4Front Credit Union is headquartered in Traverse City and is the 25th largest credit union in the state of Michigan. It is also the 427th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1954 and as of June of 2023, it had grown to 261 employees and 100,408 members at 18 locations. 4Front Credit Union's CD rates are 6X the national average, and it has a B health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
4Front Credit Union offers membership to individuals (and their immediate family members) who live, work, worship, or attend school anywhere in Michigan.
See current membership details
Internet Checking Account
I have two checking accounts at Members Credit Union. My first account is for all normal business. My second account is exclusively for internet transactions. The internet checking account maintains a balance of less than $1.00. When I want to make an internet purchase, I transfer the amount of purchase form my regular checking account to the internet checking account. In the event that an unscrupulous internet seller falsely charges my account, it is immediately rejected. When I contact the credit union and report the fradulent transaction, it is immediately reversed. The credit union never has a problem when I transfer unusual amounts, like $13.43 from one account to the other. On one occasion, I purchased a new camera from a seller in New York. The seller shipped a used camera. When I contacted the seller, they said that they would refund the purchase price but not the shipping charges. When I contacted the credit union, they advised me to return the camera and bring in the shipping reciept. When I took in the return shipping reciept, the credit union reversed the entire transaction. The customer service is terriffic.
Low Cost To Have Accounts
4 Front credit union is the only financial institution that I have ever had an account with that hasn't fee'd me to death. If you want to have a checking account you also need to have a savings or 'share' account. I had to keep at least a $5 minimum balance in the share account to keep my accounts active. As long as you have any kind of ETF deposits going directly into your personal checking account there are no monthly fees, no fees for minimum balance and they do offer overdraft protection. I declined the overdraft protection because the fees they can charge you for having a negative balance can become ridiculous, as with any financial institution. You would be better off eating the $35 bounced check fee than putting your account in the hole. The only negative thing I had with my account was that after moving out of the area I decreased my usage of the account and it eventually went dormant, which automatically closed my checking account and incurred a $5 fee. They do have several branch locations in the northern Michigan area - mostly in the Grand Traverse region. If you travel out of the area you can use pretty much any other credit union's ATM fee free, though, which is nice.
4front
I have been with 4front since they switched on over from Members Credit Union, in this time I have noticed a lot of change with my savings and checking accounts. The fee's are better, I do not need a minimum of 5 dollars in my account any more, which for someone who is unemployed it is a bonus. They are generally pretty good when it comes to over fee's but I did have a huge problem a while back with them, when they were members credit union. I called and requested that overdraft be turned off my account, the lady on the phone said it was taken care of, even gave me her name and stuff. So I thought it was done. Well I was wrong, about a week later I look at my account and 2 purchases have went into overdraft. Guess what, 50 dollars in overdraft fee's. I was extremely pissed off. I called and asked what the hell was going on. Another lady told me you have to fill out paperwork to turn on overdraft. I was mad, explained what happened and asked them to reverse the charges because it was their mistake. Nope they wouldn't do that. It makes me not want to bank there now but since 4front took over, and some of the old staff had quit, things are a hell of a lot better. No hidden fee's and they tell you up front about your account. You can easily check everything on their website, all your accounts, very easy to see what is going on. I love it now.
Poorly Managed, Poorly Trained Employees
I became a member of 4Front after my credit union was acquired by 4Front. Things only went down hill from there. They are almost impossible to reach by phone. The counter employees are generally nice but seem to be untrained in such areas as IRA accounts and tax reporting on distributions from those accounts. The branch manager was rude and refused to help me with a incorrect tax reporting form. A large mistake made by them that they incorrectly reported to the IRS.
After several years of problems, I finally moved my retirement account to a local bank. I would not recommend 4Front. If you want a good banking experience look elsewhere.
4Front Credit Union No Help.
I wouldn't recommend using this credit union,my card was hacked 4 times with in 2 months and every time it's the same hacker and all 4front says is wete sorry we can't do anything, and here I'm going to need to call everyone again that I have have auto pay with and yet 4front credit union doesn't give a shit about you or your time that is invested in making all these phone calls , so if you want to go through this go ahead and use this credit union,and when this happens to you over and over remember that I gave you a warning ??.
HORRIBLE!
I do not have overdraft protection. A fraudulent charge for advertising I did not run and had cancelled I purposely to protect myself removed funds from my account in case N2 Publishing, a fraudulent company tried to steal money out of my account. Never before did 4front release funds when funds were not in the account, but some employee decided to pay it, even though I did not have overdraft protection. 4 front did not take responsibility for this, and now have recharged my account instead of doing the right thing. Their customer service is terrible to begin with, but this is the last straw. All the way around. 4 front just is a bottom feeder of Credit Unions. TBA much better and where I went.
Poorly Managed
First my account number was changed with no notice. Second my checks came with my name and someone else's name on it , that I did not know. Third when I try to call the automated system I get a busy signal is. Time to start looking for a new credit union.
Data as of Q2 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 61365 |
| Year Chartered | 1954 |
| Employees | 261 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.47% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 6.23% |
| Annual Interest Income | $24.5MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $999.4MM$963.2MM |
| Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $726.2MM$649.5MM |
| Deposits | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $917.7MM$848.8MM |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $77.0MM$75.9MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$1.3MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $10.2MM$4.4MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$0 |
