I wanted to open a bank account at Montecio Bank and Trust. I had a $100 unpaid debt to a previous bank that I had paid off but still showed up in their system. The manager told me that if I brought in a letter from my previous bank saying that I had paid off the debt, then I could open an account. I did that, but they still wouldn't let me open an account. I went into the branch on four separate occasions to check on the status of my paid debt. Finally I called them and they said they showed I had paid off my debt, but that they couldn't issue me a debit card for SIX MONTHS. This was never mentioned by the manager or the personal banker. I imagine this is a good bank, but they clearly have poor communication and slow back end systems, as well as a manager who clearly leaves our rather important information. read more

I've been banking with different banks since a teen... And don't recall any that create such a great atmosphere to walk into... I'm a stickler for customer service And admit that I don't understand how to use the many banking slips that are available for banking needs.. Instead of going to atm My preferred choice is always to make my way to state street and visit the gals that make my life easier Whether your teller for the day is Laureen or the morning Crystal.... You are always in good hands amongst the complete staff they employ. These ladies that serve customer needs on a day to day basis always know how to treat customers. Remembering their first name and addressing them by it when the situation permits Montecito bank and trust has been a great place for me to bank with since I first signed up And I'm thrilled to share with you all my experience Another thing that I should mention... Montecito bank and trust is very active in helping out around the community.. And getting involved in local organizations Your banking with them goes a long way!!! read more

Montecito Bank & Trust - My money!!!!! And a great pen given to me by Laureen... Thank you so much Montecito bank and trust - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Im so happy I made the change from BofA. Everything is better here, human connection, and helpful people.

Montecito Bank and Trust is actively engaged with Zelle fraud and is aiding and abetting Zelle to defraud numerous people, mostly elderly through the supposedly safe Montecito Bank account portal. The proof of this is in plain sight: The Zelle logo appears unrequested on your MB account page indicating that the bank trusts this vendor so therefore you should too. WRONG. If MB & T is ignorant enough to continue with Zelle they should post a clear disclaimer that once sent your funds are not retrievable for any reason. Is it legal for an FDIC registered bank to allow a direct account connection to what is clearly an unregulated and illicit money laundering operation ? Further, once a Zelle fraud occurs you will get the runaround, no calls or emails returned if you have a question. This is not acceptable behavior for a once proud banking institution. Michael Towbes would not let this happen. The owners of this bank should wake up, you are hurting people with your supposed efficiency. read more

They are still sending me emails about the account of someone else with my name. I am not a client. The true customer says they have tried to correct it but to no avail. I've replied to the emails with no response. Montecito has since been in touch with me and it'll work out. Thanks! read more

They don't consider cybersecurity a real issue. A bank teller changed my billing zip code without my consent with a zip code from an address I haven't lived at since late 2017. An act like this is considered one of the very first signs of a digital fraud attack. I went in yesterday to get a new debit card and spoke to a woman who asked me about my information. So I told her my address and confirmed she had the right apartment number. Everything was fine. I left, my card worked on Netflix and Peacock, then I get to cash app and it says "invalid zip code". I tried a bunch of times, it was correct. So this morning I call and they found this old address and changed the information in my account without calling me first to verify the information she was changing was correct. Plus, I have no idea how she found that old address. She had the right one on file and the address on my ID was also in the same zip code I'm at now. I never gave anyone that old address from 2017. I have no need to and none of my documents have that address on it. I asked to speak with the rep to find out what happened and the person that answered came back and said "okay your all set, we fixed it". Again I asked "but why was it changed in the first place and where did she get the address?" The guy danced around the question and rushed off the phone. So I went into the branch l, spoke to a guy who I asked to speak with a manager whom also said he fixed it. Left and it's still not working. Went back in and spoke to a female whom I also asked to speak to a manager and she too danced around the question but called the back office and got it fixed. I asked how this happened and how I could be assured this won't happen again and no one could give me an answer or point me to the person in charge. There should obviously be protocols in place for situations like this and the teller should be reprimanded and probably get some training. read more

THIS BANK STOLE $4000 AND HAS NO RECORD OF IT I deposited $4000 into the ATM. I remember the the transaction very vividly and they're my ONLY bank. They claim they have no proof of this happening. When you deposit in their ATM, it seems impossible for the ATM to make a mistake, so I didn't bother save my receipts. Bank claims they can't find anything in the videos or their balances. I had to call them several times to get answers from them; they basically just never responded yet each time I called they claimed they had done everything they could. So how about calling me to discuss that with me? They had ONE job. DON'T lose my money. Guys, they lost my money... SMH read more

