My husband and I secured our first home's mortgage through Cambridge Savings Bank. The process was very hit or miss, some parts went very smoothly and some were so stressful I thought the whole thing would fall apart. In the end it all worked out, thankfully. The staff were helpful but were slow to communicate and did not go above and beyond for us as first time buyers. Kind of disappointing. I figured our mortgage would get sold to a bigger lender/bank so I guess it doesn't matter in the long run but that aspect of this whole process is what made it the craziest/most stressful. read more

As a follow up to my previous review: I was quite happily surprised to have a senior level customer service representative contact me to apologize for my bad experiences with Cambridge Savings Bank. Jennifer was extremely professional, intelligent and very apologetic. I explained that I really want to keep my banking business with a local bank, and not a monster like Bank of America, but I simply can't do that with such bad experiences like a non-working ATM card while overseas, or a mediocre online banking system. Jennifer and Cambridge Savings Bank have since set the standard for customer service: they have offered to reimburse me for any costs that I incurred as a result of the ATM card not working. They also explained the problem with the online bill system. Since our conversation (within the last 2 weeks) they have added a feature to the online bill system that is at least a step forward. She also explained that a solution will be coming soon. Assuming the online bill problems are fixed, I will stay with Cambridge Savings Bank for a long time. Jennifer was absolutely fantastic and THIS is why I use a local bank. Thanks Jennifer and CSB! read more

There is a lot great about this bank. Unfortunately they have prehistoric policies when it comes to fraud detection and that makes CSB unusable for anyone who travels outside of the US. They have decided to offshore their fraud detection to some third party company. This has a number of issues: - The third party company has NO access to any notes or information you may provide your bank. While you may think notifying CSB will mean your transactions will go through, think again. - The third party company has no information to provide you except that "the transaction was denied by your bank". You are dealing with a middleman who is unable to act in this matter. You are then referred back to CSB who is not open 24 hours and will play dumb when asked why they refused the transactions. If offshoring your transaction security is necessary, at least find a company that can play this role properly. It seems they went with the lowest bidder and the customer suffers. Being overseas and having access to no cash and no ability to buy things makes me happy I also travel with my Bank of America card. Who in their right mind has ever been able to say that? The bottom line, until CSB gets more serious about this stuff - it will always be a frumpy local bank. They will have candy in the bowls, and the staff are super nice. But if you want to rely on them for anything other than a checkbook, I'm afraid you will be completely frustrated when it matters most. I hope they read this and get their act together, as I've sent a lot of customers there way - and only after years of not seeing any improvement I am having second thoughts. They are really 5 or 6 steps behind on the technology. read more

Bad bank, although B of A is much worse. CSB charges way too much for overdrafts and does not allow cash deposits in their new cash machines, which are designed to create more overdraft fees (since you cannot deposit cash to cover yourself). read more

I have been going to Cambridge Saving Bank since I was in high school. They have very friendly customer service. When i eventually made my first home purchase, I chose them. not just because of their friendly and helpful service but because of the great rates they had for first time buyers. When I moved to California for 2 years i even avoided the temptation to switch to a big bank because they offered to refund all of my ATM fees and surcharges. Cambridge Savings Bank is a 5 star local bank! read more

I love Cambridge Savings Bank. I used to bank with Citizens and switched over to CSB because they're a local bank. They have great rates on a lot of what they offer. We hoped to get our mortgage through them but ended up going elsewhere. It turns out it impossible to guarantee a fixed rate mortgage won't be sold. I don't just mean by CSB either, I mean everywhere. But I digress. CSB has great customer service to go with their rates. The tellers, branch managers and phone representatives are all polite and helpful. I can actually get to speak to someone on the phone if I need to without waiting 45 minutes and/or pushing an endless series of number prompts. I highly recommend banking with them. read more

I recently had my debit card dupped and used in another state. As soon as I realized what had happened I called the bank and within 1 hour Bianca Cole, a service rep at CSB in Arl. Ctr. had a new card ready for me and had put out the call to trace the money trail. With a couple weeks the money was back in my account. Good customer service is hard to come by these days but I find the entire staff at this local bank extremely friendly, competent and attentive. read more

Probably the best bank I've ever done business with: - you get interest on your checking account balance - no ATM fees worldwide! they refund you every penny! - great customer service, they are small enough that you talk to the same people every time, even over the phone. They get to know you and can really help you out we moved every cent (checking, savings, HELOC, mortgage) over the CSB from BOA a few years ago and it has been great! read more

