https://www.members1st.org/

Got an email my membership was rejected.

I called and spoke to a member of operations.

They acted rude, almost as if I "wasn't allowed to know why".

They said I "didn't list any employment".

I told them I listed my self employment, I own a small business, they said "that's not a real job". Um, wtf?

Then they said "your addresses don't all match". I said I moved quite a bit, and again they acted like that isn't something "normal" people do.

The kicker? They said if I stop in person, they could still open an account. So somehow applying online this is terrible, but if I show my face in one of their branches 5 hours from here, it magically makes it all good?

So here is everything that happened. I went to obtain membership by opening an account.

I mistakenly closed my other credit union account before the ach deposit went through, so it was returned.

Now I had this happen once before, and it was actually opening my first checking account at a CU. It took one phone call to resolve this. One. They simply resubmitted the ACH and I had the account temporarily halted for closure at the other CU and all was well.

Not Alliant.

Alliant automates so much stuff, that anything requiring manual intervention takes days or weeks. This is not the norm at most credit unions. Hell, it's not even the normal at most major banks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AlliantCreditUnion/comments/1f3kmbm/alliant_credit_union_unusually_slow_at_credit/

So it took over a week for them to even "mark the account for closure review".

"Closure review" takes "an average of two weeks".

Not that I really wish to do business with them again, but it's insane to have to wait almost an entire month to restart the account.

While the account was under review, they sent me my account number, phone banking pin, and even a debit card in the mail.

This is not normal folks. If an account gets reviewed like this, you aren't suppose to keep sending stuff. Seems rather insecure.

Despite not being able to log into my account, they kept trying to send me communications through secure email in the account.

Can someone tell me what lender or bank is this one in the image?

https://imgur.com/a/JumtjnE

A credit union near me is hiring for a part time teller position & I wanted to ask about what it could be like working there. Its about 20 hours which is more than I work now. I’ve been in retail for over 2.5 years now & am desperate for a better job. I have experience taking payments & handling cash as well as customer service experience. My questions are: whats the dress code like? What’s it like explaining all the products available? Is there any up selling involved? How do you learn all the polices about security & loss/fraud?

How does the math work out? Ex: idk let's say you have 30,000 USD as an emergency fund.

I mean if you can find a credit union offering 2%, then over a year that's a 30,000*0.02=600 dollars

Or 1%, that's 300 dollars I for a year

Is 300 or 600 dollars worth it for you to go through the hassle of signing up for an obscure credit union that still offers 1-2% even in a zero interest rate environment? Or would you prefer to SGOV it and leave that 300 or 600 on the table?

I feel like I'm forgetting something- how does the math actually work out?

'get i bonds' - ok fine but that's a 1 year minimum lockup, a 5 year lockup with no penalty, and then you still have the rest of your emergency fund

I sell on eBay full time and do not receive traditional direct deposits.

If one ACH transfers money from eBay into a checking account, would that technically be a "direct deposit" in order to waive the fee some CU's charge for their checking accounts unless you receive a direct deposit?

I find it out there are all kinds of credit card review sites that put cards side by side to show you what they do or don't offer, but I'm not finding the same for credit unions.

Sure, I can find plenty of review sites, but I want something like this:

https://preview.redd.it/u588j9fj1p3e1.png?width=463&format=png&auto=webp&s=fbd8f776204cb6a2c954c9abddc1ace87fcdad46

So I applied for membership, and accidentally started account closure at my main CU because I mistakenly thought the ACH had already gone through.

Logged in, and noticed the returned ACH. I wasn't charged a fee or anything, it simply zeroed out the account.

Since this was in the evening, I sent a secure message detailing what happened and asked what to do.

I log in the next day and see the account has been restricted.

The first rep I spoke to spent 30 minutes with me, completely wasting time as she was delusionally adamant it was a log in or browser issue.

I went back to my main CU and put the $25 back in the account and halted the closure.

I asked them to just resubmit the ACH, but they refused.

They said the account would need to be reviewed and this would take "7-10 days".

Reviewed for what? They knew what happened, I knew what happened.

They said the account would either remain open or it would close, and I would have to reapply.

5 days goes by and they changed it to "being reviewed for closure".

I asked what does "being reviewed for closure" mean. As either it's being closed, or it's not. They could not answer this question.