The Bank recently (late 2020?) upgraded their software so that it no longer supports e-payments to an individual's account at another bank. In other words, you cannot transfer money out of your MB&T account to your account at another bank. Their new method is to generate at paper check & mail it to the customer who then must deposit that check either by mail or in person. Although I didn't see a charge for doing this, it makes no sense: their new process adds to their own overhead costs while annoying their customer. read more

Posting this review after I got LOCKED OUT OF MY ACCOUNT on a sunday USING MY OWN TOUCH ID. My own fingerprint got me locked out of my account and its frozen until I can speak with them. And i can't because it's sunday. Unbelievable bad service on that and to add a little bit of actual constructive criticism the online platform is pretty primitive which in a post-covid is no longer an option. Hopefully they will get into the 21st century soon. Then maybe i could give them a better rating read more

I originally switched to Montecito Bank and Trust because of Michael Towbes philanthropy and have continued to use them despite years of frustration with their antiquated data base and 9-5 M-F hours. However, I have run out of patience and want to document this last incident to warn other people from even thinking about opening an account at this poorly managed and inefficient bank. On 9/1/2019 I called the bank because I could not tell what the transaction was for because the vendor's name was truncated. The bank could not tell me who the vendor was, so I sent an e mail to their website challenging the transaction as a last resort to find out what the transaction was for. I tried to use the card the evening of 9/10/19 after hours and it was declined. When I contacted the bank at 7:30 a.m. during their customer service hours of 7 a.m. - 6 pm, they couldn't help me until the bank was open at 9 am. When I talked to the bank they said they put a hold on my card to protect my account. They informed me they sent ONE email on 9/10/2019 via their website telling me that if I want to file a claim they would need to cancel my debit card and to contact them. In the next paragraph the email said they had put a temporary hold on my debit card. Comments. 1. If it was so urgent to protect my account why did they wait 10 days to put the hold on my account and notify me? 2. The bank admitted it does not say on their website or anywhere that if you question a transaction your card will be put on temporary hold. A customer should be aware that this action will be taken before rather than after the fact. 3. Why was their only method of communication 1 e mail on their website so the only way you would know a hold is put on your account is to monitor their website? One e mail notice is not sufficient and they should notify you via your regular e mail as well. They said they don't use your regular e mail for security purposes. That is ridiculous. A request via regular e mail to contact the bank is not a security risk. 4. They said their notes showed they tried to call me and my voice mail was full. My voice mail is never full so either someone misdialed or is lying. And wouldn't you think this would be automated and more than one effort made? 5. In this day and age, how can any bank only operate 9 - 5, M - F? Bottom line, beware of using this bank unless you are a masochist. read more

