Northern Trust — Local services in Chicago

Do NOT rely on this bank for wire transfers.

My parents have had a seven figure investment in this bank for decades, and recently I tried to help my mom arrange a $300k wire transfer for a home purchase. The bank requires a wire request form to be filled out and the signature to be medallion-stamp certified and physically sent in to the Chicago headquarters. We completed this approximately a week in advance of closing to be on the safe side, and mailed the form in by priority mail. The form was delivered to them on a Saturday, and I called the following Monday to verify receipt. Was told by the rep that they did not have it but would send a note to the mail room to have them look for it and make sure it got processed.

I then called again on Wednesday morning (the day of closing), and after an extended hold, was told that they located the form but would not process it because they needed not just one account holder's signature, but EVERY account holder's signature on the form and medallion-stamp certified in order to process. I explained that we had a house closing later that day and could not proceed without the wire transfer, but they refused to make any exception.

We had to scramble to find a local bank with a medallion stamp who would agree to certify signatures of all account holders, and this was not an easy task because most banks will not service individuals without an account. Finally, we had to send it by UPS priority overnight ($75), as the rep said that their USPS deliveries are often not processed right away.

The following day after the tracking info showed that the form was delivered, I called them three times before they even confirmed receipt and agreed to send the form for processing.

To summarize, Northern Trust makes it extremely difficult to complete a wire transfer. My mom missed her home closing and only by sheer luck got the sellers to agree to reschedule and not accept a competing offer. They require a medallion-stamped form by ALL account owners to be physically mailed in to them. And a $25 dollar fee on top of that. For comparison, Fidelity has no fee and only requires a single account owner and about ten minutes on the phone to complete a wire transfer. Will never use Northern...

I have been in the process of changing investment advisors from my current advisor at another firm. I originally contacted the Washington D.C. office of Northern Trust and was directed to Stephanie Harper Stefanik at the Chicago headquarters as my contact. This was around October 25. During the past six weeks, I have spent a lot of time answering a questionnaire, and providing information. I had one WebEx meeting with Graham Bauer and another with an advisor on the brokerage side. Although Stephanie Stefanik was supposed to be the liaison, she dropped the ball numerous times. Either she never got back to me after the meetings with these potential advisors or she never responded to my calls/emails. I also left Graham Bauer a call, and he never responded either. I have a seven figure portfolio and require management and advice, so that my portfolio is aligned with my goals and risk profile. I cannot believe the exceptionally poor service and lack of customer care reflected in a potential client simply having advisor interviews. I also cannot imagine how my portfolio would have been managed if I had transferred to Northern Trust. Finally, the so-called financial plan they put together for me (based on an inputs to a platform) was completely incomprehensible. They basically wasted my time. As a result, I would never trust Northern Trust with my retirement and investment portfolio and highly recommend that others stay away from this...

Do not bank with Northern trust Company. I tried to write a check to put a down payment on a house and two checks have gotten returned because they claim their software did not recognize my signature. They called to confirm that it was me, and I am certain that I spoke to them and not some fraudulent number because I insisted on calling them back at a trusted number before I gave them any information. I gave them all my info, including my social security number BOTH TIMES and they assured me that my identity was confirmed and that the check would clear, but they did not. I may lose this house because of this bank's incompetence. Furthermore, ever since these phone calls, I have been inundated with scam calls, which I suspect originate from my interactions with this bank, because it's a new phone and I never got scam calls before, and the scam calls started a few minutes after I talked to northern trust the first time I gave them my SS# to confirm my identity. This bank is absolutely terrible. I still don't have my money and I have been trying to resolve this issue...