BluPeak Credit Union is headquartered in San Diego and is the 55th largest credit union in the state of California. It is also the 385th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1936 and as of December of 2024, it had grown to 121 employees and 55,722 members at 6 locations. BluPeak Credit Union has a C health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in BluPeak Credit Union is open to anyone through a membership in KPBS (PBS member station in San Diego. Those who live, work, or worship in the California counties of California counties of Alameda, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, or Yolo also qualify for membership. Also, eligible to join are employees of the State of California; employees, retirees, students, and alumni of the University of California and California State University system; and employees and members of Select Employee Group. Immediate family and household members of a BluPeak Credit Union member are welcome to apply.
See current membership details
Too Long Time To Be Functional
Is this a way banking -- you have to wait for 10 days to link external accounts after you registered online banking, not the day open your account. Then rep even don't know if your account would have Zelle for your app or not. YOu still have to wait and see.
Read The Fine Print
Been a member of this credit union for decades - it is rife with borderline deceptive advertising and has slid to a low point over the last 5 years. Formerly the Univ and State Employees CU, it created such ill will from its main constituency that it has changed it's name to "BluPeak." In the last few months it has started offering higher CD and savings rates, but only to new members and once the limited time deal runs out you are left high and dry, stuck with high fees and bad customer service. Beware!
All Of The Cons Of A Small Credit Union, None Of The Pros.
I was enticed by a savings account with high APY. Account creation was a giant pain, with me having to go back and forth with staff to fix errors after signing up with their website. After all of that work, they weren't able to offer me the savings account, but instead a similar product with the same interest rate. Fine, I thought.
Immediately a few problems popped up.
1. They could not, for the life of me, add my partner as an additional account-holder. All three credit bureaus confirmed that accounts were not frozen, yet blupeak struggled to verify their credit.
2. After my account was created, I needed to wait 7-8 business days for my online account to be set up.
3. After an account was made, they made it extremely difficult to transfer money in. They refused to raise transfer limits, instead pointing to wiring as an option, with a $35 fee.
4. After I've had a year of direct deposits, they informed me that I didn't qualify for a signup bonus because the direct deposits went to the other account that they created. Fine - cite the fine print at me, like a big bank. You got me, good for you. Due to the bungled account creation, it was never made clear to me which account the direct deposits need to go into. They said it was in the fine print, which I'm sure it is, but I don't want to work with a bank that relies on "gotchas". That's the whole point of credit unions, they're supposed to be more human and understanding.
5. A year down the line, I wanted to close my account because they decreased the interest rate without notice, and the above snafu with signup bonuses. In order to do so, I had to first manually transfer funds out. They had both daily and monthly transfer limits, which were below my total funds. They have a form to temporarily raise those limits, but only if you qualified, which I did not. Once again, the alternative was for me to pay to wire the funds out. I'm not going to encourage this practice by giving them another cent.
In short. A faceless bank with none of the pros of a credit union, all of the cons, including unrefined and buggy account creation and closing processes, that makes it surprisingly difficult to move your money into, and equally difficult to move your money out. The silver lining I've found was that when you got someone on the phone, they were professional and helpful. However the processes and policies that run the bank are just awful. I've never had such a difficult time trying to hand my money to someone before, and while I'm not surprised to have a difficult time getting money out, I am disappointed.
If you move your money here, there is a very good chance you will be forced to pay a wiring fee to move large sums of in or out.
They Badly Lack Decency And Integrity.
Their associates also maliciously deceive customers and understand only the language of legal actions.
Unsafe And Mismanaged
From the horrible credit card conversion that they did, from their risky financials i would not trust this place and not the credit union management. The reviews are horrible both on here and on google, run from this place.
Data as of Q4 2024
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 60801 |
| Year Chartered | 1936 |
| Employees | 121 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | -0.52% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | -8.47% |
| Annual Interest Income | $56.3MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $1.21B$1.47B |
| Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $825.8MM$893.2MM |
| Deposits | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $1.12B$1.32B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $76.4MM$84.9MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $12.2MM$5.7MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $15.3MM$1.7MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $0$0 |