I'll write up the issues I've experienced, and you can judge for yourself. I originally wanted to support a local business, and so I opened an account with them, but it wasn't quite what I had hoped for. What seemed most concerning to me, is that it never mattered how much due diligence I attempted. They would just flat out misinform me, anyway, or fail to follow through. Customer beware. 1) ATMs frequently have not worked when I have tried to use them. Cumulatively wasted a few hours over the years on this issue. Note: the ATMs may work fine now, I gave up on them a while back. 2) Forced to pay for their $65 mistake. I wanted to make an international money transfer, and in checking various ways of doing this, I called MB&T about how much it would cost. The man I spoke with said that they only charged a fee (I think it was around $30), and that there would be no adjustment to the currency rate in addition (e.g. as an example, they wouldn't convert a dollar into .88 euro and then convert a euro back to a dollar at a .92 rate, costing me money on the currency exchange as well). I must have asked about 10 different ways about the currency exchange rate to confirm that I wouldn't also be paying for a currency exchange discrepancy. I even used examples, with simple math, to illustrate what I was talking about. And over and over again they claimed they only charged a fee, and nothing else. Well, surprise! There was also a large currency exchange discrepancy in addition to the fee, so the transfer cost me $65 more than if I had used some other service. (In addition to a wasted trip to the bank). When I called about this issue, the manager refused to rectify the error caused by their false claims. 3) A teller told me that if I converted my account to an "Access Checking" account, I would get some potentially useful privileges. It sounded too good to be true, so I asked as many questions as I could think of to assure that there would be no possible hidden fees, unpleasant surprises, etc., and she kept assuring me there was no way it could end up costing me money. Surprise! It cost $22 a month. 4) I could swear that the $22 fees were not showing up on the old website. I must have checked the account about 20 times using the old website, always scanning for questionable stuff, and I never saw the fees being charged over the course of 6 months. So, the fees piled up for 6 months, without my noticing what was going on. It's possible that this was just some kind of an oversight on my part. On the other hand, once the website changed to the new design I immediately noticed all the fees I had been charged. This is not proof of anything, it's just odd. 5) So, I called about this issue with the fees. The manager promised to refund one of the monthly fees (and wouldn't do anything about the other $110 I had been charged), and promised to change my account to a basic free checking account so I wouldn't have to pay for services I wasn't using, anyway. 6) I got punked! Neither action was taken. No refund, and no change to my account. 7) On my followup call a few weeks later, again I was promised the same two actions, but only the change to free checking was done. Again, no refund granted. 8) By this point, I realized MB&T was not to be trusted, and called a few days later and got them to honor their promise on the single $22 refund, on the third attempt. 9) There was some small fraud on the account at one point, which they did not catch. I have not personally had an issue with fraud not being caught, at any other bank. 10) Other miscellaneous issues piled up over the years as well, relating to debit cards, confusing mail, etc. Just a general lack of concern for communicating with customers in a helpful way. I also regret persuading a coworker and my mother into banking with MB&T, and they also had issues and ended up closing their accounts. So I feel annoyed that my faith in a local business that appeared to be a positive member of the community (I think they do some good charity work in the community), ended up inconveniencing people close to me, as well. On the other hand, I want to note that their downtown Santa Barbara branch is gorgeous. And occasionally they were helpful with basic issues. They definitely have the likable Santa Barbara style about them as well. So I don't want to pretend they are 100% bad. Also, at least some of the mistakes were probably caused by ignorance rather than malice, although it still sucks. Final note: Over the years it was a hassle to talk with customer service, because they were really good at using up time and acting soothing, while still refusing to own up to their mistakes. I know the sums of money involved are not large. The pattern was what was troubling. read more

I was trying to get my dad who is in his 80's set up with Zelle so I can send him money easily... I prefer to bank with a " national " bank like Chase, that have locations all over the world, I now avoid these hometown banks. I have banked with them in the past when I too lived in Santa Barbara and they are always a challenge. systems always down, short staffed and rude tellers. But I want to especially thank Mark in particular for making it so difficult to send money to my father who lives on a fixed income. You and this bank suck. read more

Worst bank I have ever experienced! I call, Wait 20 min to speak to someone, they cannot honor my request (block payments fro Housing Authority so a tenant cannot stay), cannot be done, must close account, I driveto the bank, they cannot close my account because a check is pending. So....leave the amount for that transaction and close my account CANNOT BE DONE COME BACK IN THE MORNING. Worst bank ever! read more

I cannot say enough about the incredible help I've recently gotten from MBT regarding the onerous task of digging up records from dark ages, compiling spreadsheets and being available with cheerful efficiency to tackle any request. B I've had my account there more than 12 years without a hitch. Every employee greets one with a smile and the management at the MONTECITO branch is terrific- Daniel Fernandez Lora Taylor Penny - to all thank you from a happy customer read more

