Cambridge Savings Bank

My partner and I came to this branch on August, 27, 2014 and opened a joint checking account. It was fairly quick, since both of us already had personal accounts with them — in fact it was the only reason we chose Cambridge Savings. We explained to the agent that we want the simplest account, as we will only use it for current expenses and will definitely need checks, as we regularly write checks for daycare, cleaner, etc. Clear and simple enough. He gave us three temporary checks and ordered the checks for us and said it would take 7 to 10 business days. We were waiting very patiently for about 15 days, thinking they were a bit delayed because of Labor Day. Finally, since we used up all the temporary checks by now, I call the branch — I call the number listed here, but it is NOT the branch number, but a general number. The person on the phone tells me no checks were ever ordered and is not the least apologetic about it. She says she will transfer me to the branch and explain my situation to someone there. I get transferred to the branch — I am on the phone for 20 minutes at this point just to ask where my checks are — and have to tell the entire story from the beginning AGAIN to the clerk there. The clerk, Irene, was not the least apologetic that this happened. Instead she insisted that they are doing us a HUGE FAVOR by sending expedited free checks, because normally we would have to pay for these checks and that normally they only send 25 free checks. You have to pay for checks when first opening an account?! It’s like I am giving you my money, with absolutely no reward, 0 interest rate, and I have to pay you to actually use my money? I think not.
Since I am writing this review, I also remembered that last year, when we moved to Cambridge, I had problems with my checks for my personal checking account. They screwed up my checks three times. First, they got the address wrong. Then they got it right, but sent checks that had my cell phone number on them, although I never asked to have my cell phone listed. Second, I had a Super Smart Checking Account with a fairly «good» (if it can be called that at present moment) interest rate — something like 1.25%, which got dropped consistently multiple times throughout last year. Finally, once they rejected a check that I wrote (for a small amount, something like $ 200). The check was in fact for a certain professional service performed by an employee of another university that later got reimbursed by my institution. The check rejection was a huge ordeal, as they rejected it for no good reason (they said the signature was not exactly the same, although it was exactly the same), so it caused a great deal of embarrassment — as well as was a Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmare — to both myself and my university.
I really wanted to bank with a local bank (especially since for some weird reason Boston does not have many of the big banks, such as Chase and Capital One — why?), but am seriously reconsidering this idea.

Great branch, very helpful and friendly staff, clean, convienient location!

I’ve had an account here for a year now. I always visit the central square location and am always satisfied with their service. Today Chantel helped me out with a really big issue and she went out of her way to resolve a situation with our checking account. Dana is also very helpful when I see her. I love their high APR interest rates on even the basic checking accounts and am so glad to do business with a local bank and leave the huge corporate banks!

I applied for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and the letter CSB sent me a week later was very misleading: it said I was approved, and it also said the drive-​by home appraisal had been done. I even asked the Bank Assistant manager if it had been approved for the whole amount ($ 100k) and he said yes. So I spent hours opening a checking account (it takes a LONG time) and signing other paperwork. It turns out the drive-​by appraisal had NOT been done (contrary to the letter), and they were only going to loan me a tiny fraction of what he previously said had been approved. So I had wasted a lot of time based on that misleading letter. I started over a different bank (my employer credit union) which it turns out gave me a much better deal in the end.

So, this bank is funny. It offers a 4% APY checking, but it rejects people with good credit (my score is 810). These accounts are built on the strategy that people will forget to jump the hoops every month and get no interest, so the assumption that anyone diligent with their credit will be diligent to get the interest.
I was like WTF? Rejected for a checking account?
First of all, they pull a HARD inquiry to your Equifax credit history, even though their site says «ID Verification» only. This is not legit.
Second, your account is only protected up to $ 2,500 on ID theft, meaning unauthorized access, you only get back $ 2,500, the rest is bye-​bye. It has the FDIC $ 250k if the bank fails, but if someone steals your debit card, all you get is $ 2,500. Quite a risk given that I wanted to park $ 25,000 in there.

I get 4% interest on my checking account through Cambride Savings Bank’s SuperSmart Checking. That’s right: 4%! That’s higher than ING Direct or any other online bank, and CSB is brick and mortar. So you can access your money immediately and talk to real live tellers if you go to any of the branches.
When Bank of America screwed me over royally (that’s a story for another time), I began my search for another bank. I saw billboards for Cambridge Savings Bank’s SuperSmart account, and it seemed too good to be true. Four percent interest on your checking and free ATMs anywhere? What’s the catch? Well, you have to do all four of these things to get the advertised interest rate:
1. Have direct deposit
2. Sign up for online statements (no paper statements)
3. Keep your balance between $ 10 and $ 25,000 (balances above $ 25,000 get something like 0.01% interest, so if you get up that high, transfer some of your money to ING or some other savings vehicle).
4. Use your debit card 15 times a month (or 20 times a month to avoid paying a $ 5 maintenance fee) — ATM transactions don’t count
The last of those requirements was what gave me pause. I almost never used my Bank of America debit card because why would I? I have a Chase credit card that gives me 5% back on grocery store, pharmacy, and gas station purchases, and 1% back on everything else. Using a debit card just means they take your money sooner. But I figured I could use my debit card for smaller purchases to make it worth my while. In the first month, I met the 20-​transaction requirement within about a week! The pub crawl/​bachelorette party on the first of the month helped a lot.
One thing to keep in mind is that the last day of the previous month counts toward that month. E. g, July 31 transactions count for August’s debit card use.
I opened my account at the Central Square branch, and the woman who helped me was very patient with my myriad questions. My downstairs neighbors and I also plan to open an account with them for our condo association account (free business checking). We didn’t have the correct forms the first time we went, but again, the staff was very helpful.
Other good things:
— Free checks (Damn Bank of America made me pay for them)
— You can use any ATM and Cambridge Savings Bank will reimburse the fee at the end of the month. Weirdly, I haven’t had to use this feature yet! I just rarely use cash, I guess. Especially now that I have to use my debit card 20 times a month!
— The web site is easy to use.
— You get points for using your debit card. Every time you use your debit card, you accumlate reward points that can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise.
— I once called Customer Service to make sure that my account was set up correctly to get the 4% interest, and the person on the phone was very helpful.
I love supporting a local business, and I love getting 4% interst on my checking account even more.

The manager is nice. The tellers are haughty and rude. I expect to be treated with respect when I come in to do my banking.

There is nothing like banking with a local bank. Great rates, competitive products, and exceptional service. I was a branch manager in the banking industry for about ten years and so I feel like I am a bit of an expert in this area.