But they said I could not apply again until I received a letter in the mail that the account had been closed. I asked them "how do you know when I will receive this letter?" they could not answer.

I asked them if it was normal policy to completely restrict access to an account without warning, and they said "yes".

The department that handles memberships cannot be talked to by anyone except Alliant employees. I find this unusual, I've spoken to the operations or membership teams at several CU's.

When I mentioned sending a secure email, they said "those are replied to by a third party". When I asked if this means my potentially sensitive information is going outside of Alliant, they could not answer that question.

The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I had this happen with a different CU before around 7 years ago, and it took one call to the operations team to simply have them resubmit the ACH, easy peasy.

Oh, and they sent me all kinds of shit in the mail, including a debit card. They did this WHILE the account was being reviewed.

I am trying to open an account at a golden 1 credit union. They need proof of address. I don't have any bills in my name and my address is different on my drivers license from our last house. I am a homemaker and caregiver for my SO's mom and I work as an IHSS provider for another recipient. All I have is my work pay stub to prove my address. What do I do?

So before I got into Credit Unions a few years ago, I had accounts at the following banks over a 15 year period, and not at the same time. Some I changed because I moved, some because they started fees, and one because they had a new account scandal I was caught up in (WF)

Chase

BofA

Wells Fargo

Citibank

US Bank

Capital One Bank

2 local banks.

I had zero issues getting accounts at any of these banks.

Now credit unions are a whole different ball of wax, and many seem to purposely shut out new potential members.

A lot of them are very picky with credit scores, and of course credit scores are calculated with secret info and some places have their own scoring model. Some also hard pull your credit, which affects your overall score.

PenFed denied me a savings account, yes a savings account, due to poor credit. A local CU opened an account for me, but said I could only spend $50 a day with my debit card (even with opting out of O/D protection).

But even if they deny you based on credit, they will STILL pull from ChexSystems, and now you've landed yourself on a big list of credit unions that will flat out deny you if you have too many inquires. ChexSystems does not report open bank accounts like credit reporting agencies report credit accounts.

I was denied an account at RBFCU, because their application for membership does not ask you question to determine membership as does almost every credit union that limits membership to a geographical area, employee group, etc. There's no "backdoor" either. Guess what? Another Chex pull.

So you have now shot yourself in the foot through no fault of your own, because you have no idea if your credit is good enough to obtain an account at these places, and the "accepted score" can be wildly different across credit unions.

Here is what I believe needs to change:

1. Credit Unions need to be held accountable for odd membership requirements. If they deny you based on credit scoring alone, it needs to state that in plain text on their application page: "We may deny you membership with us unless you have a credit score that is considered acceptable". Credit Unions should use a filtering Q and A to determine membership eligibility BEFORE the application process is started.,

2. If a Credit Union denies based on credit, it needs to do this BEFORE pulling from ChexSystems.

3. Ungranted memberships or unopened accounts at CU's should result in the inquiry being REMOVED from ChexSystems.

4. Credit Unions will use third party companies to validate your information, some of this information may be very out of date. One asked me the house number of an apartment I lived at over 7 years ago. One asked me for the color of a car I have not owned in 5 years. These questions assume people have near photographic memory.

5. Until I updated it, ChexSystems had my main address on file as one I had not lived at in over 8 years.

6. Credit Unions, by law, need to disclose the exact reason for denial, rather than sending a boilerplate "we are unable to approve you for membership at this time".

I guess trying to find another institution is now considered a bad thing.

Never mind the fact the last 4 I applied to denied for me other reasons (credit, weird membership requirements that weren't listed)

To make a long story short, after submitting multiple documents including a copy of my Social Security Card (which no CU or bank has ever asked me for), they denied my application because "information provided by a third party does not match".

On TOP of all this, they sent me a link that uses my phone camera to take photos of me from multiple angles.

I explained to them their online form did not ask me for a prior address or time lived at current address. They said I would have to come to their branch in person (12+hrs away) in order to "personally appear".

Ya, no.

I'm retiring next summer. I am a WA state employee and I use a credit union here--prefer over banks. I will be moving to Austin TX and I'm looking for opinions on credit unions there. Specifically, which might I qualify for?