I have to echo the comments by Nick P., Ron B., and others, about the poor quality and arrogance of the customer service one encounters at this horrible bank. Recently, it seems like there is new management that is set on creating the kind of corporate condescension and indifference you typically encounter in such dreadful places as Chase, Wells Fargo, or B. of A. This past week, I wrote myself a check to myself. The check was drawn on one of my accounts at Montecito bank. Believe it or not, the teller told me I "couldn't get cash back on a check." At first I thought I was losing my hearing. "Why not?" I quite naturally asked. "Because there is a note in your account that says we cannot cash checks for you." Came the reply. Can you imagine how baffling that would sound? "What the hell do you mean you cannot cash a check written by me to me and drawn on my account at this bank?" Was my unvarnished, and now tired-of-being-talked-to-in-the-kind-of-condescending-tone described in other posts about this pathetic place. As you can imagine, my raised voice and unwillingness to continue to humor the idiot got the attention of the manager or whomever that person was. She seemed to be in charge. As she approached, the first words out of her mouth were, "Calm down." I'm not sure these morons have any idea how condescending they are. One gets the impression these people expect you to be grateful they allowed you into the lobby. You know, kind of like the corporate garbage you encounter in those other national banks I mentioned. "No!" Was my reply. "I've presented a check written by me, to me, and drawn on my account in this bank. What the hell do you mean I can't get cash for it?" Moron number two dutifully looked at the monitor to review my account information, then mindlessly repeated what moron number one said, with a straight face, no less. And then she added that if I wanted cash back, I would have to deposit that check in its entirety and withdraw the cash in a separate transaction. What?! I'm not making this up, folks. This idiot actually told me that I would have to deposit a check written by me, to me, and drawn on one of my accounts at that bank, and withdraw the cash in a separate transaction. "This is insane!" I said in a loud and incredulous tone. Really, I thought someone had slipped me a 'crazy pill.' If you've ever seen the movie 'Brazil', directed by Terry Gilliam, you know exactly what was happening. "This isn't some check written by some third party to me! This is my check, written to my, by me, and drawn on my account in this bank!" I guess I thought that if I said it louder and more rudely, I could rattle whatever mind-numbing goo was clogging their feeble synaptic connections and get them to come to their senses. I mean, they could look at the same monitor they all thought was so magical and see that I had plenty of money. It was my account! At that bank! And I wasn't depleting the account by a long shot! Nothing doing. I mean, frankly, I feel foolish trying to explain this. Folks, this is a level of stupidity that I find astonishing. I feel frightened to think that such people are entrusted with money. So, I snatched my check from her hand and said, "I'll find another bank! This is insane!" And I left. I've decided if they want my respect, they should have the decency to earn it by being respectful to me. By the way, for 10 years prior to summer of 2016, this bank regularly did cash checks for me. Not one cashed check was ever returned due to insufficient funds. I don't know what's changed. That's why I suspect new management. I've also had horrible experiences when traveling and having my debit card canceled without warning, as described by Nick P. That was two years ago, though, so I can't blame the new guys for that. It left me stuck in an airport in Indiana with no way to rent a car. When I finally got back and got to an alleged customer service representative who understood basic math (I had to go through a couple of them), she agreed the error resulting in the card being canceled was the banks. Thanks, Montecito Bank! At this point, I don't know what to tell you. In the past, community banks made their bread and butter by being customer-service oriented. Now, it seems they've all just jumped on the 'We're a bank and you're not' bandwagon and treat you as though you should be grateful they let you deposit your money with them. Those of you who run your own businesses, as do I, know we wouldn't last a week treating people this horribly. Good luck in your search for a reasonable place to keep your money. You won't find it at Montecito bank. read more

I'm not a big 'Yelper', and would never think to write a review about my bank, but felt motivated after reading some bad reviews about Montecito Bank & Trust . I am not the ideal customer for any bank. I don't carry much of a balance and have yet to take out a loan. The only money they make from me is when I occasionally screw up, bounce a check, and have to pay the fee. With that said, every time I walk into my local branch, on State and Carrillo, I am greeted by name. I'm guessing that half of the tellers know my first name. Not a big deal, but it is nice. I also appreciate that the bank donates a large amount of money to local non-profits. On a recent trip to Africa, my ATM was rejected by a machine. I tried it several times and it kept happening. That triggered a block on my card. Fortunately I was able to call customer service at Montecito Bank & Trust, explain the problem, and they removed the block, and I was able to find a 'better' ATM that worked. I'm not going to debate if others have had issues that they have written about. I can only say that this very small business customer has been happy with the bank for over 15-years. Jay Farbman Santa Barbara read more

One person in this bank has been helpful but overall, after many years, I have closed my accounts here. In my opinion their technology is not secure or up to date, plus customer service lacking. read more

