Merchants National Bank of Sacramento The

i work downtown and have a serious need for a bank downtown. i did some research and found Merchants had really good options: free account, no minimum and best of all a drop box i could drop my daily earnings off into before i go home. i went into merchants and thought it seemed a charming old fashioned type of place. i liked the straightforward feel of it, already imagining to myself the satisfying relationship we would develop over the years and the great customer service i would get. when i asked about opening a business account, i was told that i had to own a business to have a business account. i dont own a business, but i am an independent contractor and for reasons of taxes and income verification, a business account would be very useful. i told her that. she disregarded my statement of need entirely and had me fill out my info for a regular checking. the teller (very young woman) had an air of satisfaction when she said that i had been reported to check systems by another bank. i said «does that mean i can’t open an account here?» she gave me a piece of paper with a number to call to «clear it up’ i thanked her and left, promising that i would be back. still thinking that i would be welcome as a customer, i proceeded to do what i had to do to clear it up. during this process i stopped by 2 more times to check in with the girl and tell her where i was in said process. it turned out that i didn’t owe money to any bank, i had just forgotten to close an account. the teller was able to verify this, which should have been enough for her to start an account for me right then. instead she called her boss, who was in london or something, couldn’t reach him and promised to call me back upon talking to him. 5 days later she called and OVER THE PHONE told me i couldn’t have an account with merchants. if their policy is to not take anyone that had ever been reported to check systems– no matter what the reason, she should have told me that the first time i was there, or the second or the fourth time. it felt like she was blowing me off and stringing me along to avoid the unpleasantness of turning me down TO MY FACE. my income comes in the form of cash daily and i have a real need for a banking establishment that will treat me with respect and patience, as well as keep my money for me. i went to merchants in the first place because they are NOT one of the monster banks– BofA or WF our chase. the last thing the woman said to me on the phone was «maybe you should try one of the bigger banks, like bank of America or wells Fargo» i was hugely disappointed with this small town bank that in the end was snobby and high brow. I’m sure their custmer service is great, but someone like myself that walks in with $ 120
and a skateboard is not likely to find out. most irritating of all is the 2 weeks of my time that she wasted. my search continues.

This is the best bank we’ve dealt with in 25 years of using business banks. All of our previous banks got bought up by bigger chain banks, and along with that the service would go down quick! I got really tired of moving all of our accounts each time these other banks sold. I did a lot of research as I wanted a solid, safe, and independent bank.
Merchants’ has been wonderful. Service like it’s 1950 and you can’t get better than that!

one of the country’s most successful banks. We’ve had excellent service since we started our business in 1999. They have gone out of their way to accommodate our needs. Would recommend them highly.

They recognize who I am by voice on the phone. They are one of the top safest banks in the country, the top 15% for 58 consecutive years. You get special treatment here. Bigger is not always better as we have seen in finance recently.

I’ve been banking here for at least 15 years. I have actually received calls from employees of this bank letting me know that I had checks about to bounce so that I could get some money deposited on time to prevent it.
Imagine that! Not the kind of service you’d get from any of the big chains.
Recently they added ATM/​Debit card services and now there is really no reason to go anywhere else.
The customer service, terms, etc. are obviously what is important, but the bank also just happens to be in a really cool old building with beautiful ceilings. A display case in the lobby features some interesting antiques including a few old guns favored by bank security and bank robbers.
It also doesn’t hurt that the candy bowl is well stocked and often includes some dark chocolate.