I have dealt with Ulster Savings Bank for at least 20 years, as did my mother who was from Kingston. All the branches, staff, managers have been wonderful. I can't say enough great things about them and all they offer. During the pandemic they even stopped bank fees, unheard of in today's world. My most recent experiences have been with Zachery Dernison of the Red Hook Branch. He is always quick to respond and help or have a solution. This is why they've won Best of Hudson Valley Chronogram Awards for many years straight! read more

Rose at ulster savings is very personable and pleasant to work with, hence the second star. Otherwise, ulster savings (beyond just the financial institution of offering a savings and checking account , is not, in my experience, able to keep up with customer requests and find suitable insurance companies for its consumers. Customer support (even though in the moment it is very personable) is sporadic and ineffective. Trying to get our home insurance not to mention business insurance, was a ridiculously convoluted exercise in redundant paperwork, emails and phone calls. INFORMATION REQUESTED OF US FROM THE STERLING INSURANCE COMPANY "We" understand questions like; "Do you have a fireplace?" "is it an insert....?" questions of that nature. However, please explain how the layman customer is expected to answer questions like: "Describe in detail the construction of the wall behind the stove...." "what is the diameter of the thimble...." "is brick placed over sheet rock or other material....?" and finally your asked "to draw a picture "showing the placement of the stove in the room illustrating the clearance between it and the space in the walls....." "Is there an airspace behind the wall next to the brick" Ridiculous. These are just a few of the questions, the list goes on. The next issue, unarguably the most notable FAIL with this process. Our application clearly indicated that we were seasonal residence, 2 months out of each year and the rest of the time our home was to be used as a short term rental. Written in and signed by me and the banks representative..... is this property used as a short term rental? YES. Nope, the new insurance company did NOT have our home listed as a short term rental because the communication from our agent to whatever other employee that was involved in the process did not relay that information. This means the application must not have been sent. No part of that is acceptable.....if something had happened, we would have NOT been covered and potentially ended up in a very very difficult situation. Not acceptable. How we learned about this? The Sterling insurance company sent out an inspector (the necessity of a company to have to put eyes on the property is also understandable) However, in the process of visiting the property the inspector talked with one of our guests and then relayed his confusion as to "why the house was being rented out", back to our broker who then relayed her concern to me.....I then expressed my concern reminding them that the house has always been a short term rental. Our agent confirmed that our paperwork was originally signed as a short term and that somehow that information never made it into the policy. So, in the overly complicated process of onboarding our account information for the insurance company, the simple task and responsibility of our agents/Ulster Savings, relaying our signed application over to that company never happened TOTALLY exposing our family to a potential insurance nightmare if someone had gotten hurt. When we relayed this information to Steve G. the branch manager via email, we got crickets in response to the specific nature of the issue. Nothing, no response. Made a call to one of their competitors, had paperwork filled out over the phone, no laborious questions and paperwork needing to be filled out, paid the year in advance and in less than 30 minutes (if that) and with that we had our new insurance. DONE. Simple. read more

I highly recommend Ulster Savings Bank. They have helped me manage my business and personal banking since 2010. I am very happy with the service I receive and the interest rates on their CDs. read more

This bank is a crook! Do not open an account here. The bank and I had a written statement that if I can't pay a bill they will cover only once. Later on I was in a car accident and couldn't work. After informing Ulster Savings they said we won't process money that you can't cover. Guess what??? A month later, I got a call/email from Ulster Savings bank that I owed them extreme money.? Over a bill of $18.00 by the end of the month I owed them $350+. I was outraged and recorded and took photos of my bank statements proving the illegally charged me I paid my bill ASAP and cancelled my checking account. Now... I talked to a lawyer and he and I are going to have field day trip with this bank, although the bank thought they be slick and wipe out my card spending records, but I took very well documented records of the issues with this bank before they thought they can delete all evidence. Fyi this bank I use is in Stone Ridge NY and Kingston NY. Now they got a law suit on their hands. I'm sure... I'm not the only one. You've been warned don't do banking with this Ulster Savings bank Crook!! read more

My dog ruined the chip on my direct express card so I asked an associate at Ulster savings bank to try to help me get money out of my card so I can live the rest of the month before I close the direct express card and get a new one and the associate refused to help me said they are not associated with that bank and I think it was just because it was near 6 o'clock and they wanted to close up the bank she was very rude to me and it's the banks fault I had to try to use their ATM machine to get money out And the card got stuck I have been a customer at Ulster savings for 12 years and I'm now considering closing all of my accounts at their bank read more

Please do not trust any of your finances with these thieves! Our elderly family member has dementia and this bank has put a hold on her funds, while choosing not to acknowledge the Power of Attorney our family has. Very sad and upsetting to see a local bank operating like this - literally hijacking and stealing money from their clients. Please do not put any of your hard earned money here. read more

Everytime I have a face to face experience with the Stone Ridge branch it's a disaster. The tellers are slow in the drive thru, they refuse to put up a red light when they're "servicing" the ATM machine and people like me drive up to it and it says it's not available. They wait until 9 am when people are arriving to disable the machine instead of doing it earlier. They have usually one teller for inside and drive thru so there's been at times a 20 min wait in the drive thru. Lake Katrine is the same way with the wait. They really need to revamp the help. In Stone Ridge, I've gone in from the drive thru and there were additional tellers at the counter, no customers, picking their fingers and talking. Not good business at all. read more

