| 5 star: | (20) | |
| 4 star: | (19) | |
| 3 star: | (10) | |
| 2 star: | (10) | |
| 1 star: | (45) |
I just applied to have my car Refinanced, rate Genius got it approved thru consumers, I have tried twice to set up a checking acct with consumers, they keep saying they can’t verify my identity, when I call to ask why the consumers agents are rude and won’t help me!!
I just switched to this credit union 8 days ago and have regretted it since. Horrible customer service and a very negative experience. I’m switching back to my old bank. Don’t put yourself through the hassle I did. There are plenty of banks and credit unions out there offering competitive rates.
Understand, this credit union is nothing but silos. One department can't reach the next, or communicate in real time to resolve issues.
The interest they're paying on Rewards Checking/Saving with the minimums and requirements is barely average given the Fed's rate hikes and others rate increases.. An ACH out took 9 business days, another ACH in, when paying their VISA, took 7 business days to credit. Getting my vehicle title after paying off loan was a hassle, and you guessed it, it's never CCU's fault...Used to offer promotions and now rarely gives any reason to use them...
Just a disappointing financial intituion, racing to the bottom, and getting worse
I selected this credit union based on reviews online. This was my first credit union I’ve ever used and has made a terrible impression given that they were not even able to send the check to the correct location to pay off my loan.
They representative only got me more upset when I asked about getting in contact with at an appropriate time. Representative Marco, who Is
supposed to be a “senior representative,” is now responsible for an upset customer.
Wait times are long like proem have said but not any different than anywhere else. My low review is due to them hurting my credit and not even knowing who they are supposed to make a check to.
I have to give one star to review (but wouldn't). I obtained 2 loans via CCU. One for a boat and trailer (a fairly expensive venture) and the other for a Chrysler Pacifica after a lease buyout. I have had nothing but issues, multiple calls over the last 2 years for a variety of issues. I sold the boat/trailer earlier this year and with pay-off they could not produce the titles for the new owner's bank. We spent months trying to resolve it with his bank finally sorting it out and re-ordering the titles (his bank was the one whom ended up assisting-NOT CCU). After selling the boat we moved to ND and registered our Pacifica but could not receive plates as CCU would not respond to the ND DOT verification. We waited and waited and nothing, had to get a second temporary plate and I called CCU a few times to ask for their assistance. Finally, I decided to just pay the vehicle off and stop doing any banking with CCU. It has been 4 weeks since pay off and I receive a letter that they do not have the title in their possession (although they clearly put themselves as lien holders on it previously). The letter removed their claim to the vehicle. ND DOT does not consider this as the correct form for registration and will only accept a physical title. I am now without a vehicle in 1 week because CCU has lost another title (3 now in total). I call in and ask for help and they say they will call me back but never do. I have no idea how to replace this title they have lost and it should be their responsibility as lien holders. I moved all of the funds from my accounts there today and will be closing them all once the transfer is complete. The call line just fills you full of fluff and promises someone will call you back in 24-48 but that never occurs (so don't fall for it). DO NOT USE THEM! BEWARE!I
The thing that frustrates me the most about CCU is that every review site that looks ONLY at their rates will tell you that CCU is the best credit union out there, anywhere. Problem is once you're an actual member, it's an absolute mess. They bought out my credit union, Andigo, who I loved. Since then, it's been nothing but constant problems.
They mailed our debit cards immediately after the buyout and one of them had the wrong name on it, rendering it useless. Had them mail a replacement, still had the wrong name on it. Finally on the third attempt, they got it right, but it took us hours on the phone to make that happen.
They spam us constantly with offers, ads, just stupid junk mail. Constantly. Nearly every single day, we get something mailed. Why is a credit union wasting my money mailing me garbage every single day? Between the two of us, we have gotten easily twenty mailers about signing up for life insurance alone. If I didn't want it the first nine times, definitely, yes, the tenth was the one that will convince me, you're right...
Their p2p payment through Zelle got messed up, and when one of my clients went to pay me, it appeared it was going to someone else. We contacted CCU and they said no biggie, go ahead and put it through, it'll still go to me. It did not, and now my client is out $300 and cannot get it back.
Their "fraud detection" is an absolute, relentless joke. Every single month, they lock my card for a $4.99 Twitch subscription, and I have to call, spend hours on the phone getting my card unlocked again, and then go through the hassle of trying to get my card set back up with Twitch so I can keep my subscriptions. It's hours, every single month, and their answer is "there's nothing we can do, just call us the day before it renews so we can try to put it through". They lock my whole entire account every month over a subscription I've had for almost two years, but $100 that I didn't approve got put through just fine? Good job, well spotted.
They went ahead and "as a courtesy" removed a client's payment from my account, because she put my business name instead of my personal name, which she's done for years and it was never a problem. No warning, nothing, just "you need to get a new check written". Had to waste time contacting my client, getting the check back to her, getting a new one written, and then going to deposit it all over again.
CCU has wasted enough of my time, and I'm done. They're infuriating to work with. Anyone who tells you that they're the best you'll ever find obviously isn't a member, they're atrocious.
ordered checks more than 3 weeks ago and when i call they have the temerity to say ‘it takes 2 weeks for anything to get mailed this time of year’ as if that has ever been true.
if u have about an hour to kill call their helpline.
i could go on but ive got better things to do
Bit by bit their customer services has eroded. No longer do you deal with tellers you deal with machines. You leave messages on their email section and it takes a minimum of a week to hear back. If you try and call, you are either on hold for a minimum of at least 20 minutes or get a call back a week later.
This company sent me a letter to refinance my auto loan at a lower rate in October 2020. They gave me a lower rate and $500.00 back. (Which I applied to the first payment). I've now received two letters threating a higher rate because, they don't have my title. CCU has had my loan for over a year and a half. They sent me a second letter in March about the title again. Finally spoke to someone but, know one ever updated me on anything. I did send an email asking for an update and got a rude response.
I tried calling them in January, February, and finally got someone in March. I also set up auto pay which, they failed to run the payment for March and I've tried calling them with no luck again. Charged a $29.00 late fee and since the title issue they have blocked me from online payments. AVOID this COMPANY DO NOT USE THEM if at all possible. Customers service is ZERO. The only time it was positive was when I worked with Melissa to refinance my loan. She is the only STAR I gave for this company.
I have been using CCU for over a year. Never had I needed to dispute a charge, until recently, and it was a nightmare.
I placed a "Fully Refundable deposit" on a car to hold it for my elderly father, via phone. My father then proceed to purchase said vehicle and paid in full.
However, my $500 deposit never got credited back. Called dealership and they confirmed they refunded the deposit.
Tried to dispute this with CCU and they said prove it. I don't understand how I can prove I didn't purchase a vehicle from them, but I provided my fathers paperwork showing he purchased and paid in full.
Almost 4 MONTHS later, no one will return my call, no one replies to my emails, and when I call and ask for a manager, I get sent to a black hole/voicemail, and again, NO ONE CALLS ME BACK!
This credit union is very disappointing in handling the transactions. After I made payments on time and in full amount, they sent me past due notice and charged me interest and late payment fee. I have copy of acknowledgement from their own website stating that they had processed the payment!
After three complaining letters and two telephone conversations with their representatives, not only they did not correct their mistakes, I just found out that a "negative" report had been sent to credit bureau. My advice to everyone is stay away from this outfit.
