STAR Financial Bank Reviews 7

Last October l swung into the beautiful Star Bank downtown For Wayne, with specific requests. Karma helped me get every duck in a row. She has since reached out to see how things are going! We’re Star Bank fans. And several others have helped me, including Anees Nadrous, the ladies at the front as well as folks behind the scenes. Can’t say enough good stuff. Jen C.

So I tried to withdraw some money my revolut account even said it would be the following day. They reversed it I tried again and behold it has been in review for many days.
I request help. No reply
I reach out to all the departments. No reply. I have tried to email text you name it no reply. So there sits thousands of dollars and I can't have it. I don't think anyone is in
We really need a minus star cuz I'd use it

I've had my mortgage through Star Financial Bank for years. I'm not sure what happened to them because if I had known they would deteriorate so fast, I would have chosen another place for my mortgage.
My homeowner insurance is paid through escrow to Progressive since I changed from State Farm in 2021. I received a threatening letter from Star on 08-21-2023 stating my homeowner insurance expired on 08-14-2023. I checked online with Progressive, and it was paid until 08-24-2023. So that was a lie. I called Star, and they informed me they didn't have a certificate of hazard insurance. I told them nothing had changed in the last two years, so everything was the same. They told me the hazard insurance was something different. ??? The letter also stated in 45 days, if they had not received proof of hazard insurance, they would purchase insurance for me at a significantly higher rate than I was paying now. I called Progressive, and they informed me Star had paid the premium through 2024, and they already had the current certificate of insurance, and "hazard insurance" was just a new made-up term for the proof of insurance. After I told Progressive of the bizarre conversation with Star, it didn't make sense that they would pay the premium that I already paid in my mortgage payments to Star. If the policy was expired, why would they pay it? The agent said she would fax and email the proof of insurance. She did. Four days in a row, which cracked me up.
Today, 09-05-2023, I called Star to ensure they were appeased, and the whole thing got even more bizarre. They received the certificate of insurance, all four of them. Still, the policy referred to them as "Star Financial Bank." It states on my statements and their website when it should have been "Star Financial Its Successors and/or Assigns, ATIMA. My jaw dropped, and the screaming began. I was the one screaming. I told the representative at Star that this was between them and Progressive. Why did I have to be the middlewoman? They informed me they weren't allowed to call Progressive. It continued to get weirder and more insane. After I hung up, calmed down, and thought about it, I called them again before I called Progressive. I must have made an impression because they had called Progressive, and it was considered "fixed," so I didn't need to worry. The final agent I talked to told me they were a 3rd party contracted to Star, which would explain a lot. I told him I was going to report them to the BBB. I checked the BBB, and Star is so bad the BBB does not even accredit them. They don't participate because I assume that would be too much scrutiny. So, I'm reporting them to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The letter was threatening and contained misinformation (a lie), and their story for the letter changed from last week to this week.
*** Update. This whole thing was still bugging me, so I called Star yesterday afternoon. I told the agent the story and how I thought I was talking to Star until the final phone call when the person informed me they were a 3rd party contracted by Star, even though the letterhead was Star Financial Banks, logo, and everything. It didn't mention any other company. The email address and website didn't mention Star. It was "insuranceservicecenter". She suggested I take the letter and other paperwork to a branch 20 miles from my home so they could make sure it wasn't a scam. I did and requested to speak to the branch manager. She said if the policy lapses, they do force purchase insurance for you. I reminded her the policy hadn't lapsed. She tried to blame it on Progressive and them not sending the proof of insurance. I told her it was sent, including the four times last week. She also said they have a third-party contractor, but she was a bit taken aback that they were using Star's letterhead and didn't inform me from the beginning that I wasn't speaking to Star. I requested the company's name, and it took her a couple of calls to find the name. The company is Van Wagenen. I researched them when I returned home, and this answers a lot of the shadiness questions. Their website describes their company as a "Lender Placed Insurance (Forced Placed Insurance)," which is a lovely deal for them. Play games with people pretending to be Star and trying to convince the insured their insurance has expired and they didn't get proof of insurance from your current insurance company so they can purchase insurance for you through them. Paying your homeowners insurance through your escrow account is between your mortgage bank and the insurance company. I should NOT have to make sure one is doing their job and that there isn't some 3rd party trying to force the unknowing customer to buy insurance through them without knowing. Good thing I'm tenacious.

Debit Card Fraud is rampant. Twice in 2 months my debit card has been breached. Never used the 2nd card. When I called the customer service, 'Greg' said there was no way to stop the charge "because you didnt respond to the text"; no, I called as soon as I got the text. He spoke over me several times, which instantly mad me angry.

Star is a good bank for mortgages, HELOC but anything else be very careful.

The local branch staff is awesome, but their phone line customer service people are terrible.

If you want to kick me out for not muzzling my face, do it. Don’t make me wait in a long line for 15 minutes, then tell me. Passive aggressive staff, often inexperienced and need help.
Required full coverage on a totaled car until the loan was paid too. When you can prove the car no longer exists, maybe you should get let off the hook for an extra $190 a month.
F*** Star.

I made a mistake and transferred money out of my checking account verses savings. It resulted in several overdraft charges. Of course, no phone call when it happened. Evidently, they don’t know me by name like the CEO says in his message. Even though being a customer for years and several thousand dollars in savings, they would only credit two of the seven overdraft charges.

Then they told me about no monthly cost overdraft protection for your checking account with monies from your savings. No cost....you just have to tell them you want to do this. This should be an automated service. It would have saved me $135 in overdraft charges.

For the last 3 years I have interviewed hundreds of bank customers from the Midwest to find out what makes for a good banking experience. Star Bank ranked second worst only behind the embattled Chase Bank. The number one most common reason for the low marks was "trust", and many felt that they had been told things that had cost them money and caused hardship while the bank benefited.
Despite the low marks some commented on the friendliness of the support staff.