First Horizon Bank Review: Competitive Rates and Waivable Monthly Fees
GOBankingRates Score
First Horizon Bank
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Checking Accounts
4.0
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Savings Accounts
4.0
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Products and Services Offered
4.5
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Banking Experience
4.0
Pros
- Variety of checking options
- Affordable minimum deposits
- Comprehensive digital banking assistance resources
Cons
- Higher APYs available elsewhere
- Monthly fees on accounts
First Horizon Bank Overview
First Horizon Bank is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and has $80.3 billion in assets and 417 banking centers. First Horizon offers a wide variety of personal banking products, including checking, savings and money market accounts and CDs. Accounts do have monthly maintenance fees, but the bank offers options for waiving them. Additionally, First Horizon does require minimum opening deposits, but they are affordable. These and other reasons are what earned First Horizon Bank a spot in GOBankingRates’ rankings of the Best Regional Banks of 2023.
Key Features
The following is a breakdown of First Horizon Bank’s key features, which are what most people consider when choosing a new bank.
Checking Accounts
First Horizon Bank offers three checking account options. Here are the details for each account.
FirstView Checking
FirstView Checking is First Horizon’s standard, non-interest-bearing checking account. It has a $50 minimum opening deposit, and as long as you enroll in paperless statements, there’s no monthly service charge. The account also comes with a complimentary Traditional Savings account.
SmartView Checking
SmartView Checking is an interest-bearing account that requires a $50 minimum opening deposit and has a $15 monthly service charge. However, the bank will refund the monthly service charge when you have at least one direct deposit or bill payment per statement cycle and any of the following:
- $5,000 average daily balance
- $25,000 average daily balance in total balances across all accounts
- $2,500 in monthly First Horizon credit card purchases
When you qualify for a refunded monthly service charge, you’ll also be eligible for bonus interest on your SmartView checking balance and additional tenure-based bonus interest on the first $25,000 of your balance. The account also allows free ATM transactions — in or out of network — and comes with a complimentary Money Market Savings account.
TotalView Checking
TotalView Checking is an interest-bearing account that also requires a $50 minimum opening deposit, but it has a $25 monthly service charge. However, the monthly fee can be waived with one monthly direct deposit or bill payment, plus one of the following:
- $100,000 in total consumer deposits, wealth and mortgage balances
- $5,000 in monthly debit and/or credit card purchases
Both in- and out-of-network ATM transactions are free, and foreign ATM and surcharge fees are rebated. Additionally, this account comes with free paper statements, higher daily debit card limits, up to $25 in wire fees rebated per month and bonus interest on the checking account balance.
Savings Accounts
All it takes is $50 to open a Traditional Savings account at First Horizon, which currently pays APY. The account does have a quarterly maintenance fee of $5, but as long as you maintain a $250 minimum daily balance, the bank will waive it. Additionally, you can link your savings account to your First Horizon checking account as a form of overdraft protection to provide 24-hour access to your funds via ATM.
Products and Services Offered
First Horizon also offers a variety of products and services, including auto loans, mortgage loans and credit cards. First Horizon will loan up to 90% of the value of vehicles — minimum of $10,000; maximum of $75,000 — with loan terms from 12-60 months. You can also buy, build or refinance a home with First Horizon mortgage loans. Additionally, the bank offers a variety of credit cards with 12-month 0% introductory APRs and also a secured credit card for those who could benefit from it.
The bank also offers wealth management services led by experienced and certified financial advisors who can help you with financial planning, including investments. Additionally, you can purchase life insurance, disability income insurance and long-term care insurance for security and peace of mind.
Banking Experience
The fastest way to reach First Horizon is to call the customer service number, 800-382-5465. Bank representatives answer calls Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
For non-urgent matters, the bank also allows for secure email messaging via its website and also by logging into Digital Banking, but it could take one to two days to get a reply.
The digital experience provided by First Horizon Bank includes online and mobile access, with apps for both Android and iOS users.
Plus, the bank offers a convenient and easy way to get the answers you need to your digital banking questions. It has a Digital Banking Help page on its site dedicated to questions and issues you may have. And it’s not just a tangle of random information you have to wade through. Instead, you can select “Mobile” or “Online” to get help that’s personalized for you — from making a mobile check deposit to updating your profile and security settings.
Comparable Banking Options
To get the big picture about a particular bank, it can help to compare it to its competitors. Here’s a quick look at how First Horizon Bank stacks up.
Fifth Third Bank
Fifth Third Bank offers some checking options that do not require a minimum deposit, which First Horizon cannot compete with because all of its checking options require a $50 minimum deposit. However, First Horizon Bank offers much higher standard CD rates of APY to APY as compared to Fifth Third Bank’s standard CD rates of 0.01% APY.
First Republic Bank
First Republic Bank has a more highly rated app than First Horizon. First Republic’s iOS app rates 4.8 stars on the App Store versus 2.2 stars for the First Horizon app. The same holds true for the Google Play app — 4 stars for First Republic Bank versus 3.3 stars for First Horizon. However, while First Republic Bank does have a basic checking option that requires a low $25 opening deposit, its other two checking options require a $500 minimum opening deposit, which is 10 times higher than the minimum opening deposit of $50 for all of First Horizon’s checking options.
Final Take
If you’re looking for an affordable full-service bank with rates that are a bit better than some of the largest banks in the nation and you live in its service area, First Horizon Bank is worth considering. At First Horizon, you’ll need $50 to open most accounts, except for CDs, which is affordable. And while many of these accounts come with a monthly service fee, it is possible to have fees waived by meeting certain requirements.
First Horizon Bank FAQ
Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about First Horizon Bank.- Is First Horizon the same as First Tennessee?
- First Tennessee was rebranded as First Horizon Bank in 2019.
- How many branches does First Horizon have?
- The bank has 417 banking centers across the Southeast.
- Is First Horizon a good bank?
- First Horizon is a good bank for people who are looking for a full-service bank that has competitive rates.
- Is First Horizon a real bank?
- Yes, First Horizon was established in 1864 and currently holds over $80 billion in assets.
- Does First Horizon charge monthly fees?
- Yes, First Horizon does charge monthly fees on the majority of its accounts. However, it offers ways to have those fees waived.
Jamie Johnson contributed to the reporting for this article.
Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 26, 2022.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
To discover the Best Regional Banks, GOBankingRates looked at the top regional institutions (excluding credit unions, online banks and neobanks) with under $100 billion in total assets. To determine rankings, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors: (1) checking product minimum deposit; (2) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (3) savings product minimum deposit; (4) savings product APY; (5) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (6) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services and insurance); and (7) the average mobile app rating between the Android and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being best. Factors (1) and (3) were weighted 0.5 times, factor (4) was weighted 2.5 times, and factor (6) was weighted 1.5 times.
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