It's pulling teeth to get set up firstly then you feel it's 1965 doing actual banking. Slow out dated system. Nerd wallet should be ashamed recommending. Today I've so far waited over 3 hours for a call back to rectify an account concern. No way to talk to anyone. Most pitiful financial institution in America
I signed up for a business account and personal savings account with Consumers earlier this year. While I was able to get online access, I was only given access to the personal side. I was not given online access to the business account. Consumers explained they could not merge the two into one single online account.
I called customer service and asked to have online access to the business account, but after multiple days and multiple tries, the team wasn't able to help me. They just couldn't give me online access. I could have persisted and continued to try, but I gave up. It was simply too complicated and a waste of time to get online access - something that any good bank/credit union can easily provide.
Moreover, I was mailed a atm card, but it was only my business atm card. Ultimately, I had atm access to the business account, but only online access to my personal account. I didn't receive any personal atm card.
When I would go to the atm, I wouldn't be able to see both accounts. I had to rely on the video teller to help moves funds from one account to the other. I was not able to do that myself.
One day in September, I checked my business mail address and saw that I had a -$30 balance, and my account was reported to Check Systems back in August because it was overdrawn. I was absolutely shocked. I had maintained $0 in the account. I immediately called in and learned that a $5 fee was charged to my account for not having accepted digital communications! I wasn't able to get digital access because of the incompetence of the IT department. Now I was robbed $5 for doing nothing wrong. Furthermore, 10 days after the $5 charge, I was hit with a $25 negative balance fee. Again, not my fault. Nobody called me, nobody sent me an email. I only learned about this in my paper statement. Again, I underscore that I wasn't able to get digital communications, even though I tried my best to set it up. In the end, to save my profile, I paid the $30 to bring my account balance to $0.
I immediately closed my accounts. Consumers Credit Union stole $30 from me. Online access and the app are absolutely awful. Please avoid doing business with Consumers. It's a terrible Credit Union.
I opened two accounts a month ago and just got the cards this weekend. I used them a few times and it no longer worked (after transferring $3500). Now I don't have access to my money because they closed my account and refuse to help me online. They tell me to wait for a letter to get information about the status of my account and I cannot even transfer money out. What am I supposed to do? I don't have any access to my money.
Beware of their fees, this is not a bank for new students. My college age son signed up thinking they are fee friendly, but racked up $350 in over draft fees in a month being charged over and over ( 20 times) when his balance went below zero due to time of payments, he only makes a few hundred a month working on campus while in college and does not scrutinize his weekly ledger. Then he "closed" account, and they sent him a collection note wanting even more over draft fees ! Do yourself a favor and sign up for SIMPLE account, truly no fees
FYI-On the statement for this month, there is a warning that as of May 15, 2019, there is an inactivity fee of $5 each month for each account that has not had a transaction within the last two years.
I am completely miffed as to how Consumers has such a low rating. I actually registered with this site to write this because it is crazy that they aren't 5 stars. And I want people to know this Credit Union can save you more money (loan rates) and make you more money (checking account rates) than any other banking business I have ever heard of. Some of these reviewers do not seem to understand how banking works (are there many banking businesses that guarantee rates on checking accounts forever? And it's a CHECKING account. Who gives interest on Checking accounts?! Also, the checking account interest is tiered depending on direct deposit, paying bills online, electronic statements, using their credit card, etc). Anyways, Consumers was my first savings account over 30 years ago. I do not go IN anymore, but Customer Service on the phone has never been an issue for me. Their app gets the job done and their checking and loan rates are incredible. I have a home loan, a savings account I don't really use (not great rates on savings accounts, but there are lots more online that are over 2% w/ no limits/fees), a rewards checking account (5.09% right now. This DOES fluctuate, but in the many years I have been using, it has never fallen below 3%). I also have two car loans with them. If you have good credit, no one has been able to beat their loan interest rates. The car loan guy looked at me baffled when I told him 2.24% (this was April of 2018). Save yourself some money! Make yourself some money! Consumers is AWESOME.
My family has banked with Meadows Credit Union for more than 30 years. It was an exceptional credit union with the best staff. Service was personal, quick and professional. None of that is true after the merger with Consumers. Most of the Meadows staff is gone. You cannot call directly to your local branch, calls are routed through a call center and I've waited a couple of hours for a call back after being on hold for 20 minutes. Yesterday we brought a jar of change in to cash. A teller took it and another teller said to her "look at him - bringing all his change here". Not very professional - pretty rude. My family has six accounts there and I would expect more. Never would have happened at Meadows. I would not recommend this credit union to anyone.
Both the wife and I cancelled our accounts with the changes they made as of Oct 1, 2018. We used their VISA card as our main credit card and thus were spending at least $1000 per month each to achieve the 4.59%. Guess they didn't care about us spending over $24,000 a year on their credit card! LMCU is now a better option for me for interest on $10,000 and I will now use my Total Rewards credit card from Commenity . Too bad it was great while it lasted. It WAS a win-win.
I was a happy Consumers customer for 2 years. Good reward 4.59% checking interest & good cap of $20k. For the last 2 years I had been able to freely transfer my money from my consumers to two of my external accounts (Chase, BofA) FREE of charge. Historically I had done 14 of these types of external transfers in the past (not wire transfers but rather using the transfer tab on consumers online banking). Last successful transfer out of Consumers was 3 days ago. Now when I log into my consumers online banking account and go to the transfer tab now my Chase and BofA accounts are gone. This is very suspicious timing taking into account starting Oct 1st 2018 consumers will be chopping their reward checking rewards in half ($20k to $10k). I have a suspicion consumers is trying to make it hard for us to transfer our money out now that their rewards aren't as attractive. They will probably charge fees to transfer out even though I had done this 14 times before without fees.
Has anyone else experienced their external accounts vanishing from consumers online banking?
Yes, this is the best rate around. However: the criteria for meeting it are an unholy nuisance in a number of ways. If the stars line up for you, great. Personally, my tipping point has been reached.
There are places to put my money that pay more, post tax, no effort at all. There are places to store my money and keep it instantly available that earn almost as much, also no effort, and I don't have to worry about keeping a fixed balance in them to maximize my return. There are cards I can use that pay a better rebate for everything but grocery stores, I never have to use a debit card that's debiting my account, giving 12 places access to data they don't need, and changing my balance 12 times a month. Finally, I don't have to track my credit transactions or buy things I don't need just to be sure I earn my extra $8.
CCU has completely ruined their RCA. They didn't even give customers one full month's notice. Effective 10/1/18 the required 12 card transactions must be at least $100. WHAT?!?! There are a dozen or so other institutions offering 3% APY, some on higher balances, and they have no such minimum amount requirement (OK, I've heard of one that is $5.00). I have barely been with CCU 6 weeks and they pull the rug out from under the program making it worthless. I'm pulling my money out.
I opened an account with Consumers CU for the higher interest rate checking account. I never did get achieve the advertised interest rate of over 3% because of all the requirements like the number of transactions that I needed to complete to get it. I contacted customer service a few times about why I didn't get the higher interest rate after meeting the number of transactions required and after a while, it got pretty tiring having to deal with them. It sounded like the transactions I completed were different from what was required which made it nearly impossible for me to attain. I got tired of dealing with their slow customer service and outdated online account services so I ignored the account and cash that was in it for 3 or 4 years. It just wasn't worth the trouble anymore. So 4 or so years later, I went to close my account and in order to avoid receiving a large check in the mail, I needed to use the bill pay to transfer funds out since the amount was less than the amount required to use their ACH service. I logged into my account and processed the bill pay service successfully, I see the amount credited to my bill but two or three days later... I see the amount that was credited to the bill withdrawn!! I call Consumers CU and hear a recording to call back during their business hours, I call back the next day and I'm on hold for >15 minutes. I was told my account status is "inactive" so that's why the funds were withdrawn from my other account. I asked why I didn't receive any notice about my account being "inactive" and was told they do not send notices out for inactive accounts. They only send accounts for accounts that are "dormant" so basically, Consumers Credit Union allows customers to log into their accounts, view their balances, go through with their bill pay system and not know their account balance as shown is NOT AVAILABLE. They hold the customers funds without notifying the customer! Because of Consumers Credit Union's lack of communication, I was charged a payment return fee from the place I used Consumers Credit Union to pay from!! This will probably be a negative on my credit report.
