When I figured out how to open bank accounts using a credit card to reach reward spends I thought, it’s like killing two birds with one stone. I’ll be able to write far more informed opinions about different banks too.

I wouldn’t think I’d have that much to say about any bank just three months into banking with them, but I was wrong.

First Niagara has called me easily 100 times to check up on me. Good lord, do you have people sitting around just trying to find work? It’s incredibly annoying.

Additionally, and this is my own fault, I missed some of the incredibly fine print (which, to be fair, is on me, I knew I was living in the world of fine print) that requires an outside deposit every month or you have to pay a $25 fee for your account.

Ok, to be expected – I was juggling a lot of accounts and I missed something. So I went to set up a $5/month transfer from my regular checking account only to find that you actually have to mail in a bunch of paper forms and a voided check from the account your trying to link.

I’m sorry – is this 1995? Are you unable to do what every other large bank does? This shouldn’t take much work at all to get this sorted.

So I mailed it in and crossed my fingers it would make it to them before I lost another $25 because I couldn’t make the deposit in time.

10 days after mailing it in, I received a phone call from them requiring additional verification. I was at work, so they left a message and I called back.

I was told by the customer service rep, “I don’t believe that call was from us. We don’t do anything like that.” After being on hold for 10 minutes, she told me there was a note on my account about that and that I might be calling back to verify, but there wasn’t anything she could do and I would be contacted again the next day by someone at the bank.

I asked if this was just going to be a cycle that never ends where they call while I’m at work and I can’t pick up only to have me call back after work and nothing can be done. She assured me that wasn’t the case and that my identity had essentially been verified by my calling back.

She was going to make a note on my account.

It was the most confusing bank phone call I’ve ever gotten.

Needless to say, my outside bank is still not showing up on my online banking portal.

There’s a $25 fee for closing your account before 6 months, but if the outside account doesn’t show up before I get hit with the monthly fee for not transferring in money anyway, that’s what I’m going to do.

So, to sum it up, First Niagara is a terrible bank. They harass you with useless phone calls and then are completely useless when you need them to do something. Stay away. Bank elsewhere.

The end.