Frost Bank Review: Full-Service Banking With a Personal Touch

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Frost Bank

4.4

SCORE

GOBankingRates Best Banks 2023 scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks.

Quick Take: Even though Frost is a regional bank that only has physical locations in Texas, it still offers customers top-notch technology and service levels that rival those of larger banks. Plus, it offers a personal touch that's hard to find with nationwide institutions.

• Checking Account
  4.5
• Savings Accounts
  4.0
• CD Accounts
  4.5
• Money Market Accounts
  4.0
• Banking Experience
  4.8

How did we calculate this?

Frost Bank Overview

Frost Bank is a regional bank that has served the people of Texas since 1868. With 191 locations and 1,700 ATMs throughout the Lone Star State, this San Antonio-based, state-chartered bank serves customers in most of Texas’s larger metro areas. It offers a solid choice of checking and savings accounts, as well as loans, investing, insurance and wealth management to help customers manage and grow their money.

GOBankingRates has named Frost Bank as a finalist in its Best Southwest Regional Banks of 2024 rankings.

Frost Bank Review: Key Features

Frost Bank offers the usual lineup of checking and savings accounts, along with money market accounts and certificates of deposit. Here’s a more detailed look.

Frost Bank Checking Accounts

The Frost Personal Account is its standard checking account offering. It’s an interest-bearing account and you get next-day availability on most deposits with access to direct deposits up to two days early.

The account has no overdraft fee unless the overdraft is $100 or more, in which case Frost charges $35 for each, up to $105 per day. An $8 monthly service charge is waived when you receive at least $100 in direct deposits each month, maintain a $1,000 minimum daily balance or maintain combined average daily balances of $5,000 or more. The fee is automatically waived for account holders under age 25, who also can open an account with a minimum deposit of $25 vs. the bank’s standard $50 minimum.

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If you would use out-of-network ATMs, take note: Frost charges a $2 fee.

Frost Bank Savings Accounts

Frost Bank has just one savings account, called, simply, the Frost Savings Account. The account pays annual percentage yield, which is more than the rates large banks pay and about double the national average rate of 0.46%. However, you’ll need $50 to open an account and might have fees to contend with.

Account holders age 25 or older incur a $3.50 monthly maintenance fee with the Frost Savings Account, but it’s easy to waive — just maintain at least a $300 balance, deposit at least $10 per month or own a Frost Plus Account or Frost Premium account.

A significant downside for some consumers is that free withdrawals are limited to two per month. You’ll pay $3 for each one after that.

Frost Bank CD Accounts

Frost certificates of deposit are available in three sets of terms based on the amount of money you want to open your account with. Ninety- and 180-day CDs earn the highest rates, which makes them an attractive option for anyone who’s leery about tying up their money for too long.

You must deposit at least $1,000 to open a Frost CD. A one year CD in the lower balance range earns APY. In all ranges, rates are highly competitive with those of major banks like Bank of America and Chase.

Money Market Accounts

If you maintain high savings balances and have limited check-writing needs, you can earn more interest with a Frost money market account than with separate checking and savings accounts. Another benefit is the ability to withdraw money six times per month, including with checks.

Rates are tiered based on your balance and they tend to be quite competitive. The $15 monthly fee is waived with a $15,000 minimum daily balance in the MMA or ownership of a Frost Premium Account. You can open a money market with a minimum deposit of $50.

Banking Experience

Frost Bank operates branches in several metro areas across Texas. However, Frost offers customers a variety of options for both customer service and account access.

If you prefer to visit a branch with questions, most branches are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. CST and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST, although some are closed on Saturdays. If you’d like, you can call ahead for an appointment.

Customer Service

Customer service and internet banking specialists are available 24/7 throughout the year. The general customer service number is 800-513-7678. For a Spanish-speaking banker, call 210-220-4511.

Another option is to chat with a live agent. You must be logged into online banking or the mobile app to use this feature.

Technology

Frost customers can handle almost all banking functions on their computers or through the Frost App, which is available on the App Store and Google Play, where they’re rated 4.9 out of five stars and 4.8 out of five stars, respectively.

The app gives you access to all your Frost finances, including mortgages, credit cards and IRAs. You can use it to open an account, connect your Frost accounts to accounts at other financial institutions, send or receive money, deposit checks and contact customer service.

Comparable Banking Options

Banking is a competitive business, and inevitably, banks will stand out in specific areas. These are some of the best benefits offered by Frost and two of its peers.

Frost vs. Bank of America

Bank of America, Member FDIC, offers the world’s largest wealth management business through Merrill Lynch. However, Frost’s personal touch could amount to a competitive advantage when serving Texans.

Frost vs. Chase

Chase allows customers to open bank accounts without an initial deposit, which is a convenience Frost doesn’t offer on all its accounts. Nonetheless, opening an account with Frost will probably equal less in fees over time.

Final Take

Frost is a good option for those who live in its immediate service area because the bank offers a wide variety of products and services, some of which you must visit a branch location to access. As one of the Best Southwest Regional Banks of 2024, it has the resources to compete with larger institutions regarding technology while remaining small enough to offer the kind of personal touch found at a community bank.

But because Frost is exclusively a Texas bank, it’s not a good choice for those who live and work outside of its service area — or even for Texans who don’t live near a Frost branch or ATM. Customers looking for a bank with a wider geographic reach are likely better off elsewhere.

See All Best Banks

Compare to Other Banks

• Bank of America Review
• Chase Bank Review
• Wells Fargo Bank Review
• PNC Bank Review
• Capital One Bank Review

Daria Uhlig 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 Jan. 3, 2024.

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 online banks and neobanks) located in under 25 states. To determine rankings, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors: (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) checking product minimum deposit; (3) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (4) savings product minimum deposit; (5) savings product APY; (6) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (7) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services and insurance); and (8) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1), (2) and (4) were weighted 0.5 times; factor (5) was weighted 2.5 times; and factor (7) was weighted 1.5 times. 

For regional breakdowns, the same methodology as above was used. The regions were broken down into the following: West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY); Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX); Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Southeast (AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, LA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV); and Northeast (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT). To be considered for a region, a bank had to have a branch in one of the states listed and be headquartered in that state/region.

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