I have a car loan through this credit union. They gave me the best offer when I was trying to take out a loan to buy my car, as most of the offers I had gotten from other places had way too high of monthly payments and I needed to find something that was more in line with my budgetary restrictions. This credit union works with my place of employment to offer employees like me more reasonable rates for their loans and other things of that nature. I have found my experience with them to mostly be good -- the customer service is usually helpful, and they have even worked with me at certain times during my loan when I could not make my whole monthly payment when it was due, and I was able to set up a plan with them to make a late payment and not have it affect my credit rating. My only real gripe with this credit union is that the website is not very user-friendly, the interface is a little clunky and I usually find it to be pretty slow, which can be frustrating. Overall though, I have been happy with this credit union and am glad I got my loan through them.
There was a period a few years ago when a lot of people were switching away from big banks because of ethics lapses, and trying credit unions instead. I switched to CCU during that time.
Within less than a year I was back at my former "big bank."
It's not that CCU is really bad, it's just that they could be better. Their promotions are good. But they don't compete with the level of service I had come to expect from the big bank. Their website is behind the times and difficult to use compared to others. They don't publish phone numbers for the branches, only a call center number. The customer service at the branch is sometimes less than polite, and there is usually a substantial wait to be served. The one time I had an actual problem I needed solved, I immediately got a defensive scolding from the clerk, blaming me for something that in the end turned out to be their fault.
I know this is going to sound kind of snotty, and I don't mean it to. But customer interactions I observed on several occasions while waiting gave me the impression that the branch serves a lot of small depositors who frequently have problems keeping their accounts solvent, and I think the staff have geared their approach toward that clientele. This explains both the reflexive lecture I received when reporting a problem, and the indifferent take-a-number personal service. I wound up going back to my previous bank, where my larger banking relationship is rewarded with commensurate service.
I have been fighting with them for more than a week to close my account & transfer my funds to a bank as their rates were not comparable to others. They REFUSED the banks ACH Transfer which they were aware was coming & the amount was approved by them and said funds not available and then charged me a $30 fee. They then put the $30 back but still are making it impossible to get my money out. They take forever to answer the phones or respond to emails or their secure message center. They also get back to me always after business hours or even once called late on a Friday night. They may have a liquidity issue if they do not want to return customers money. STAY AWAY!
Opened a CD here a bit over a year ago at a special "promo" interest rate of 1.85%, which was only slightly above other banks' rates for similar terms at the time. That CD matured 12 days ago, but was unilaterally "renewed" for another full term by Consumers, but now at an interest rate of 0.9% - LESS THAN HALF THE ORIGINAL RATE despite interest rates in general having increased over that time. After an absurd amount of time trying to get through by telephone, I finally arranged time to sit by my phone long enough during business hours to receive a call back. When it finally came, I was told that I must pay a multi-hundred dollar penalty to close this CD now because the 10-day grace period has passed (by a whopping 2 days, weekends and Easter holiday included). Save yourself the trouble, and pick a more stable and customer-friendly financial institution, or at the very least submit instructions that your CD is not to be renewed upon maturity (as I routinely do when opening any CD) and DEMAND CONFIRMATION OF THOSE INSTRUCTIONS IN WRITING, for if my experience is any guide, you can expect no notice of a pending automatic renewal at a greatly reduced and non-competitive interest rate except for a PDF notice that appears mixed among your statements only when you log into your account and follow the link to view online documents.
TLDR: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. They will reject your application without reasons as long as they think they can't make a dime on you.
Same experience as gavahi (right below with 1 star). I applied and they rejected my application because they said they can't verify my identity so I would have to come to Illinois to apply in person.
They recommended me to check my record in PayChex and Transunion to see if there are anything wrong. I went through the hoops to request those reports only to find out there is nothing wrong on my end and they just created excuses and waste my time.
The same week, I gave up, applied to First Advantage Bank (TN) for 4.5% interest and was successfully approved.
Needed help with customer service twice. Telephone rang and rang. Finally, the person who answered took forever to ask identifying questions only to tell me that they couldn't help me. They were going to refer me to an account specialist that would call me within one day. I asked them who they were if they weren't and account specialist. They just work in an overflow center and can't help... Twice this has happened and I still haven't received a call. I need help now. I can't transact my business and they don't care. I pleaded for them to transfer me to someone. I am going be late on a payment because there website won't let me process it. I have perfect credit. I am considering moving my money to one of my accounts with a lower interest rate with an organization who at least they gives a XXXXX. I called the telephone number of a personal banker yesterday. She hasn't returned my call either. It is 12:30 PM. Just call main number back again. I press "0" instead of going to menu. I had to wait a long time but I got a "real" customer service rep who fixed my problem immediately. They should not put their customers in bad positions. Remember, don't use the menu. Press "0".
I recently had cancelled my debit card due to my information being stolen.
I ordered a new card and was told it would be 7-10 business days, as I had expected.
It has been at least two weeks and I still do not have my card. I called to find out what was going on and it turned out the gentleman I spoke initially with hadn't put the order in for a new card. The gal was very nice and ordered me a new card to be rushed to me within 3 days.
Do not use this credit union... I promise you will regret it ! all I can say is save yourself!
I filled the forms in their website and they sent me an email which we will evaluate your request and inform you about it. However, they never sent their response. Some days later, I sent an email for them and asked about result.
They said: "CCU is unable to verify information and/or documents. Visit one of our Service Centers"
I explained that I live in Florida and there is not any CCU Service Centers in this state. I asked them a website to upload my scanned documents for them.
They answered: "The only option would be to visit a service center."
Their Opening Account Process has a big BUG!!
Their Customer service is not helpful at all. They just copy&paste some fix templates for customers without considering their problems.
Worst experience ever.
This is a lot more complicated that I originally thought. Turns out, you can't use the debit card that comes normally with the account to satisfy tier 2 & 3 spending level requirements. You have to get an additional "credit card" (not addressed in the account application). So you must do minimum 12 non-pin transactions (qualification of transaction depends on how it's classified by the vendor) on the debit card then charge 500+ or 1000+ on the separate credit card to get to tier 2 or 3 interest rates.
I read through some of the older posts, and it seems like a lot of people are complaining because they didn't read the terms & conditions of the interest tiers and how to meet them when they opened the account. Read them carefully:
https://www.myconsumers.org/personal/checking/free-rewards-checking
They're easy to meet, but their offering is a little different than other rewards checking accounts as they have the tiered system. Also, CCU has no control over whether or not McDonald's or Wal-Mart runs your debit card as a PINless debit even when you choose "Signature/Credit". If you do some reading online, there are many other ways to easily meet the 12 transactions and be assured they run as "Credit" and not "Debit".
Also, the counter definitely has a business day or so delay on registering purchases (both debit and credit card). It is more reliable after the big system conversion in September though. Also, pay attention to the T&Cs - the 12 debit card transactions have to clear & post by the end of the calendar month, but the credit card period is the 28th of the previous month through the 27th of the current month.