It's unfortunate that the other reviewers don't mention the branch. I have done business with the Phoenicia branch and the Woodstock branch, and both are wonderful, personable, and compassionate. Banks that help you actually save money, without all the fees, are hard to come by. I have recommended this bank to dozens of people. read more

If you call and leave a message about anything they NEVER return a call. I have left name and numbers to be contacted at, asked them to please call me back and NO ONE ever does. The bank is supposed to have a good rep, but clearly their customer service leaves A LOT to be desired. All future business I conduct will be in writing and I will keep copies of all correspondence. read more

This place is operated by thieves! The day my taxes were deposited they placed a hold on them for 4 days and claimed the IRS was responsible. My accountant said, "No way the govt. would do that." When my payroll was deposited, they charged me an overdraft fee the very same day! They claimed "the check cleared the day before." Then why did it show up on the same day as my payroll? I was out of work for 10 months due to a knee injury, they're clearly taking advantage of me. read more

The manager of this bank with the blond hair is a disaster. She lies and caused a lot of problems for me. I reported her to her superiors but they kept her on anyway. I received a substantial settlement which I deposited in another bank because of this manager who can't be trusted. She doesn't know how to manage a bank either..slow as molases expecially at the drive up window which I once waited for 30 minutes to use. Car in front of me, car in back of me..had to sit there and wait. Run don't walk from this vile bank. read more

BEWARE!!! Sneaky and crazy banking fees lurk here!! According to Erika Gay at the Stone Ridge branch, it is the bank's policy to charge 30.00 for every transaction on the DAY that a customer's balance is less than the expenditures. So it works like this... You use your credit card four times in one day... the first three times there WAS sufficient money in the bank to cover the transactions... on the fourth transaction for that day, the account goes in the negative.. well the bank charges 30 for every transaction... YES... 120.00 in fees. Ms. Gay explained that they lump all the transactions together. HMMMM..if they are lumping- then why not charge one 30.00 fee? Check your statements!! read more

The people I worked with at USB were nice, my issue is not with them. I mortgaged a house last year, and my homeowners insurance was supposed to be withheld in Escrow, but was not. I found this out the hard way when my insurance company sent me a cancellation notice. The loan was set up to withhold the money for the homeowners, but again, it was not withheld. Now USB did resolve the issue quickly, but now I'm stuck paying an extra $160 a month in my mortgage due to an error they made as a result of their lack of due diligence. I switched my Checking and Savings from USB due to multiple errors as well. When I paid my phone bill, it would show up in my transaction history, withdraw the funds, and then the next day the transaction would disappear from my history, and the funds would be placed back into my account, only to be withdrawn (AGAIN) two days, or so, later. This caused me to bounce a check once, and after that I moved my bank account to another establishment. NOTE* to this day, I have not had any issues paying my phone bill, nor have I had any similar problems. Also, good luck trying to deposit a check with the mobile app. I had a crystal clear picture of a check, and it would still not accept it saying it could not be read. All these technical difficulties are what drove me to switch financial institutions. USB has great interest rates, but you will have to deal with some mishaps in order to get them. read more

Three months and counting on a mortgage application. Underwriting department inefficient and unresponsive. Update: After obtaining mortgage after five - 5 - months, Ulster has been very good to deal with. My loan originator was a real pro and very nice. Still dubious about underwriting folks. read more

we got our mortgage through the lake katrine location, Mark Trott. He was just great! made the entire process easier and less stressful.

I've been banking and mortgaging with Ulster savings bank for over two decades and always received excellent customer service and quickly returned calls and no errors in checking or savings or loans; the staff are professional and courteous as well as pleasant like a hometown bank but with big bank programs. read more

Absolutely horrible. It took me a week, 4 messages, and a supervisor to get someone to talk to me. I think the worst part was that I only needed a simple answer to a simple question that took the person I FINALLY got on the phone 3 minutes to answer. I get everyone is busy, but when someone is calling for help and a professional business can't return a call it is unacceptable. I will never do any kind of business with them again. read more

Do not use this bank . Worst ever home mortgage department . No need for detail just stay way ....

The people at Ulster savings bank are heartless. I suffered a devastating loss of a loved one. They told me they had to take their name off a joint account because it was their policy to remove the deceased person's name from the joint account. I checked with several other banks and they said they could leave the name on the account until the will was through probate. read more

Is 0 star is a possibility? Or maybe even negative three stars a possibility? We will be shopping elsewhere we have payroll Insurance to mortgages car insurance and a total of 5 accounts. We still do not get any customer service or return calls on serious issues. Payroll has Miss we will be shopping elsewhere we have payroll insurance to mortgages car insurance and a total of 5 account. We still do not get any customer service or return calls on Sirius issues. Payroll has misplaced paperwork having us get charges from the state totaling over $4,000, just in that one instant, they refused to take my p.m. I insurance so if even know we fit the right criteria I had to call for 3 months and then State that I'm getting a lawyer to get them to remove it. Still don't get calls back and regards to my texts or equity in the house. We own for other properties all of them do not have mortgages we were going to take an equity line but refuse to do business with him anymore. read more

Love Ulster Savings Bank. Have had my money there for many years. I use their tax service every year. Great Bank.