I have a question, I live in Florida and I spoke to the Secu Maryland chat and they told me that I may be eligible for membership if I come through a family member or make a donation to their foundation, I am interested in joining SECU Maryland for the interest rates on their personal loans, I process and make the donation of $10 dollars. I already have an approved loan and they told me to open a savings shared with $ 10 dollars. I process and make the donation of $10 dollars to be eligible and I make the membership application. Today I receive a message that they cannot accept my membership application, so I lost my $10 dollars of the donation. I do not understand this credit union very bad for them to tell me that I can be eligible. I live in Florida, always making a donation.

They should not have told me that I am eligible. I lost the $10 in a donation because I thought from the beginning that maybe because I do not live in Maryland they will not accept my membership. I spoke with them via chat and they told me yes and then they did not accept my application. However, the loan application was approved but there is no way it will work because I am not a member. This is ridiculous.

Who are you all using for deposit account origination?

I was curious does this r/ include only CU members or also CU employees. I'm looking to get some employees perspective on something I've been researching, but not sure if this is the right place for it

So I have been thinking about joining arrowhead credit union, but I was told that I cannot use Zelle or get direct deposit for the first 30 days of my new membership. How true is this?

I’m interested in banking with Golden 1 Credit Union they have good rates. But their app looks SUPER outdated! Does anybody currently bank with them? & if so do you have any issues with using their mobile app?

I'm interested in a card they offer & wanted to see if people here were happy with them as a cu & what people here thought of their credit card offerings. I'm looking at the travel rewards card specifically. I already have a discover card for cash back & a low limit platinum card.

Hi all. I'm purchasing a car soon. I have read many people in here on Reddit have gotten a car loan through a local CU and got incredible rates (I've read as low as 2%). Bank Of America pre approved me for 7.84% which is just awful. I've only had cash cars in my 26 years of life and never gotten a car loan nor I know how Credit Unions work. Where I do I start? How do you join? Which one should I join? How do you apply for a car loan once you've joined? I appreciate any help/advice!

For personal & business ideally.

I don't seem to be able to find details on any credit union's website about who and what they fund with members money. I looked up Alliant and a few local ones like Hudson Valley Credit Union. I am concerned about a credit union being affiliated with Christian organizations or discriminatory practices. They all seem to claim they are ethical but when they just say some generic stuff about being equitable but don't say where they put their money, it concerns me. Any recs/ advice? I have been researching on my own and I'm getting all turned around.

My credit isn't the best. I've been working on it, started the year at 478. Now I'm at 618. I need a emergency loan due to some life stuff. I'm a sole propieter. Would my odds of getting a loan through my credit union be good?

Is it service, technology, community involvement?

Trying to understand how to choose a credit union besides what’s “nearby”. Wondering how others assess.

How would people rank their considerations when choosing a CU?

Looking to make the move from bank to CU

I got that today and I'm seriously confused on what it is/means. Is it like a refund? Or do ! have to pay it back. BTW it put $50 into my checkings

Has 7-11 stopped participating in the coop ATM Network? Last time I went it didn't pull up the screen and tried to charge a fee. I wasn't sure if this is just an issue at that 7-11, because online everything still seems to indicate they're included.

Thanks

Does anyone use Truliant credit union? How good are they with deposits and notifications?

Having some trouble choosing a credit union to go with. I plan on moving soon so I need a credit union that doesn't tie me down locally in my town. I'm in the auto industry and I'm looking for a credit union that will be easy to get a high "internal score" for auto loan financing. I'm in Texas and I don't have any close veteran family memebers.

I've been with my local credit union for decades and they've been great up until now. In the last five years they have begun expanding enormously: geographically, membership, and locations have expanded exponentially.

This week I got a letter telling me they are unilaterally changing my checking account. No longer a free checking account it will have a monthly fee. I'm okay with this.

In the same letter they announce that are also enrolling everyone in a 3rd party rewards program / app. The program shares your account activity with the 3rd party and is opt out. I did opt out, but I'm annoyed that I had to call and then go into my branch office to sign an opt out form.

Is this the reality of modern banking or has my local CU lost the path?

Bonus question, why do I feel differently about my bank doing this vs my rewards credit card doing this? I can't quite parse why, except that I knew when I enrolled in the credit card how it was going to be.