Pros:
1) Can't beat the interest rate and requirements on the checking account. Now that Northpointe killed off their account to new customers, I think CCU's top tier is the highest out there;
2) Cash rebate card offers a good return;
3) Ability to pay credit card w/ a debit card is a great way to earn some extra cash back (check out the Paypal business debit card);
4) Interactions with customer service have been painless.
Cons:
1) Online banking is a bit archaic looking, and clumsy to navigate;
2) Have to go to a 3rd party website for credit card info. At least the balance, due date, etc were displayed before the system conversion, but now nothing;
3) Automatic downloads to Quicken don't work properly most of the time; (note: this SEEMS to be working again finally!!)
4) First credit card got lost in the mail, and CCU reported it as closed and a new one opened.
I would have no hesitation to recommend CCU to anyone! As long as you pay attention to meeting the requirements for the high interest, it's pretty painless.
This is the only financial institution I consistently have problems with. First of all, not all signature based transactions count as a qualified one and I am never sure which transactions will be "disqualified". Second, their Reward Update box is not accurate! I had to contact three different reps this week asking why only 10 transactions were listed even though each rep said I had 11 qualified transactions. Third, I did a bill pay that was completed on September 18th yet as of today, September 22nd it is not listed in the Reward Update section. Calls to the 877# turn into mini-marathons. I do have some direct #s but all I reach are answering machines. Phone #s for branch locations are not listed either. They seem to be short staffed and have a terrible and incompetent IT Department!!! Dealing with CCU has turned into a full time job for me, unfortunately!!!
I've had the rewards checking for a year now and haven't had issues. Sure the credit card transactions take some time to clear, but whatever. Just make sure you have them in on time. If you want to earn the reward, do the work!
I've read the rate has gone down from 5.49%. I never was around to get this, but either way, 4.5% is still good. Thats over $70 a month on a 20k balance. Over $800 a year in free money...cant beat that.
Things are going well over the past several years for me. Love the interest rate but they are slow to post transactions on the debit card and the credit card is even slower. I have to get my charges in early. I hope I don't have any fraud on my account after reading the experience of one of the other customers.
Same as other commenters, I have a Consumers CU checking account for two years; within that time they have lowered the rate from 5.59 to 4.59% and only IF you expend $1000 in their credit card every month and meet other requirements. However, if you spend money in Walmart they don't count it, -NONE of my other banks do this- or, last month por example, I charged $1007 in the credit card but according to them "some charges posted timely but DID NOT CLEAR UNTIL LATER" never mind they are NOT counting those charges toward the next month, so they basically expect me to pay those few charges but are not adding them so I can have my earned interest. Yes, their interest is high, but they sleazy banking practices have wore me down; I am searching for another bank/Credit union now.
I was very excited about the 4.59% interest rate and felt that I would have no problems meeting the 12 debit card transaction requirements since I've been doing that with my other checking account for years. I pick up breakfast at McDonald's or Burger king every morning so when i received my debit card i started using it right away. After the first week of using the card i saw there was a counter on CCU's website but it only showed 1 transaction after I had already made 7. The following week I made 7 more and the counter only showed 2 transactions. I called the credit union and they informed me that under a certain dollar amount the merchant can run it as a debit transaction and there was nothing they could do. I explained that all the transactions were made at the same establishments where I've been using my debit card from my other bank and had been able to meet the requirements with no problem for years. They didn't seem to care so I'm going back to my previous bank that pays me 2.25% consistently - luckily I didn't close the account. The advertised 4.59% ended up being .10% because they say I only made 2 qualifying transactions when in fact I ended up making over 12 that month. CCU's ad said no Pin transactions and i never entered a pin once!
I banked with CU for nearly 5 years. The shared branches was extremely convenient as there has always been one near my location in both WI and NV. I never stepped foot in any of their branches in IL. My favorite thing was the high APY. Refunded ATM fees were my next favorite thing. They'd have to reissue my card for a 2nd time every time b/c they would always issue me one with my name spelled incorrectly. Fraud alerts were spotty and unreliable, but at least they have them. BofA beat them on the interest rate for my vehicle. Moving to another time zone proved to be a big issue of convenience for me. So I temporarily switched my DD to another bank local to me. An unscrupulous merchant continued to charge my CU account w/o permission . When I spoke to customer service about it, they were totally disinterested in helping me. I would clear up the NSF fees only for it to happen again and after 2 weeks of this, they simply closed my account with no notice! I was given 3 completely different answers from different reps about the recourse I could take, but in the end there was none and they made no effort. Customer service definitely could be better and I have NEVER heard of an account closed b/c of 2 weeks overdrawn status.
The reward checking requires at least 12 purchases/month. They send you debit card but want you to hit credit. Even if you do that, there is no guarantee any particular purchase will count toward the 12 since it's at the discretion of the merchant how he enters purchase.
I've been with Consumers Credit Union for several year and everything has been outstanding except for disputing credit card charges which requires more effort than other credit card companies and they are more supportive of the big guy than their customer. The checking and savings accounts have been flawless and I have had no issue earning top rate every month.
Here is a great tip for making sure you get your credit transactions on your debit card. Set up subscribe-n-save purchases with Amazon that occur monthly for items costing under $25 each and set them to charge your CCU debit card. Amazon will process each one separately as separate charges on your card. You do need to go into your Amazon account and set it to charge your debit card as a credit card because the default is to process the charges as credits. Trader Joe's and Sprouts are other good ways to meet the transaction requirement as many stores don't get you a choice with the new chip cards other than to process as a credit
I have been with them for a few years now and have nothing but great things to say about them! I am getting the 4.59%. by charging $1,000 per month, running 12 debits on my debit card and direct deposit. The fact that they keep a tracker on the front page of your account is a easy way to see how you are doing each month!
I highly recommend Consumers Credit Union!
After experiencing fraud on my credit card, and CCU investigating, they left one small fraud charge on my bill. It has taken several calls, several episodes of holding 10, 15 minutes and now finally a 45 minute wait on hold to finally get to speak to someone in management who still could not reverse the charge, but kindly said she would walk down the hall to fraud management and ask them to get this handled. It still remains to be seen if it gets handled correctly. I had to call at least 3 or 4 times and was told fraud management is extremely busy and would call back and they never have. CCU has been fine in all other areas, but beware if you are a victim of fraud with their Visa card and you may experience poor customer satisfaction, too, as they seem to be short-staffed in their fraud department. Never had these problems with Discover or American Express or any other Visa or Master Card credit cards I've used in the last 45 years!
I have been with Consumers Credit Union for over 15 years. I do most of my banking online, and their website is outstanding and very easy to use. As a senior citizen, I have found some websites very clumsy and confusing. The offer CD's starting as short-termed as 6 months. The rates are competitive, but not outstanding. They also have a special "rewards" checking account, and I regularly earn 3+ percent interest every month on money in my checking account. When I was having trouble deciding whether I would come out ahead by leaving money in my checking account, put it in my savings account, or take out a cd, they very patiently helped me through all the calculations. I have not been to their facility for several years. If I need cash, they pay the fee for taking it out from the atm in my local bank. Also, their customer service people are really helpful...they will call back if you don't want to wait on hold. Nice feature.
For all of you that took advantage of their 16 month 1.84% CD, please check the interest rate they are paying. There was an error on my CD. They were quick to fix the problem and very courteous in doing so.
