Busey

This is the place to go if you are looking to get nickeled and dimed. I don’t think I have been to a bank with a worse fee structure. Everything has a fee. We have quite a few accounts (4 to be exact) and a number of people we initially referred there. The only reason I have given the bank a 2 (vs a 1) is because the staff are friendly. There is no authority to waive fees. Expertise on accounts is average, but it all comes back to the partnership model. These accounts have actually cost us money in terms of value. There are A LOT better banks out there for you to get the most value from a bank. Do your research before you look into opening accounts at Busey! Business account structure and fees are extremely high, with personal accounts a little better.

NOTE: This review pertains to the facilities at The Pines in Urbana and the main bank on University Ave.
I am astonished at all the negative reviews for Busey Bank. I do not «have tons of money» and I am not involved in the «exciting world of investiment banking» but have always been treated well at Busey. All my banking is done there. I have been steered right in all my business — refinancing, IRA, loans, whatever. Was just in for retirement financial advice at the main branch and met with two very helpful, courteous, and personable young people (Daly and Adam) who set my mind at ease and followed up on our meeting. For years I have worked with a delightful woman (Marsha) at The Pines who has been helpful, efficient, pleasant, and friendly. It is always a pleasure to do business with her and she manages to remember my name no matter how long between contacts. In the decades of business with Busey, I have never been treated with anything but professionalism and courtesy. Online banking intimidated me but Busey’s online banking has been easy to use. I would not hesitate to recommend Busey to any newcomer to C-​U or to anyone looking to change their bank home.

Banks like Busey are exactly the ones the Obama administration wants to target for exorbitant fees. They called it the «Opt-​in» program (without even defining what it was for customers!), as if it were a good thing, something new they had thought of for their precious clients. They did not inform anyone that this was required of them by the federal gov’t. for their exorbitant check return fees. With this loophole (and duped customers) they managed to hang on to these scams, but the Obama admin. is on to them-​they are following the ‘law’ but not the intent. Oh-​we should thank them for their community work and being so nice to the few while ripping us off. Even their own employees cannot explain how it is that ‘money’ goes in an account, and yet NSF funds keep popping up! I am going elsewhere asap!!! I would give them –10 stars if I could! Oh! and if your Busey card doesn’t work, know that you won’t get an answer until you ask! Several times their data center in Chicago has been broken into-​which is why Michigan ave. shops refuse it-​if you do get cash out of an ATM because of this-​YOU have to call THEM to get the charges reversed.

What a terrible bank!
1) Customer service is not open after 2pm on Saturdays or all day Sunday (no emergency number). Lost your debit/​credit card on Saturday night? Hard luck, you must wait until 9am on Monday morning to cancel.
2) Online banking has NEVER worked for me. Despite trying to sign up several times, including in person at the branch.
3) There are many places in Chicago where your debit/​credit card might not work. Your card will be denied (as if you didn’t have funds in the account). Apparently it’s due to some internal issue, beyond customer control. There’s no way to know if your card will work until you try.
4) Wire transfers (incoming) are expensive, get ready to be hit with a HUGE surcharge.

Removing all possible stars. I am currently having a mini-​crisis because both my and my husband’s Busey debit cards are getting declined despite that fact that there are plenty of available funds in our account, as confirmed by their online banking system. This is not the first time this has happened. Because of the holiday weekend, it will be 3 days until we can talk to customer service to figure out what the f is going on and get the problem fixed, so we are basically without cash until then. We will be getting a new bank on Tuesday.

Busey Bank is for you if you
Have tons of money
Are ready for the exciting world of INVESTMENT BANKING!!!
Are interested in a mortgage
Otherwise, prepare for the dark world of NSF-​whoring, where your checks are held for days at a time, while meanwhile, they are attempting to bounce every single one of your checks that they possibly can in hopes that you do not have the time to argue with them.
Fortunately for me, I made time to argue! I also made time to find a new bank.
On a positive note, their customer service is very friendly.

We needed someone to actually inform us and not leave us in the legal jargon dark. After comparing rates, closing costs, customer service, points, lenders… we realized how little we knew about mortgages.
Brad Bengston at Busey Bank (the alliteration has been amusing) has been so helpful, informative, attentive, kind and he also took our present circumstance, future earnings and financial goals into mind and presented us with thorough financial breakdowns.
In the end, we learned not to place too much value on your current bank (*cough* National City *cough*) as well.