 by Rick F.
Very helpful people but the rates have become way to high as the fed has raised the prime.
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July 2022 by Blake G.
Avoid First Bank at all costs. First, they fee each one of our accounts no less than $20 a month. They name the fees all kinds of things but we have over $500 in fees we were assessed because we didn't log into the account - because we couldn't! IT couldn't help us log in and they refuse to refund the money. Here is the major issue we are having - Rick Banda is a home mortgage manager. He misrepresented material facts on our home loan - term, interest rate, promised fixed and it is fully adjustable and didn't disclose any of those facts. We were backed into a corner and we're going to lose an $80,000 deposit. He delayed so much knowing we wouldn't have time to pivot and got us documents to sign just an hour before we would lose our deposit so we were forced to sign. Now First Banks head of home mortgage Joe Cagno refuses to help us or even take our calls. Please do yourself a favor and run don't walk away from this bank.
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December 2020 by Mark A.
First Bank in Costa Mesa provided me with a very straightforward solution to my covid related financial dilemma. I would say First Bank in Costa Mesa is "One of the best business banks in Orange County" you could work with today.... and "First Bank offers more financial options to their clients than ANY other business banks currently operating in Southern California". Likewise, for me, the service at First Bank has always been... exceptional. While some other business banks in Orange County do not remember my name (despite me having more than one account there), the Bankers and loan officers at First Bank not only remembered my name, but a few of their Reps took the time to explain the different services they offer which truly educated me about something that I should have been aware of years ago, which is a business line of credit. How is it possible that I've had a business bank account for the past 20 years and have only learned of business credit identities now, after working with the representatives at First Bank? The Bankers that I work with, Mogjan and Alice are both beyond attentive and exude professionalism, ie. They were always available to answer my business related phone calls or I have received a call back within only 5 or 10 minutes. First Bank of Costa Mesa helped me, a busy licensed professional with hands in a lot of different pots, secure a business line of credit that did not affect my personal credit or even show up as an inquiry on my credit report. Had I known that would be something I was able to do sooner, I would have, but I think that's the important point I want to reiterate is that the bankers at First Bank actually cared enough about me and my small firm (despite the fact that my business makes less than a million dollars a year) to teach me about financial options and avenues that I had previously not known about or utilized. Thats a big deal. I could go on but I think I'll spare everyone the soliloquy, and say to all of the representatives from First Bank in Costa Mesa, in both particular Alice and Mogjan, for being down to earth and helpful during a national crises. Thanks again for helping me.
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September 2020 by M S.
Very disappointed with First Bank regarding a recent pre-approval letter. Recently, we went under contract on our home with buyers who presented us a pre-approval letter from Rick Banda at First Bank Mortgage in Costa Mesa. We, in turn, purchased a new home as we were assured with the quality of the buyers and the fact that they had family money. When it came time to remove the loan contingency, First Bank surprised the buyers with the need for a cosigner. Unfortunately, the buyers couldn't get that, so they had to back out of the contract. What mortgage banker provides a pre-approval letter for a couple that doesn't have the income? And, Rick says nothing in the pre-approval letter about them needing a cosigner? What a dishonest, shady operation at First Bank. Makes you wonder how they run other aspects of their banking business.
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April 2020 by Kelly C.
With everything going on right now you need a good bank that you can rely on, this is not it! If you're a business please look anywhere else. In my opinion First Bank is a straight crook. And it looks like it might cost us our business loan to help keep our staff employed! When we first opened our business account here we were asked if we wanted overdraft protection. We emphatically said no! I would rather have an payment declined than overdraft fees. Unbeknownst to me, after asking to not have overdraft protection on my account and a few years later they decided to enroll me in, wait for it... OVERDRAFT PROTECTION... with out my approval. They said I was notified on the bottom of a paper statement and it was a courtesy. What? My main issue is they knew I've been having issues with accessing their app and website for over a year, constantly meeting with our banker, Marjane in an attempt to fix the problem with zero success. Then when a client bounced a check to us and we were not notified and everything we bought for the business on one day, mostly small expenditures got a fee larger than the amount spent! I understand that I'm liable for the charges and have no problem transferring money to this account, but again I was shocked to discover that we had significantly more fees in overdraft that I didn't know about than the actual amount we charged by using a service we told them we did not want! We have other accounts, if we had done this in any other bank we would have been notified and could easily add money to cover the amount. It would have just been declined. I explained this to Marjane and she is as frustrated as I am! The bank manager is refusing to fix the issue. We contacted the customer service representative from the main branch but keep getting the run around. I've been told they are looking into it and will call me back but never do. I have to keep following up. I'm reaching out to the Attorney General to report this and have a pending complaint filed with the Federal Reserve.
