BCU is headquartered in Vernon Hills and is the 3rd largest credit union in the state of Illinois. It is also the 58th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1980 and as of March of 2025, it had grown to 757 employees and 361,144 members at 45 locations. BCU's money market rates are 9X the national average, and it has a B+ health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in BCU is open to those who live or work in the Illinois counties of Cook (north of 95th Street South in Chicago), DuPage, McHenry, Lake, or Kane; Kenosha County, Wisconsin; or Puerto Rico. Employees of Boston Scientific, Centegra Health Care, Rust-Oleum Corporation and other area Select Employer Groups are also eligible. Immediate and extended family members of a current BCU member also qualify for membership.
See current membership details
I Wish I Would Of Read The Reviews
I applied for a credit card and the process was horrible. For a small credit card they wanted things in such a way that I have never been asked. Other quality credit unions have treated well and have always gotten a good amount of credit on the cards that I apply for. Stay away, there are hundreds of credit unions out there that are fantastic and give you quality service. This credit union is the total opposite. It has left me with not going for the small card since they are not a high quality credit union.
Victimided Twice...One By A Dishonest Customer And Again By This Bank
I submitted a check from a customwr and it was bad ..... They closed my account without warning after telling me my account was fine after I paid the fees. Fees were paid and they still closed my account and caused my paycheck to be delayed......do not bano with them, they can get you evicted for non payment with the way they run things.
Do Not Bank Here
This is the worst place I have ever banked. Do not bank with them. They make you jump through hoops to access anything. Charge you fees for rush cards after youve been on the phone with them for 2 hours. Have supervisors that lie and say there is a different department that opens later to deal with getting you a new card, just to find out there is no other department. I have had multiple problems with BCU ever since I opened my account 5 years ago. I will be transferring all of my money out of the account after my next paycheck goes through and closing my accounts. The only good person to work here is Anna from Member Relations.
Do NOT BANK WITH THIS BANK
This bank scams people out of their money. Then when you call to get your money back they say they will send to the state and they will issue the refund. Do you know how long that will take? Reasoning is they not sure if I qualify to be a member! Well in that case refund the money to the payment it was made with. A bunch of scammers and I would not recommend them to my worse enemy!
Save Yourself The Frustration!
Revoked me and my husband's debit card "privileges" because disputing charges made me a risk. Backstory- I tried to dispute charges from Apple that were not mine (haven't had an Apple account in 5+ years). I had been calling in for over a year telling the bank that these fees of $4.99 keep coming out of my account, biweekly, and I needed it to stop. Was NEVER able to get through to a human at Apple for help. Each phone call to BCU would last between 1-2 hours because I would be transferred back and forth over and over again or because I would not accept the answers they were providing me, for example, telling me I need a new debit card, to which I would explain that I had done that four times...I'd be transferred to someone else. They had me get a new debit card four times to try and prevent this from happening and the charges still kept being deducted out my account. Finally, BCU said there is nothing they can do to prevent the charges from coming out of my account because they said I had to have had an Apple/iTunes account, which I did years ago and therefore, I must have signed up for whatever it was that caused me to be charged $4.99. I was then told that if they refunded me the money they, BCU, would be out the money that was sent to Apple and that apparently was not going to happen. I was told I cannot dispute the charges because they, the fraud department felt the charges from Apple were legit. I was then told yesterday that the BCU fraud department's only way of preventing the charges was to revoke me and my husbands "privileges" of using a debit card. I became hostile and I told the employee to close my account and mail me a check for the money in my account. Very bad customer service. One employee tells you one thing and another one tells you something different.
Data as of Q1 2025
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 68187 |
| Year Chartered | 1980 |
| Employees | 757 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.36% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 3.95% |
| Annual Interest Income | $91.4MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $6.24B$6.06B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $4.9B$4.89B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $4.95B$4.78B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $558.4MM$525.3MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $59.9MM$54.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $40.6MM$41.9MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $0$249K |
