SmartBank

A good group of people to do business with. They stay on top of every little detail. From the tellers up to the managers, everyone is super nice and respectful.

Problems from the start with the debit card not working. Jumping through hoops to get it activated when they told me it was fine. I reported fraud on my account and received a new debit card. The next check, they restricted my account for possible fraud. We went over every transaction, and there was no fraud. They refused to reinstate my account. I tried to work with them, but I went in after being told over the phone that my check was now in a new account and that I could access it. That wasn't true, they said. Bank manager Alecia, who I had never met, came up rude and aggressive. She said my account was restricted due to using my brother's phone number. They knew I used his phone number; I live with him. She essentially called me a liar. When I said, "Just give me my money and close the account," they did. But yet, two minutes before, I couldn't access it. So many other things just not done correctly, but the manager's unprofessional attitude was what did it for me. The Northport Alabama location is a no-go if you want actual smart banking.

Opened an account and they held the check (initial deposit) for 10 working days when the norm is a maximum of 7. After exactly two more weeks, I received an email that all my money had been moved. I called the bank and, after a lengthy wait, they said, "Don't know why, but your account is closed, maybe due to inactivity." Following another prolonged wait, a manager named Tammy Miller said I would receive a letter and check in the mail. It was done.

The same Tammy Miller explained when I opened the account that they make partial amounts available after a couple of days, in accordance with banking laws, but that never happened.

Their contract states that, by law, they must inform me in writing of the reason for closing my account; also, citing inactivity is a complete falsehood.

After another week, I still haven't received any letter or check with my money. We're talking about local mail, not from a different town. So, my money has been held by them for 33 days as of today, and I only had a few days of online access.

At this point, I have to sue them to recover my money.

For the record, I'm giving them 1 star because it's the lowest option. I would rate this bank as minus 5 stars if it were possible. My mother had a checking account at this bank with over $50,000 in it. She died on July 2, 2025. On July 8, I took a certified copy of her death certificate, which listed me as her daughter, to the bank to inform them of her passing. They looked up her name and account information and told me her account had been closed and had a zero balance. I inquired about who closed it and the date it was closed because my mom had severe dementia, required 24/7 care, and I knew she hadn't called or been there to close it. The teller, looking at my mom's account information, told me it didn't say. I asserted it had to show the date the account was closed; she shook her head no and told me I would have to talk to Becky Hamby about it and that it would be half an hour before I could talk to her as she wasn't there.

I went and called my aunt to see if she knew anything about my mom's account being closed, and she told me she did not and advised me to file a report with the attorney general. When I returned to the bank, I sat on a couch in the lobby waiting for Becky to speak with me. She eventually approached me, rubbing lotion on her arms and looking at me as if I had ruined her entire life. I showed her the death certificate and asked who closed my mom's account. She told me it was none of my business because I wasn't on the account. When I asked about the closure date, she said they wouldn't divulge any information and that I would have to go through probate. This bank expected me to wait months or even a year to find out what happened to the $50,000 in my deceased mother's account.

I went home and went through my mom's mail to find when the last statement was received and discovered a letter from Smart Bank informing her they could no longer service her account, had closed it, and had sent her a cashier's check for $53,000 in the mail, without a call to ensure she received it. It had been four months since they sent it, and the check hadn't been cashed. When I walked into that bank with that death certificate, it gave me a legal right to information about my mom's checking account. I wasn't trying to withdraw any money; I was asking for information that the death certificate entitled me to have access to. It's inexcusable for a bank to be so unprofessional and inconsiderate to someone whose mother had just died. They should have informed me that they closed out her account and considering my mom's mental incompetence, they should have called us instead of mailing such a large sum of money.

This bank also reported us for elder abuse and had us investigated several times without any evidence or legitimate reason, just for trying to cash checks there to buy groceries for my mom AND HER IN THE CAR WITH US!! They had frozen her account so many times that we couldn't get checks to clear at Walmart or anywhere else. They wouldn't even allow checks made out to Citizens Gas to go through. I received a call from Citizens Gas informing me they were going to turn off my mom's gas because checks given to them had been declined. With $50,000 in her checking account, they wouldn't process checks for the local gas company serving everyone in Morgan County. We had to apply for a credit card to pay her gas bill last winter so she would have heat. They kept telling me to get a lawyer and file for Power of Attorney. I wouldn't have needed POA if they hadnt closed my account that we were both on. I couldn't afford to pay a lawyer $5000 to get power of attorney over my mom and I shouldn't have needed to just to cash checks my mom had signed herself that were made out to me to buy her food and household things she needed and it honestly wasn't any of their business what the money was being spent on. They're a bank, not the department of human services. I've never been treated so terribly by a bank or any other business in my 54 years of life. I have reported this bank to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I can't believe anybody would use this bank.

Without any prior communication from Smart Bank, they restricted my account days before Christmas as punishment because I had deposited a check that turned out to be fraudulent. As a result, I cannot deposit a check, write a check, pay for materials, or receive payment. I received no notification of the restriction until they sent me a notice that I was being charged $8.00 for the check, with no mention that my account was restricted. I have experienced nothing but problems with this bank and do not recommend them to anyone. Very upset painter, Daryn Novak.

Stay away from this bank unless you want everyone in your bank account, even after you tell them and they put a message on your account not to let anyone in it they still let them in. Your account is not safe.

Smart bank is not a good thing to deal with they froze my account I let them know that I was going to be in Louisiana I said everything will be fine and they froze my account froze my wife account froze me make an account because I had checks coming in why would you freeze my bank for checks coming in instead of checks coming out when I talk to them about it no one ever called me back I called and called and called and they still haven’t called me back we’re talking about Dorian the supervisor in pigeon Ford us the rearview we’re talking about Susan just wanted to supervisor too impatient for Orso reveal Tennessee and Andrew which supposed to be a supervisor they never call you back they don’t care about their customers smart bank is horrible don’t deal with SmartBank especially those three that I just sent

They closed my checking account, which was my primary, day to day account, without so much as a call, email, no notice whatsoever. I found out when I tried to pay for my sick toddlers medicine at the pharmacy and my debit card declined. I had just checked my online banking that morning and had several hundreds of dollars in my account. They went in and completely wiped out my account and froze my money. I had never bounced a check, never overdrafted my account, never caused any problems or cost them money. Always had hundreds sometimes thousands in my account. It took 2 WEEKS for them to give me MY MONEY. I am appalled at their customer service, their business practice of secretly closing someones livelihood without any notification or heads up whatsoever. Never gave me a reason. Just that they reserve the right to do so. DO NOT BANK HERE.

I would give zero stars if possible due to an Incompetent manager resulting in truly the worst banking experience in my 51yr old life.

Awful. Website is 10 years behind, worst possible customer service. There isn't even a way to pay the credit cards online, in 2020 for a bank. How? Don't bother calling for help--their IT has you leave a message and they call when they feel like it (still waiting after 2 weeks). I'd rather use Wells Fargo!

Really wish I could give zero stars on this bank, opened an account with them and ordered a debit card and some checks for the account, and all they can tell me is its coming, very poor customer services even when I opened up the account. They acted like they was trying to get me up out of there didn't have time for me are my wife in my wife's live in this town for 40 years you would think customer service would be a little better I'm very disappointed in them are online banking app really sucks I think other Banks before and just recently moved up here so I'm used to other banking apps this one just pure sucks if you can avoid it I would tell you never to bank with US Bank