Bellco Credit Union is headquartered in Greenwood Village and is the 2nd largest credit union in the state of Colorado. It is also the 40th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1936 and as of June of 2023, it had grown to 352 employees and 369,314 members at 29 locations. Bellco Credit Union's money market rates are 9X the national average, and it has an A health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in Bellco Credit Union is open to anyone by joining the Bellco Foundation ($10 minimum donation). All Colorado residents are eligible by joining Consumers United Association ($5 annual membership fee). Membership is also open to those who live or work in the Colorado counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Garfield, Jefferson, Larimer, Moffat, Mesa, Rio Blanco, or Weld, as well as the employees of over 1,600 Select Employee Groups.
See current membership details
Related Posts
1/26 - Bellco Credit Union Unveils Competitive 17-Month Promo CD
3/2 - Updates To Bellco Credit Union Smart Move CD
1/21 - Bellco Credit Union Boosts 24-Month CD Rates
8/1 - Bellco CU Drops MM Rate To 1.00%
7/12 - 1.25% APY Premier MM Acct: Bellco CU, CO Easy Membership, Minimum $50K
7/11/17 - Online Application - Unavailable
7/6/17 - Bellco 22 And 44 Month Index Advantage Increased By 0.25%
3/12/17 - Read The Fine Print On Any Deal
11/3/16 - Bellco CU's 28-Month Promotional CDs Available Nationwide
9/9/16 - Bellco CU Now Offers Reward Checking Nationwide
10/23/06 - 5.80% 11-Month CD at a Colorado CU (Bellco)
Friendly Union
My dad cosigned me into my account when I was a teenager and I haven't left in over a decade. My neighborhood teller was always friendly. I have a Checking, Money Market, and a credit card they helped me set up. I particularly like the Boost Checking account and it works great for me. Online banking has been great both online and on my mobile. The system has had growing pains but their new app works great. I have even used their financial advisors in the past.
I also have a small account with Wells Fargo (for when I'm out of the state) and everytime I'm there it seems like I'm trying to be sold on another product or to open another account. I don't get that at Bellco, let get me in and out but are always willing to help if I have any other needs.
Good Rates (I Think), But Too Hard To Get Started
Competitive Products
In an environment where rates are generally expected to increase, the 22 month and 44 month Index Advantage CDs seem to be quite competitive. At this time, the 44 month has a rate that beats those that Ally and others are offering for 5 year. The 90 day early withdrawal penalty seems to provide a reasonably easy out if the forecast for interest rates change and someone else offers a great special. 90 days EWP with a 3+ year CD seems to be quite rare. According to the EWP calculator, the 22 month CD should only be taken if you plan to keep the money there for 21 or 22 months (or less than 3 months).
Customer service
Approval of membership and and funding of accounts is way more difficult than it should be. The online application process is straight-forward enough, but when the application is reviewed by a human requests start coming in for other things - fresh scans of ID's, utility bill to "prove" residence, etc. I was also told that since I was out of state I would need to make a donation to their charity. That's not a big deal, but it shows that they didn't read my application where I indicated that I work for one of the companies in their field of membership.
The beneficiary and signature card that they provide is a scan provided through docusign. I was not told ahead of time that they would be providing it that way. I'm a bit leary of unexpected docusign requests as I know at least one person that received a fraudulent docusign request in the past couple of months.
Because of the way that they prepare the beneficiary form in docusign, you are not able to check boxes (e.g. joint tenants, POD, etc.) that you would like to check. In the withholding requirements section, the docusign form doesn't align with the scanned document, causing the checks to go in the wrong boxes. There is at least one misaligned box that I legally must not check that the form had as a requirement. Because of this, I resorted to having blank forms sent to me in PDF then used their document upload feature on their site to upload scans of documents I filled by hand.
Unlike other institutions, they were unable to lift a hold on deposited checks so I could fund CDs. That is, money sat in a savings account for several days for no good reason. This despite the fact that I deposited cashiers checks from my old bank.
The "Truth in Savings and Fee Disclosure" was last updated in 2015, apparently before the 44 month CD was introduced. This document describes the EWP for CDs that are 3 years or less and 5 years. It is silent about the 44 month CD or any time period that includes 44 months. The certificate disclosure does properly disclose the 44 month CD's EWP. I tried to convey the deficiency in the Truth in Savings document that is available via the web to a CSR and she quoted me from some other document and claimed the TIS document was current. The TIS document that was provided to me as part of the account opening process was the 2015 version that I found before opening the account.
Customer service was bad enough at first that I nearly didn't go through with setting up accounts. I eventually got in touch with one CSR that was quite helpful and stuck with me for a few days as the account was funded and holds cleared.
Web / Mobile Experience
Even after opening the account, the web interface is not great. It doesn't allow you to see who is a joint owner, beneficiaries, or a decent consolidated screen of all your holdings. Perhaps I've been spoiled by Ally.
The authentication system is out of step with the rest of the world in that it applies complexity criteria common for passwords to both usernames and passwords. Usernames are not visible, as they are implemented as password fields. Session management is poor, requiring re-authentication in way too many circumstances.
A bright spot of the web interface is that it does allow you to set alerts on a per account basis for deposits, withdrawals, etc. The alerts can go to email or SMS.
As far as I can tell, the "mobile banking" (different from web interface) was last updated sometime before smart phones were introduced. Rather than a web or app interface, you can text commands to check balances, transfer money, etc. If you have a phone that runs a browser, you are better off with the web interface. The one redeeming feature of the mobile interface is that it defaults to off and you can choose which accounts, if any, are enabled.
I was told that a software update is expected in August of this year that should improve the account application process as well as web/mobile banking. Fingers crossed.
Reasonable Fees
I have been charged no fees and know of none that are coming. The EWP is outstanding for a 22 month or 44 month CD.
You Must Be Running Office365
... or you will receive "The one-time passcode is incorrect."
DONT BANK HERE
If I could leave a negative review I would. This is the most unorganized bank I have ever had to deal with. They made may auto loan under my maiden name, that hadn't been used for a year. I have been fighting them to change it to the correct, legal name (that I signed loan documents under) for the last 6 YEARS! I have faxed in my ID multiple times per their request to update it within the system with no luck. It never seems to get to them. It makes identifying myself extremely difficult when I have to call often to complain about another issue or shortcoming on their end. I pay my vehicle off almost a year early to get rid of them and they still wont update my name. Now it's "too late" even though they said there was time to fix it per my 57th request. Now they can't do anything BUT I can take more time off work, go sit in the DMV and PAY to get it changed per their advice. I did not make the error nor had anything to do with it, have faxed my ID in multiple times, and have to now ONCE AGAIN be at the blunt end of the situation and fix their mistakes and pay out of pocket. They have NO customer service and do NOT care about their members, let alone get their name straight. DO NOT BANK WITH BELLCO CREDIT UNION!
Data as of Q2 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 68437 |
| Year Chartered | 1936 |
| Employees | 352 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.65% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 7.49% |
| Annual Interest Income | $166.5MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $7.84B$6.88B |
| Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $6.41B$5.83B |
| Deposits | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $6.44B$5.48B |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $676.5MM$617.5MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$105.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $18.8MM$12.7MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$0 |
