Firstlight Federal Credit Union is headquartered in El Paso and is the 21st largest credit union in the state of Texas. It is also the 295th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1955 and as of June of 2023, it had grown to 348 employees and 108,257 members at 10 locations. Firstlight Federal Credit Union's CD rates are 5X the national average, and it has an A health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in Firstlight Federal Credit Union is open to those who live, work, or worship in El Paso County, Doña Ana County or the Fort Bliss community.
See current membership details
A great local credit union
First Light Credit Union is a great local credit union that feels like it operates on the scale of most larger banks, but without losing that personal feel. They offer competitive rates on every time of loan that that larger banks offer. They also offer a good variety of options for deposit and savings accounts. They even offer business services for small businesses. Through all this they still have that small local bank feeling because they offer great personalized service. They respond to inquiries quickly. They also have many locations throughout the city with extended hours available which makes it easy to get your business done even after normal "banking" hours. Overall I would say they are doing everything a larger bank could do, but still providing their clients exceptional customer service.
Excellent and convenient service
My credit union is great about working to fit my need and schedule. I recently opened up a savings account for my children and it couldn't have been easier. They worked with me over the phone to get everything they needed so I wouldn't have to take time out of my day. I was able to sign all the documents virtually and everything was done within minutes of submitting the documents back to them. They are easy to work with and I can do everything I need to online or over the phone. It also helps that there is a branch located 5 minutes from my house, but I have never really had to use it since I can take care of everything so easily without ever having to leave my house.
Will Do For Now
I really haven't had much luck with banks so I tried First Light. My experiences were positive at first but some problems arose here and there. First they talked me into signing up for overdraft protection that would take money out of your savings if your checking account was overdrawn. This seemed like a good opportunity especially since some of the companies we deal with take out automatic withdrawals each month but at somewhat random times. We live paycheck to paycheck so I was more than happy to sign up for it and insure I didn't rack up fees we couldn't afford. If you were overdrawn on your account it would cost you nearly $30 in overdrawn fees. This was very helpful, or at least I thought it would be, until the first time they had to take out from my savings account to cover the shortage. They still charged nearly $20 overdrawn fee for every time I was short despite their overdraft protection. I went back into the bank and asked to speak with a representative and they explained to me that I had it all wrong, that I was told wrong and then explained to me their current policy. What they were now telling me was that I'd rack up fees with the overdraft protection so my best bet was to have them not let the payment go through electronically if the money wasn't in the account. I signed some paperwork and I thought the issue was resolved until of course we were short and low and behold I began racking up $30 fees again. I went back to the credit union and again I was told I was misunderstanding what their policy was, again, despite that this time I had a brochure they had handed me. So my moral of the story is that no matter what they tell you, protected or not, you're still going to be charged. On a positive note, they do however give me no trouble about cashing third party checks, my husband's paychecks without his presence, and have returned some of those horrible fees they deducted. They have pretty good service. The tellers are friendly and compared to my past experiences with Bank of America, I'm happy to deal with the whole overdraft hassle.
Worst Experience Ever -2
I had the worst experience in my life with this bank.!!
I forgot my online user name and try to access my account, it takes me 3 days to access my online account again, I can NOT recommend this bank at all.
Worst Experience Ever
I had the worst experience in my life with this bank. I live in Germany and I have to manage my mothers account from here, having a Power of attorney. They blocked urgent transfers and wouldn´t tell me the reason why. I´ve spent days to talk to the service, their just useless. Now they promised me to send an E-Mail yesterday...notrhing happenen. This incompetence is going to cost me a lot of money!!! I can NOT recommend this bank at all.
Overdraft Fees Even If You Have The Money
This credit union is full of crooks and scoundrels. I set up a payment from my savings account and forgot to transfer the money from my checking. First light charged me with 4 (as if once wasn't bad enough) over draft charges of $29.50. I had the money in my checking account, but it made more sense to them to charge me an overdraft fee 4 times. When I called about this, I was told it wasn't their error and I had to eat the loss.
Lesson Learned.
They gave us every reason to expect great service. What a disappointment. We opened a savings and checking with them in order to have a local bank so that we could access someone in person if needed. Thank goodness we didn't close our other bank's account. From the start we had problems. Tellers would not pay close attention when we asked for cash back from deposits, which account to make deposits into, etcetera. Getting help over the phone was pure insanity and the problems never ever got fixed. Their website and online banking...don't even get us started, let's just say you'd think that the internet was a new thing for Firstlight. What a mess of a "credit union."
Data as of Q2 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 10174 |
| Year Chartered | 1955 |
| Employees | 348 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.75% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 8.2% |
| Annual Interest Income | $40.8MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.58B$1.46B |
| Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.26B$1.15B |
| Deposits | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.33B$1.31B |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $140.5MM$129.6MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $10.9MM$9.9MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $4.4MM$3.1MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$0 |