An essential component to living life in the United States is opening a bank, because they hold and transfer money. We expect banks to provide top quality service, because banks make money from their clients bank accounts taking money from their clients bank accounts and investing it and charging clients monthly ownership and extra transactional fees. We trust banks to protect our funds and identity from fraud and theft. We hope that banks don't abuse our trust in them to hold our money, like they did in the Great Depression, by not allowing clients access to it. When opening bank accounts, we agree that transferring and receiving funds takes time for the purpose of authenticity transactions and understand fees are charged when we expedite the transactional time. Because banks delay funds transfers, we agree to make monetary promises on the banks behalf by writing and sending checks and ACHs, and when the payee goes to collect the funds in our account and discovers we lied on the banks behalf with insufficient funds, we pay the bank an apology fee. When our accounts net worth goes below zero, we pay the bank different apology fee for not having money in the account. Banks make plenty of money, so understand you have a choice to choose a corporation that will handle your money on your time and with your permission. If you choose to trust Montecito Bank and Trust to care for your money and its transfers, it will be one of the most expensive regrets in your life. Montecito Bank and Trust pretends to keep money within the Santa Barbara community, helping it grow, but actually uses Wells Fargo for bill pay activity. A bill pay from Wells Fargo is not money in Santa Barbara, but in Wells Fargo. Why not choose them in the first place? The bank is unorganized and understaffed, where direct deposited funds are released on Montecito Bank and Trust's timeframe. Montecito Bank and Trust's online banking is outdated, unreliable, and misleading. The online banking system calculates the pending and posted transactions wrong, as their transaction process takes so much time, it disappears from being online from hours to days, making available funds always incorrect, setting you up to be overdrawn. Montecito Bank and Trust makes debit card use a privilege and not a choice, shutting down cards as they feel. They do not block cards, they shut them down. If you are traveling and need money, then you are out of luck to have money until you return to Santa Barbara and plead management for a new debit card. Montecito Bank and Trust pays their checks on the timeline from one day to two weeks, and post those checks days after the check may have already been paid. This bank, Montecito Bank and Trust, transfers funds between your accounts without your permission. When I banked Montecito Bank and Trust, my account was force closed for account abuse, because the ban delayed posting my direct deposit paycheck. The teller humiliated me, when telling me my account was closed, holding up the line, yelling companies have the right to refuse business to anyone. My paycheck was in the closed account, and I attempted to explain the need for my funds to be returned, to the executives at this State Street branch, so I could pay my car loan. The executives sent me back to the Great Depression, not giving me back my money for three weeks. My car was impounded, until my following paycheck, because of Montecito Bank and Trust. Look around Santa Barbara, and understand that there are so many better options then this outdated, degrading and hypocritical bank, especially if you have credit card, car, and, or housing loans. read more

Best bank in town. Considerate staff and responsible, with decent offerings. I also like that they give back to support the community in general. read more

By far the worst customer service in town, a few years ago was a different story. They do not care about their customers. Use Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. read more

I have been a client for at least 10 years , no complaints until yesterday when I was wiring funds to Germany , I was told that the cost of the service is $45. What I was not informed about was the exchange rate .The official exchange rate yesterday was 1 euro = 1.205 $ , what I was charged was 1 euro = 1.25 $ that is about a 4% surcharge , when I asked to talk to the supervisor I was told that this is the rate Wells Fargo charges and that is what one has to pay. To transfer 2200 euros approximately cost me about $ 140.The 4% surcharge will escalate rapidly if you are wiring a larger amount . I graded the bank 3 stars only because I have not had any issues with the bank before , but I would have graded yesterdays performance 1 star. read more

I feel very secure using this bank. The staff if very pleasant & very helpful The security measures this bank takes is far more than I've had at other banks! read more

To run a successful business you need a financial institution that supports you. When all other banks were turning their backs on my business, MB&T were there to help us succeed. Top notch in my opinion. read more

Never have I ever experienced such poor handling of money and neglectful, offhand customer service. I began banking with Montecito Bank & Trust in November- the sign up process took hours, and I was told to wait while they ran around in several different directions, fruitlessly trying to get their debit card printer to work. I was told to come back tomorrow, which I did, and still no debit card. Less than a month after beginning my service with them, a mistake was made where my money was mishandled, and when I inquired as to what the bank would do to fix this mistake I was shepherded out the door by the manager himself, with no regard as to where I would be taking my business. I placed several calls to the relations manager, Angela, who not only did not fix my problem but failed to give me a promised call back about the issue. I have several friends in the community who are looking to switch to a smaller local bank, and I will give you the same advice I have given all of them- DO NOT bank here unless you're looking for a headache and many hours of wasted time. read more