Credit Union opinions....

[06R1]

So I'm looking at switching from giving my money away to Skank of America and Chase and going to a credit union, but want to hear from people on their experiences. Mostly dealing with account and ATM fees and ease of access for on-line bill pay and mobile options. I travel for work so I need to be able to access my account from wherever I may be that week and would prefer to not have to pay 2-4 bucks every time I use someone else's ATM.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[~Barn~]

My CU (as I would suspect most are...) is part of a nationwide network called "CU Service Centers", that allows you to transact ATM business at virtually any other CU in the country, and many overseas, with little to no downside. Definitely no transaction fees.

And to sweeten the deal, 7-11 actually has a contract with Vcom, so you can do complete kiosk banking with your Credit Union, at every 7-11. (At least every 7-11 I've ever been in.)

So yeah. It's lightyears better than banking with a traditional Chase or Wells Fargo, even with as ubiquitous as those joints are. G'luck!

[laspariahs]

I have SSFCU, and the only fee I pay is if I use my debt card as a debt card, it's .25 cents, if I use it as a CC it's free as well.


I recently had my first issue with them after 15+ years, and they sorted it out quickly with no real issue.

[Nooch]

My CU (as I would suspect most are...) is part of a nationwide network called "CU Service Centers", that allows you to transact ATM business at virtually any other CU in the country, and many overseas, with little to no downside. Definitely no transaction fees.

Same for me. I have 2 accounts with 2 separate credit unions, Public Service Credit Union and Bellco. Ive used credit unions my whole adult life, Ive never wanted to switch to a bank. The only thing I havent done is take out a loan with my CU. PSCU even credits you back a percentage of your overdraft fees if you make a deposit within 36 hours of the overdraft. Ive never seen any sort of fees for checking or debit cards on either of my accounts. And Bellco ATMs are free to ANYONE, regardless of who your ATM/Debit card was issued by. As far as mobile access, I know PSCU doesnt have a mobile app, and Im not sure if Bellco does, but both have mobile websites that I use frequently. I cannot give you any insight however regarding online bill-pay. I don't use it. But given that everything else I do with them is free, I can't imagine that there are any charges for bill-pay services.

[Ghost]

For a non-traditional bank you can consider ING

http://home.ingdirect.com/products/p...ElectricOrange

[modette99]

I have State Department Federal Credit Union (SDFCU) and the wife set her side business up at ENT which is a credit union.

We still have the bulk of things with Chase, I never had a problem with Chase, no ATM fees, no banking fees, good personnel banker although our girl has left so not sure now. If we were to move things it be to ENT. I keep SDFCU only for the credit card at something like 7% interest. Plus their rewards work great...but I think to belong you HAVE to be with the State Department or have a family member.

[mdub]

yup...CU are they to go. Been with pscu since forever. I was a Norwest cust for a cpl of yrs but bailed out just right after Wells Fargo bought them. CU are just the way to go with your money. And withdrawals at 7-11's are the best. Strangely enuff you'll find a 7-11s in towns that you would not think would have one

[King Nothing]

We have two CU accounts and an ING account. "Banks" in the traditional sense, suck.

[Nooch]

Strangely enuff you'll find a 7-11s in towns that you would not think would have one

Especially handy when you're riding the canyons and rolling through little hilljack towns! The CU network is a nice bonus for riders! Especially for warriors like Clovis.

[Ezzzzy1]

My CU (as I would suspect most are...) is part of a nationwide network called "CU Service Centers", that allows you to transact ATM business at virtually any other CU in the country, and many overseas, with little to no downside. Definitely no transaction fees.

And to sweeten the deal, 7-11 actually has a contract with Vcom, so you can do complete kiosk banking with your Credit Union, at every 7-11. (At least every 7-11 I've ever been in.)

So yeah. It's lightyears better than banking with a traditional Chase or Wells Fargo, even with as ubiquitous as those joints are. G'luck!

USAA is now open for anyone to join and they are pretty good once you get used to not having a physical bank to walk into. I have used them for years and think they are worth a serious look.

As far a Credit Unions go (from a Colorado native) I have been with Credit Union of Colorado https://www.cuofco.org/ for over 20 years. Never a single problem and once I stared establishing some relationships there things were super easy. I would walk in say that I need a loan for a bike or car and they would tell me to call them when I need the money. That simple.

[birchyboy]

We've got a few accounts with Public Service Credit Union and they have been good overall. I had an issue last week where I tried to deposit a large payroll check (with stub) while in Vegas and they initially were going to put a 5 day hold on it. They eventually agreed to give me immediate access to 33% of it once the lady at the CU Service Center in Vegas faxed them some paperwork.

If you have access to USAA, they have a decent checking account that gives you free ATM access, ATM fee reimbursement, and deposit by photo as well (I think; I haven't used it).

[Ghost]

We have two CU accounts and an ING account. "Banks" in the traditional sense, suck.

Same, ING + CU

[Grand]

They're great. If I went into more detail I'd just end up repeating what everyone else is saying, and I agree with all the previous posts. The ATM system is fantastic, and you can check just about everything online/on the phone. Their interest matches my savings account at the bank as well.

[Clovis]

I've used ENT for 25 years and like them.

[Matt]

I've used ENT for 25 years and like them.

Same here, been with ENT since 1985 and have no complaints.

[salsashark]

Been w/ my CU for over 10 years. I would never go back to a traditional bank.

My story. When I bought my Buell, I had the CU do the loan. The bike was delivered but the loan paperwork got "lost" on someone's desk at the CU. By the time they sorted it out, I had accrued 50 dollars in late fees at the DMV for not being able to register it for two months. I went in to the CU, explained what had happened and asked them to make it right. They cut me a $50 check on the spot. Let's see USBank or any other bank do that.

[mdub]

that is why they say Credit Unions are customer owned.

[Nick_Ninja]

CU since 1969 FTW!

[06R1]

Thanks for all the responses. I definitely want to make the move. I have a friend of mine that uses USAA and he has always liked them. I didn't know the part about them being open to everyone now though. So they will have to go on my list. Sounds like I'll be looking at PSCU, and CUOC as well.

[derekm]

Dropped us bank (after 1st bank) for pscu & very happy. Only "negative" are closest branch hours but a 10 minute drive gets me to a 24 hour deposit enabled atm. Also just joined security service since I have a loan with them.

[derekm]

also in hindsight another reason I'm glad I dropped usb is I left a card in an atm, it ate it so my bad... 7 days later I get a new bank card. like 6+ mos later my old card # was used by hackers trying to steal funds(by this time was using pscu 99.9%)but the old card # was still tied to the acct???

on a good note I had under 8$ in acct & they declined a $2k attempted charge