HIGH RISK RISK

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO — Rated HIGH RISK

Consumer complaint rating · Based on federal CFPB data · How we score

⚠Based on real complaints filed by customers like you
1 in 3,540customers had to complain officiallyNot a call to customer service — a formal complaint to the US government, on permanent public record
88%of complaints never resolvedThat's 1,362 real people who complained officially and got absolutely nothing
1,548official complaints on recordEvery complaint is a formal filing with the US government — not a review, a customer who felt they had no other option
Show me safer banks →

WEBSTER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION has a 1.3× lower complaint rate — and we have two other options too

Overall Risk ScoreHow is this calculated?
51/100High Risk
⚠ USE WITH CAUTIONWorse than 24% of rated US banksShow me safer banks ↓
0.28/1kHow often customers complained
12% fixedHow often problems got fixed
9% refundedHow often money got returned

Score: complaint rate (60%) · problems resolved (30%) · money returned (10%) · full methodology

What the data says about your risk— Low Risk

If you are a customer of BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, the data shows an above-average complaint rate. More customers here needed to escalate disputes than at most comparable institutions.

1 in 3,540 customers felt they had no choice but to complain officially

This is not a complaint to customer service. This is a formal complaint filed with the US government, on permanent public record — the last resort after everything else failed.

1,362 people complained officially and got absolutely nothing

That is 88% of everyone who escalated. They filed. They waited. They were told no. No money returned. No correction made.

Only 9% of complaints resulted in any money being returned

A further 88% were closed with an explanation only — the institution said "we disagree." No money moved. No correction made. The complaint was marked resolved.

100% response rate — but only 12% of complaints were actually resolved

The law requires a reply within 15 days — and they met that. But replying is not the same as fixing. The data shows they are far better at responding than resolving.

33% of all complaints come from Mortgages alone

That is 514 individual complaints in one product area. If you hold a mortgages account here, this risk applies directly to you.

Where their complaints are worst

Mortgages — 0.09 complaints per 1,000 customers

Customers most commonly report payments applied to the wrong account, loan modification requests that did not progress, and processing errors during the most financially critical moment of their lives.

All figures from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and FDIC BankFind — US federal public records.

You might be thinking: this probably won't happen to me. You're right — most customers here never need to file a federal complaint. But 1 in 3540 did. And of those who escalated, 88% walked away with nothing resolved. The question isn't whether it will happen — it's whether you want to bank somewhere with better odds if it does.

✦ Our Top Recommendation

WEBSTER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

1.3× lower complaint rate than BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

LOWER RISK
  • Federal data records a complaint rate of 0.21/1,000 customers — significantly fewer unresolved complaints than BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
  • If you ever needed to escalate a problem, you would statistically be 1.3× less likely to end up filing with the federal government
  • Switching takes about 2 hours of active effort — see our step-by-step guide
▼ See 2 more alternatives

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA

1.3× lower · 0.22/1k

View rating →

MECHANICS BANK

1.0× lower · 0.29/1k

View rating →

“But switching banks sounds like a headache.”

It usually isn't. The average US bank switch takes under 2 hours of active effort, spread across about 10 days. Direct debits can be moved one at a time. Your employer redirects your salary in one pay cycle. You run both accounts in parallel for 30 days — then close the old one.

Read our step-by-step switching guide →
High confidence
What does this confidence level mean?

High confidence — based on 1,548 complaints and verified FDIC deposit data. Rate is accurate.

✔CFPB Public Complaint Database✔FDIC BankFind✔US Federal Public Records✔4,977 institutions analysed

Full Data Record

Complaint Rate

0.28/1k

customers per year (CFPB data)

Total Complaints Filed

1,548

with the CFPB (2011–present)

"We Disagree" Letters

88%

closed with "we disagree" — no fix, no money

Accepted Bank's Rejection

92%

of complainants gave up after bank said no

People Who Got Nothing

1,362

escalated to federal level and walked away empty-handed

Estimated True Impact

30,960

estimated affected customers (CFPB: ~5% ever file)

How This Compares

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO's complaint rate of 0.28/1,000 ranks better than 76% of institutions in the ComplaintRate dataset.

▼ Show comparison chart (5 rated institutions)
MECHANICS BANK
0.29/1k
GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
0.30/1k
COMMERCE BANK
0.34/1k
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA
0.22/1k
WEBSTER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
0.21/1k

Breakdown by Product

Browse by Product Category

Credit CardsMortgageChecking & SavingsPersonal LoansStudent LoansAuto LoansMoney TransferDebt CollectionAll Banks →
▼ Methodology & data sources

Complaint rates are calculated by dividing total CFPB complaints by estimated customer base (derived from FDIC deposit data), normalised to complaints per 1,000 customers per year. Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau public complaint database (2011–present).

Resolution statistics reflect outcomes recorded in the CFPB database as reported by financial institutions. All language describes what the data shows — not the intent of any institution.

Composite Risk Score weights complaint rate (60%), resolution rate (30%), and monetary relief rate (10%). Full methodology →