Provident Credit Union (CA) is headquartered in Redwood City and is the 21st largest credit union in the state of California. It is also the 119th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1950 and as of June of 2022, it had grown to 337 employees and 133,026 members at 22 locations. Provident Credit Union (CA)'s CD rates are 57% higher than the national average, and it has an A health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in Provident Credit Union is open to the following: (1) those who live or work in San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda, Monterey, Sacramento, Pacer, Humboldt, or El Dorado Counties in California and the City of Los Angeles, (2) employees of Belmont Chamber of Commerce, Danish-American Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, Burlingame Chamber of Commerce, and select local chambers of commerce in California, (3) members of the AFL-CIO Local 501, Carpenters Local 217 and select local unions, (4) members or employees of the American Heart Association-San Francisco Chapter, Association for Workplace Justice and other local associations, and (5) employees of City Building Inc., Circraft Inc., Inspired Company or other select local companies. Family and household members of current credit union members are also eligible to join.
See current membership details
Related Posts
1/8 - Provident Credit Union CA Drops Rate To 1.36% APY
10/24/12 - Providentcu RCA Drops Fr 2.26 To 2.01%
4/30/12 - Updated Review of Provident CU's Super Reward Checking Account
5/17/09 - Reward Checking Account at a California CU (Provident)
1/10/09 - 3.75% 15-Month CD at Provident Credit Union in California - Easy Membership
3/15/08 - 4.00% 60-Month CD at a California CU - IRA/Easy Membership (Provident).
11/7/07 - 5.30% 16-Month CD at a California CU - easy membership (Provident)
Great Institution; High Rewards Checking Rate
I've been a member for 2 years and am a happy customer. I always look for credit unions first when choosing a bank-type institution; when I moved to the Bay Area I began my search. I looked at BBB.org ratings and complaint history. There were a few credit unions that topped the quality list and I finally choose Provident because of its Rewards Checking account rate.
Two years and greater acquaitance later, I have never regretted this decision. I easily recommend Provident to coworkers, friends, and people new to the area. That amazing rewards checking rate is still at 2.26% when everywhere rates keep dropping even on "high-yield" accounts from AMEX and Smarty Pig. (Rewards checking in general is fantastic these days if you can find it. Meeting the requirements is easy with my routine.)
Online banking is fine. I use auto bill-pay to cover my rent and direct deposit from my employer. Mint.com works great. The account is linked to mutual fund and brokerage accounts. ATMs are free within the entire credit union network; out of network ATM fees are reimbursed up to $2.50.
The only feature missing for me is virtual sub-accounts (like ING has). I'd like to auto-transfer money from the rewards checking into sub-accounts for savings goals, even if those virtual accounts are part of a seperate savings account with different (realisticaly lower) rates.
Incompetent IT Department
I cannot login their website from my windows 11 laptop:
Access Declined
We are unable to begin your session. Please call Provident at (650) 508-0300 or (800) 632-4600 for assistance.
Called several times and was told by their technician that the reason is my computer is "attacking" their website.
I have over 2 dozen banks. Theirs is the only one my computer attacked :)
NOT Super Reward Checking
This is account promises 1% interest but the hoops you are expected to jump through are unreasonable. Spending $300 credit seems easy enough, but you are expected to know when a merchant post. Several times, I made purchases within the month time frame with time to spare only to discover PCU won't count them because they didn't post to the account in time which they blame on the merchant. How can that be when you actually see charge in your account days before month end, but PCU decides to post at the beginning of the month. They only pay the 1% on the 1st $25K so frankly it isn't worth the hassle. Every time I've brought this to the attention of PCU they essentially say read the fine print. Good customer service would look at the facts and say, "Let me fix that, especially given you are long term customer!".
Worst Bank I Have Ever Dealt With.
I am extremely anal about the balance in my account and getting a NSF fee is just not acceptable. I had an unauthorized charge on my debit card which resulted in (3) $35 NSF fees. The charge was credited back to my account after the vendor realized it was an error. The vendor gave me a letter to the bank stating that it was not my fault and that fees should be refunded. The bank said that they will not refund their fees. I would have to chase the vendor. Not their problem. The vendor will not refund a fee that should not have been charged. And the bank will not refund me $105 to my checking account. The bank did not care that $105 was a huge amount out of my small paycheck. The are all about the bottom line. They could not care less about their customer. I will NEVER do business with them again.....but I doubt they really care.
Data as of Q2 2022
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 66343 |
| Year Chartered | 1950 |
| Employees | 337 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.12% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 1.37% |
| Annual Interest Income | $35.7MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $3.52B$3.42B |
| Loans | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $1.93B$1.83B |
| Deposits | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $3.17B$3.05B |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $310.4MM$345.7MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $10.7MM$11.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $581.00K$1.0MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2022vs Q2 2021 | $0$0 |