I was a member of Premier Credit Union. Sadly it was purchased by Consumer Credit Union late in 2015. The actual transfer of customers happened in February of 2016. And it's been a downhill slide ever since. As wonderful and amazing as Premier Credit Union was, this institution is diametrically opposed in all aspects of how they do business. Online Banking sucks and is not competitive with offerings elsewhere. Their policies on funds transfers are right out of the stone age. Their customer service must be used to dealing with surly customers all day as they are equally surly and unhelpful. Every time I call this institution, they want to put everything back on me, instead of providing true customer service and dealing with their internal problems to help the situation. They are HORRIBLE! Run! Don't walk away from this putrid excuse of a banking and lending institution. Premier was GREAT! Consumers SUCKS!
They closed my account for no reason other than to avoid paying the advertised bonus. Scam!
You probably are thinking that the 3.09% APY looks good. Well it does look good, but that's all it amounted to for me. Opening my account over the phone took about a week because the service rep who was helping me open my account was always busy with someone else, and when I would get another service rep they would just tell me that my service rep was busy and they would have him call me back. After I finally opened the account and paid the $5 membership fee, my account was only open for about two weeks before they closed my account with no warning and mailed me a check. They claimed they couldn't verify my information. Well guess what, if you can't verify my information, why did you allow me to open an account!? Save yourself the time, hassle, and money, and do your banking elsewhere.
It has been the worst process. Every time I turn around it's something else. First they told me I couldn't have a bank account without a driver's license. What kind of nonsense is that? Then they neglected to send me cards for the 2 accounts. When I asked them about my cards, they apologized and then sent only one of the 2 cards, so I had to call again to remind them to do their job. They also signed me up for credit insurance without my opting in, and I have so far called 4 different numbers and spoken with 6 different people to opt out but just get the run around from them. They insist they don't automatically opt people in and that I must have signed the form. Conveniently they can't seem to locate said form. I think it's just basic incompetence - I can't imagine they actually care whether I have this stupid insurance. Has just been a nightmare from start to finish.
I've recently opened a jumbo CD at Consumers.
The setup on the website was relatively painless, and using shared branching to deposit funds at Consumers I was able to get the entire transaction done in a day and a half. The telephone rep was intelligent and easy to deal with. The rate for a 16 month CD is outstanding in this environment.
I had met all my requirements for the $20,000 4.59% except the $1,000 credit card charges. My final charges to carry me over $1,000 was on the 25th. I had been looking for them to show up everyday. The morning of Sat 29th around 10AM I was upset they still were not posted. I called and they said the charges had to be in by the credit card closing date of the 27th. I was assured I would be given credit for those charges next month. NOT HAPPY. I would be losing interest on $5,000 and the other $15,000 I would be getting 3.59 instead of 4.59. I checked again just before I wrote this review. As of 5:45 PM Sat, the status was updated to 4.59%. They rep didn't do it because I didn't give him my name. I am still not recovered from being angry but they are still a five star for me. You just have to be very careful that you know the rules and how they relate to their inferior posting system. I am going to get all my $1,000 credit charges in by the 20th in the future. What the guy told me didn't make sense to me then and it makes less sense to me now that they gave me credit for my charges in the middle of the day. It took 4 days....
As they say on the London subways, "Mind the gap".
Joined a week ago and it has been a pleasant experience so far. I have contacted customer service twice through the in-account message feature on their online-banking website, and in both cases they responded quickly and handled my request promptly.
I just got my CCU Visa debit card so I have yet to see how hard it will be to meet the 12 debit card requirements. I like that they have a dashboard on the website where you can see what qualified so far.
Update: it looks like my daily bagel purchase qualifies, this looks very doable.
CCU claims that some times a merchant will submit a charge as a credit and sometimes as a debit but there is no way to know this until it is reported that you did not meet the minimum of 12 transactions. CCU does this so that you make many charges on your debit card in a given month as a hit or miss strategy which means you need to deposit more money in your rewards checking account so CCU can loan it out at an outrages interest rate
Excellent 4.59%, Reporting Monitor Very Slow. Hope they improve it soon. Lake Michigan CU has it added before I get home. CCU shouldn't take days. Make sure your charges count by making them 4-5 business days in advance of the closing date. We all need to complain about the slow reporting for the checking and credit card. It frustrates me very much. Maybe they would do something about it if all the account holders complain about it in writing and verbally to a president or VP.I hope someone in power at CCU reads this review posted on Deposit Accounts. Otherwise, they would have gotten 5 stars from me.
They do what they say- rate doped by .50% but it is still at 4.59%
these days that is a great deal-
I have had no issues with them at all- if vendors are messing with debit / credit transactions to avoid paying the fee- tell them and take your business to another. Too bad the FED policy has everyone chasing every basis point they can find. Anyway I am very happy with them and have no complaints. They can't be making any money on me but I would let them compete for a loan in the future due to their rewards program.
Does it say in the agreement that we do not use our pin number to meet the requirments? I am not using my pin number and it is charging as a debit. Shouldn't it default to credit without a pin number? As more and more merchants do not accept debit cards as credit cards my love is fading for CCU. When I called them, they didn't care. They said that they have no control over how the merchants choose to process their charges. I told them that Destinations Credit Union has responded to the problem by allowing the requirements to be met by any charges (including debit). The rep didn't have on her smiley face phone voice and appeared not to care. I told her using polite terms, then that means I am "messed" over and hung up. After many years of happiness, I will close the account if they can't respond to the problem. At least, they could nice about it. If I am going to have the problem anyway, I want to deal with nice people. She didn't care. Also, it takes too long for my charges to post on their meter. LMCU is instant.
After 4 happy years with CCU I have just closed my account. All merchants in my part of Ft Worth have changed their card machines so that the debit card cannot be used as a credit card. It only can be used as a debit card and CCU refuses to change the requirement. I'll be moving my money to a credit union that lets me use their debit card as a debit card.
I have been a member of Consumers Credit Union in northeastern Illinois since my previous credit union merged with them in February. I occasionally need to make deposits to my checking account at a conveniently located branch where the staff is efficient. I seldom experience waiting. Practically everything you would need to do can be done on their web site. Although it is not a state of the art website, it is not difficult to navigate. They do have a program that pays an exceptional interest rate on checking if you meet the qualifications. However, I have never met those qualifications as it requires numerous non-PIN debit card transactions, and I just never happen to have those kinds of transactions. I have never had to pay any monthly fees for my checking account. I like the concept of credit unions because you are a member and not just a cog in some huge commercial banking institution, and Consumers Credit Union definitely meets those needs.
Consumer's has always been very polite and friendly whenever I've had a reason to call them in the past. It was a different situation this morning when I called asking about the growing problem of finding merchants who will honor the option to run the debit card through as a credit.
The girl I talked to was not very friendly and although never rude, let me know in no uncertain terms that the merchants offered me the option to run the card through as a credit. I told her again, I realized that, but the problem being they are not honoring that option and as far as Kroger (at least in my case) didn't even allow me the option with the new chip card.
She finally admitted they have had people calling them complaining how Walmart and McDonald's ran their charge through as a debit, When I said I'm sure you've heard complaints about Kroger as well by now, she had nothing to say except to stress we have no control over how the merchant chooses to present the charge. I said no, but you do have control over your policy and now that you are aware it is becoming increasingly more difficult for your customers to know just how their their charge is going to be presented to you, I am wondering if the credit union has considered changing their policy on this particular requirement (of having the debit charges run through as credit).