I stopped into the East Arlington Branch- 1st time- to use ATM and get quarters. Upon returning home I could not find a $20 bill! Retraced steps, then called bank. They'd been waiting for my call. A regular customer had found the bill and turned it in, and they held it for me. A supervisor- Knar- whom I told I lived in another city, offered to deposit the newly lost and found $$ back into my account. How great was that?Teller who answered phone was courteous, and the supervisor could not have been more friendly- and helpful! This is just the latest positive experience I have had with CSB (this branch being the 3rd I have dealt with in 10+ years). Their Customer Service is excellent. I feel valued and respected as a customer. It's amazing to be able to say that about a bank! read more

Excellent Bank. i moved all my accounts out of Citizen's over to Cambridge Savings. Bianca Cole did an excellent job. She took the time and set everything up. She is competent, knowledgeable and very friendly. Excellent service. Also when calling the 800 number to review my accounts or ask questions, everyone has been very friendly and helpful. Kudos, excellent customer service. Hard to find these days! read more

Cambridge Savings Bank does not offer the service and protection that bigger and major banks offer with their bank accounts and credit cards. If one loses his credit or debit card, he does not get the protection against fraudulent and unauthorized use he would with a bigger bank. Cambridge Savings Bank is a much more conservative bank that advocate in the interest of a company or business over the customer itself. Cambridge Savings Banks sets its daily ATM withdrawal and purchasing limits lower than almost any other bank. One cannot increase his ATM withdrawal and POS limits for his account, even if he maintains comfortable daily balances. Given the high costs of most things today, it is very easy to spend over the daily limits set forth by the bank. The bank has a bunch of immature and inexperienced staff that does not work to take care of the needs of its customers. I tried to make a credit card payment from my bank account with Cambridge Savings Bank. I had money in my account to cover the payment. According to my credit card company, the bank refused to honor the payment. Consequently, the credit card company charged me return payment and late fees. This was shown to the branch manager at the branch at which I opened the account, who offered to do nothing but write a letter apologizing for the inconvenience. A bank who cares about the concerns and needs of its customers would have refunded the fees since it was the bank itself fault. The bank wrongfully freezes one access to his own money when he files a dispute. It does not let one have access to money that is his money, not theirs. I had a debit card that was lost/stolen and filed a dispute. The bank failed to properly investigate the charges and credit my account for the charges. It falsely assumes that if one has done business with a merchant in the past, then any future charge by that merchant is valid, even though the transaction may have taken place at a location that he has never been to and a business that he does not trade with, both online and in person. I like earning interest and using any ATM for free, but I like a bank that puts its customers first and that works to service their needs. I have moved my business to a bank that offers a similar account, where I have greater access to my money, and that offers the peace of mind that I will be protected if something happens to me as customer. read more

Refused to accept coins deposit! I have two jars of coins weighing about 20lbs and brought it here because Arlington Heights office would not take it and they sent me here. I arrived at 12:45 on Sat and wanted coins sorted and deposited. Guess what, this branch also refused to take my coin money. Apparently, you need to count and sort it yourself or use their coin counting machine. Great! Wait! Machine is closed for the day! What? I thought you close at 1pm. But the coin machine closes earlier. So I'm hauling my 20lbs of coins from one branch to the other several weeks now only to learn that they want to go home early and close services even during business hours! CSB if you are reading this, get a grip! Services offered should coincide with the business hours posted! Expectation is that customers should be able to conduct business advertised even if they walk in a minute before closing. You do your machine closing and paperwork on your own time, not the customer's time! They would not allow me to count the coins as the machine was "closed and nothing can be done about it". Or, better said, there were not willing to do anything about it, and basically told me to go away and keep my coins. The were not apologetic or sympathetic with me expecting the services that they advertise, yet refused to deliver. I receive tons of junk mail from banks asking me to switch. Maybe I will do that! Coin counting is a basic community service people expect from physical banks. Otherwise, I can do business cheaper online! read more

I recently switched over to CSB after having enough of dealing with the corporate evil BoA. I walked in one day and opened up a new checking, savings, and roth ira. The staff was super friendly and professional, and they answered all my questions. Overall, my experience with this branch (its the only one I have been tos o far) hass been great. The people there are great! However, as mentioned before the atm's can't take cash deposits which can be frustrating for people who don't have time to stop by the bank during normal hours, and their debit cards have holds, which need to be lifted if you are ordering from international places. Minus one star because I have been trying to order some things from the UK lately and it just hasn't been able to go through. read more

Great bank, small enough to provide personal, first name service and large enough to offer full range of financial services at competitive prices. We've been with them for 10+ years, at all 3 Arlington branches, never had a bad experience. read more