She said, no, It is the way we have always done it and there are no plans to change it. I asked, even when you know how difficult it is becoming for your customers? She said (again) the merchants offer you the option of running the card as a credit. We have no control over how they present it to us (as you can tell, by this the conversation had gone into the peat and repeat mode). and they can change how they do it at any time. You can call Visa and complain to them. I said, or CU could make the change and let us just swipe the card and let the charge be counted no matter how the merchant presented it to you. What response do i get? The charge MUST be presented as a credit in order for it to meet the required number of debit changes. Well, gee. How's that for customer service?
I told her that just because something had always been done one way, doesn't mean it can't be changed, especially when that one way has become increasingly more and more of a burden on their customers. I said, I'm not asking you do away with number of debits required or asking you to reduce the number required, I'm just asking if there has been any talk about changing the 'debit as credit' policy since it has been brought to your attention that 3 big, well known merchants in the country are not running these charges through as credit and who knows how many other merchants are doing (or soon will be doing) the same. I use this card at one grocery store that has not yet installed the chip readers, but I know that is soon coming to an end. So if they do like Kroger and require a pin, this is going to become a real challenge for me and definitely not even worth it. I have other reward checking accounts and I do not have one who has this silly requirement.
I'm giving the lowest rating due to the way I was talked to this morning. Rather than even pretend to be concerned (other than to say, I'm sorry but we have no control over the merchants) and even act like it might be possible for them to even consider a change might be needed due to this growing problem, I get the curt response of: we have no control over how the merchants present the charge, you can call Visa and complain to them, and lastly and to me the most absurd , this is the way we've always done it and this is the way we are going to continue doing it. lol Simply couldn't seem to comprehend that sometimes changes occur and with it comes the need to adapt.
I told her I am doing CU the favor by letting them use my money and yet they feel the need to be obstinate and unyielding to issues concerning their customers.
So, I know there is a better place for my money.
In the current statement period, I'm pretty sure that one of my twelve debit card transactions went through as a debit transaction, yet the dashboard shows that I've qualified. (In case it matters, I've also met the dollar requirement on credit card transactions.)
I think they're smart if they've actually made this change, as the requirement to have the debit card transactions go through as credit transactions adds substantial complexity to a program that really is excessively complex.
Walmart, McDonalds, Kroger (a large midwest-east grocery chain) just joined the list recently, and Amazon now defaults to having any debit card purchases process as debits. They do, however, let you change that default in your personal settings, if you can find it. You have to change the setting for each individual debit card.
I realize this is more of an update than a review. I have been with CCU for about 3 years and am mostly pleased with them.
Edit: For the few Krogers that have fuel: your fuel purchase will still show as a credit on your statement, as long as you choose the credit option at the pump.
Charge $5 just to open acct, then I could not log into my account via website. Repeated attempts to resolve were unanswered. Then requested in writing and on the phone to close account - all ignored. I had to rescind payment from my other acct in order to get my initial deposit back. They keep sending me letters in the mail, so the account is still open. I am only out $10. BEWARE!!!
How can representative charge 5 dollars to open account with out informing me. All they told me is $50 for initial deposit and $5 community joining fee. But they charged me $60. When asked why extra 5 charged they are telling its for customer service charge to open account. How strange it is.. How customer will trust this bank to keep money
I opened my account at Consumers Credit Union in December and had no problems at all. I had to call and get some info about my ID straightened out and did not wait long. They were very helpful during the application process and all of my emails answered quickly. Funded the account and am happily receiving my high interest rate! Just follow the instructions and get paid to bank, what could be better?
I joined CCU in September and have the required token Share savings account, a Rewards Checking account where I try to keep $20K at all times, and their Cash Rewards VISA that started with a $10,000 credit line.
As of tomorrow, to earn the maximum 4.59% interest on up to $20K in the checking account, I will have to meet certain easy criteria, but also use the Debit card AS A CREDIT card at least 12x a month, and use the VISA for at least $1000 in purchases a month (no particular number of purchases required).
Accordingly I have moved most of my routine monthly bills to the VISA, and I already am used to making many small purchases a month on the debit card. Some months it may be hard to get to the $1000 mark on the VISA - in which case if there is $500 spent on the VISA I will only get 3.59% on the first $15K in checking - a loss of about $25 in interest. Put another way, spending that extra $500 each month, and paying it back the next month, to get $25 in interest every month, is like borrowing $500 all year and being paid $25 x 12 = $300 a year or *60 percent interest* on BORROWING money!
Fortunately both their App and their website track the VISA spending and number of debit card transactions for me. The tracking can lag by several days, though. I can also deposit checks using their smartphone App which is now a required convenience in my busy life.
A small caveat on the 12 Debit card being used as credit card transactions per month - certain large retailers, notably Wal*Mart and McDonalds, routinely process the card as a DEBIT card even though they don't require a PIN or signature - so I have to be aware of that when choosing where to use which card.
Even though they are far away from my home in New Mexico, I have found it easy to work with Consumers Credit Union and recommend them to anyone who is willing to "jump through the hoops" in order to earn an unmatched high rate of interest. 4.59% x $20,000 is $918 per year, or $76.50 a month, which is nothing to sneeze at!
I've been with CCU for about 2 years and have been happy with the high APY and no fees so far. I haven't really had to deal with customer service, but I usually use LIve Chat during weekdays, which is really convenient. It's currently really easy to meet the minimum requirements for 3.09% APY, but CCU is changing the terms in Feb 2016. They're going to bump up the APY by 0.50% (from 3.09% APY to 3.59%), but this comes at a price: it would require $500 minimum in total purchases instead of the 12 credit transactions previously needed.
I have been a member of Consumers Credit Union (IL) for seven years that is my favorite credit union ever. I have several things to comment.
First , CCU offers the best rates anywhere at 5.09% for the rewards checking account that guarantee it will keep 5.09% APY for balances up to $20,000 until 2016.
Second, CCU also pay a bonus of $50 to open the account when you are referred by an existing member. The process is pretty easy. (1) You need find a current member to refer you and tell your name in the account (I can do, but anybody who has a CCU account should do too). (2) After the current member send the referral form to CCU, you can open a reward checking account through CCU online application process. (3) After you meet the Rewards Checking Account requirements for the first two continuous months after opening, you will get the $50 bonus.
Third, their service is pretty Good. The representatives I talked by phone or contacted by e-mail seems incredibly patient and helpful when I have problems with them.
In addition, I just got a message from CCU that the 50/50 Rewards Checking Referral Promotion Program will end on 09/30/2015. If you have any question or comment, please PM me.
Rewards checking was a waste of time since Walmart cannot be used for pin less debit transactions. Walmart is the only store with a self checkout to generate the 24 total transactions needed. May be a good card if you can find a location to meet the 12 debits charged as credits. Unfortunately setting this account up required about the same time and effort as applying for a mortgage. A seemingly endless process just to have a worthless account. CCCU has literally every piece of confidential information available on my family and then some. You could run all over town trying to make debit transactions that hopefully poat as credit but spending all that gas and extra money defeats the purpose of SAVINGS. Good card if your a chronic spender. LMCU is much much much easier and their web site posts immediately. I could see in time most retailers posting all pin free debits as debits if it saves them money. This is likely a temporary account even for those who currently are having success.
The staff at this particular credit union are not honest and straightforward. In addition, they are not good problem solvers. They will feed one lies just because they do not want him to become a member of their credit union. I went there three times in one day to try and open an account but was unsuccessful. The first time I went in, I was told that my ChexSystems consumer file was frozen. I called ChexSystems afterwards and found that this was absolutely false. In addition, the credit union's inquiry appears on my consumer report. The second time I went in, I was told that I was on ChexSystems. This was absolutely false after verification with ChexSystems. The third time I went in, I was told that my credit file was blocked. This was absolutely false as well. Consumers Credit Union's inquiry appears on my credit file. So I was told a bunch of lies just so I could not become a member of Consumers Credit Union. How I know that I was lied to? Because I was able to open a bank account with a different credit union the following day with no hassles. I am glad to have found a credit union with fair banking policies and that have a fair and equal system of checks and balances. Because of the lies Consumers Credit Union told me and the hassles given to me, I would not recommend this particular credit union to anyone. This experience with Consumers Credit Union may be reported to the attorney general and consumer watchdog agencies for further investigation of unfair business practices.
The transactions take 1-3 days to register on the "Rewards Update". LMCU is almost immediate. CCU's statement list of transactions does not reflect if they are credit or debit. The only way you can verify if a specific transaction was processed as a debit or credit is to call them. They say you can also wait until they register on the "Rewards Update". This is not good. I had 3 Walmart transactions post as debits. You have to keep close track of your credit transactions or you may be short for the cycle. Look at your receipts immediately to verify they were credit and not a debit transactions (especially Walmart). On the Walmart receipt, look for the TOTAL. The line under the TOTAL will say DEBIT TEND (debit) or MCARD TEND (credit). The debit/credit transaction is not CCU's fault. I have only experienced this at Walmart. Sometimes, they do not give you the option to use it as a credit card. It automatically processes it as a debit even though you press credit card. I get all my charges done 1 week before the end of the cycle. I am getting the 4% interest rate.
I have banked with them for 4 or 5 years now. And they have had the highest interest rate on a checking account for the whole time. Its not a teaser rate. I always get the 4.09%. It sounds like a lot of transactions. But its not really, over a thirty day period. And there is no minimum purchase.
Two months ago I opened my rewards checking account at CCU to stash my emergency fund. Essentially, I wanted the cash to be liquid and available while not losing value to inflation.
So far it's been a pretty easy process. The APY I get is 3%. The requirements I have to meet are: having less than $10k in my account, 12 debit card transactions/month, and 1 ACH transaction/month. For my ACH transaction, I charge my car insurance to my CCU account.
CCU waived the requirements the 1st month, which enabled me to get the 3% APY. This month, I already know I'll get the 3% since their online dashboard tracks your progress. I think meeting the requirements is virtually hassle-free.
My main complaint with CCU would be their customer service. Despite calling them a few times in the middle of a weekday, I had to wait 20 minutes to talk to anybody. I also didn't think their phone menu was very intuitive. However, they were much quicker to respond via email.
Two notes: I saw one review complain about their overdraft protection fees so I was sure to opt out of this. Also keep in mind APY is not APR. I get more cash back on my credit card, but at least this system rewards me to save, not spend.
Without a doubt the best checking account in the country. 4% on 20k (5% if you spend more than some people make on your credit card) The 20k limit IS a teaser rate as the previous commenter mentioned, but they recently extended the term period for an extra 6 months.
Couldn't be happier with Consumer's rates and products.
I have had some problems with managing my account. Customer service reps haven't been able to fulfill all my requests. You can't put their credit card on autopay unless you call, and even then, autopay doesn't work until two months after your request. Website is really unwieldy and hard to use. Also, they wanted me to pay $30 for a book of checks, when Washington Savings gives them to me for free. Over all, a small bank thats maybe drowning in its national attention a bit.
But when you're getting rates like this, can you really complain? I strongly encourage savers to take a look at this account.
I received an email from Consumers CU yesterday stating they are extending the rate guarantee to the end of the year (it was guaranteed until the end of August) so that's good news.
I see on their website they are still offering the 50/50 promotion and that's also good news.
A word of caution here though. In order to qualify for these rates, Consumers CU mandates the 12 debit charges have to be processed as credit charges. Now that used to be as simple as swiping your card through the card reader and selecting the credit key. It is still working that way in most places, I'd say, but Walmart has implemented a new system whereby they can process this charge as a debit rather than a credit if it is under $50.00. It does not matter if you did not enter your PIN, that you ran it as a credit, Walmart can still process it through the banks/credit unions as a debit. (I verified this with Walmart corporate headquarters). I don't know how legal this is, but with Walmart, who knows. You'd think Walmart would have their legal department check it out, but since they sometimes seem to think they are mightier than the government, who knows for sure.
Anyway, I had spoken to a customer rep at Consumers about one of my debit charges not showing up as a credit and she informed me about this and also said McDonalds is doing the same (I have not verified this with McDonalds, but after checking with Walmart, for further verication, I'll take her word for it on the McDonalds). I'm glad I called because I almost didn't and just figured if they didn't pay the interest at the end of the month I could call then and get it straightened out. That sure wouldn't have worked out so well for me.
So, don't take for granted that just because you ran your debit charge through as a credit, it is going to be processed that way. Keep a close eye on the rewards tracking table showing on your account and don't assume there was just a mistake and that a call to them will fix it. No, it won't, you still need the 12 debit charges to come through as credit charges.
So, do all those debit charges as soon as the new cycle begins and make sure they went through as credit. If not, at least you'll have time to make the required number you need in order to get the 12, but remember, it takes 2 to 3 days to process and settle as a credit charge, so don't wait too long in the month. Same goes for the credit card, get them all done early on and make sure your tracking table tells you that you have qualified.
I hope this helps save someone from a disappointing month of no interest due to a dumb technicality, The way they've got it set up (having to do run the debit through as credit and if you are going for the 4.09% interest rate, adding in the 12 credit card charges, but it is doable and if you keep a balance of $20,000. you will get an avg. of around $66.00 in interest a month, so yep, it's worth it as well.
Everyone should understand that the current offer, guaranteeing the tiers of 3.09%, 4.09%, and 5.09% until August 2015, is a teaser rate, and this rate is only guaranteed "through" July 2015.
Also, they have really designed this to generate a lot of "breakage" ... meaning that many customers won't be getting the interest rate they were expecting. That's because customers trying to get into the upper tiers will have to carefully track their charges, they'll have to be sure the debit card transactions are signature based (certain merchants, on "smaller" transactions, will treat debit card transactions as PIN-based even without the customer entering a PIN!), and they have to make sure that the required transactions occur early enough in the month that they are treated as having posted by the final business day of the month.
CCU has added a "dashboard" to help with the tracking, but it takes a couple of days extra after the transaction posts for that to update. And if you have $20k deposited but fail to get the required transactions on each of the cards, your interest will (at best) be paid at 3.09% on only the first $10k of your deposit, for an effective rate of only 1.54%.
So yes, CCU's offer looks very good, but they receive my "kudos" for being so clever about how to avoid paying what they have promised.
I've been with them for a couple of years. I put them on the back burner when they changed their deal and I am glad I kept my account active. The current deal is working well. I only spend $25-35/month on 24 charges to earn the 4%. The 5% deal doesn't work for me. It's only $16/mo return on $1,000/mo charges and a $20,000 balance. I get 2% cash back on my Citi credit card. That is $20 tax free cash back for $1,000. I love rewards checking accounts. Currently, I make 68 small and 5 $51 charges. I calculated that I am not making $53/yr (whether the balance is the $2,040 break even or $20,000) on the 5/51 account that I would be making on 2 regular $10,000 3% accounts with 24 total charges. I just started the 5/51 and I am not sure if I will like it. So far, it is a pain. I had to cancel my automatic payments for the cable and electricity. I have to drive and stand in line to make the charges. I was getting 2% cash back on the $255/mo. So, I had to add that to the mix. The only problem is that there are too few $15-20,000 max accounts. The rewards checking offers constantly change and I have to be positioned to make adjustments quickly. It is easy to pick up $5-10,000 max accounts. I still keep First Financial and Heartland active hoping for a come back. It happened with CCU. It takes very little effort to keep the options open. But, I am dreading what % August may bring at CCU.
I would not recommend doing business with this credit union. I was lured by their 5% reward checking rate but the headache that ensued wasn't worth it.
Opened a rewards checking account on Jan. 6th 2015 and still (2/1/2015) don't have a debit card or credit card. I talked with the staff 4 times about my mailing address and they still kept getting it wrong. They will not wave the qualifying requirements for another month even though it's their error that I haven't received my cards yet.
I'm very disappointed with this credit union and am considering scraping the account but they've already done two hard credit pulls.
Update...CU agreed to wave the 5.09% requirements for Feb. so I retract the above comment.
I have been a member of CCU for four months as of this writing. I find everything about the experience easy to work with and very much worth the effort for the current interest rate tiers.
Online Banking - basic, easy to navigate user interface. Reference box displays progress towards meeting monthly requirements to earn the interest rate tiers.
Credit Cards - With CCU Signature Visa, I easily qualify for the highest interest rate and don't have to sacrifice the cash back rewards from my credit card usage. This card gives 3% cash back on grocery purchases (including all purchases at Walmart!), 2% cash back on gas purchases and 1% cash back on all other purchases. PLUS, the cash back is automatically credited to your statement at the end of each cycle. You don't have to wait to accumulate a certain dollar amount of rewards or remember to redeem them. On the credit application, request a credit limit of at least $10,000. I was (annoyingly) denied my first application for this card. I questioned the decision because I have great credit and was told that I had not requested enough credit.
Any tips on how to meet the $1000/mo spend for the higher interest rate?
Feel free to pm.
Trying to figure out if this is worth the effort.
Don't quite get the idea of putting a reasonable sum in a checking account and then carrying/using a debit card with no pin....
people at bank seem very nice and their "fraud department is excellent" according to csr, but I can't see going with this product....
And does seem a bit of a nuisance, for all the requirements -- even though rate is high.
Anyone know if gift card purchases are considered a cash advance?
If so, how do people meet the $1k monthly spend?
Anyone know if Consumers Credit Union does a hard credit pull to open the acct?
Do I understand this correctly - to get the 4% interest you need to meet the 3% requirements, which includes 12 purchases, + 12 additional purchases, totaling 24 purchases/month?
Seems like a fairly high maintenance card. Is anyone doing this? Schedule payments on a utility bill for 1$/day? Ideas?
Anyone doing referrals?
This is a small credit union, and it acts like a small credit union. This is the kind of small neighborhood institution I wish all the best in the future, to grow and to flourish. They are on the right path, just not quite there yet compared to other options.
ACH transfers are slow so I prefer to use any other bank to initiate them, not Consumers. I save at least two days that way.
They have 5 business day hold on CASH deposits made into Co-Op network ATMs. NONE of the deposited cash is immediately available. That can be frustrating sometimes.
Bill pay - mostly only works through paper checks (unreliable and insecure). I have no idea which companies I would be able to pay using Consumers CU electronically, apparently I have none :)
Mobile application is just a link to their website. I am impressed that external ACH can be initiated on their mobile site, if only they were fast :)
My experience with Consumers Credit Union was a combination of nice features and frustrating and costly services.
CCU only allows one checking account along with one savings account. Because of the way I was attempting to budget myself, and because I was limited to these two accounts, I was constantly transferring funds from one account to the other. Little did I know, because it was not disclosed to me by the teller who signed me up when I told her of my plans, I was limited to the number of times per month that I could transfer funds out of my savings account online before I incurred huge fees.
There were numerous other instances where I found their customer service to be very lacking, both in politeness and in fair disclosure of information that would have helped me.
Outside of these downsides, the bank was a fairly decent experience. Provided you're very knowledgeable about federal regulations and the credit union's own fees and rules, you should have a decent experience.
INNOVA changed to impossible requirements for me. I already have 2 CCU accounts so I am going to use them until I find a better deal. The $10,000 limit is a pain. Going to use the 3% requirements. Good problem to have. CCU is good but the limit is too low.
1. Auto loan at 2.4%. Refinancing lease, slow to receive physical certificate of tile from original company. CCU wanted to raise rate to highest personal loan of subprime borrowers until it received title. Finally came, immediately sent to named lending manager by certified mail with signature return receipt. Still wanted to raise rate to usury level after provided receipt of title by CCU.
If I had not found many $$ to pay off entirely in cash would have been whacked, apparently forever.
2. Rewards checking account required so many conditions and transactions it would have made me work hours for much less than minimum wage each month, all taxable.
3. Fuhgettabouddit.
Good but Low $10,000/12 purchases they make you work for 2%. Had money in before they changed the rules. Good credit union. Never a problem. Stopped using it when the rate dropped. Keeping it on the back burner just in case. The 5% looks good for advertising, but when I looked at the requirements it wasn't worth it for me. I would just a soon leave my money sitting at Discover Bank getting 0.85%, spend my money on 1.5% cash back credit card and not have to jump through hoops for 2%. Many more fish in the sea. But , if it is a good fit for you they are good to work with. I only gave it a 1 star because it is not meeting my needs. I would not hesitate if they were $15,000 cap / 3% / 10-12 transactions.
Good company. Could be well worth it for you. They have always been good to work with. I have an open account there that I am not using. Even with the rates of 4% or 5%, I'm not ready to jump through the hoops for $10,000 limit. I have too many $15,000 and $20,000 accounts to max out first. Might look at it closer depending on what the credit card offers for $1,000/mo required charges. I get 1.5% cash back on 1 of my credit cards now. With the income taxes, I would have to pay on the 5%, it may not be to my advantage. Will have to do the math. Good company. Just too bad it's only a $10,000 limit. Right now I have active accounts totaling 3%/$70,000/50 charges and more 3%/$15,000 limit accounts on hold. $10,000 could be well worth it. It all depends on your situation. (wrote another review and lost it just now)
It's a great deal, if you can work with the $10,000 limit. I have an open account that I no longer use. It's hard to keep to many balls in the air at once and the $10,000 limit is too restrictive for me.
I have been a member of this credit union for 20 years. I've had a few issues now and then, but nothing major until this weekend. On Saturday, June 29 I tried to make a drop in the ATM at their Gurnee location and the ATM was down so I dropped money in their night deposit drop box to prevent an overdraft fee from taking place. The made the deposit after the item had went through even though the money was there first. When I inquired about this, I was given the run around, an excuse which made no sense blaming another transaction for the overdraft which was untrue. I sent a bunch of questions back to them and they refused to respond. I posted a rating on their Facebook page and they messaged me but gave me a whole different line of reasoning still refusing to correct the matter. Then then ignored two further inquiry emails and started deleting my comments on their Facebook page until my friend posted her own questions. They finally responded to one of my two letters with yet a third excuse, different from the first two, this one said a night drop wasn't put in until the next business day, so if I made a night drop on June 29, they don't put it in until Tuesday July 2, if you do it on an ATM, its a two day wait, no other bank has that and that's ridiculous. The fact is all they have to do is hit a button on the computer to resolve the matter. They admitted they had the deposit prior to the transaction, then changed the story. They refuse to refund me only making different excuses. I have accounts with two other banks and never had this sort of issue, they deposit night drops instantly and there are never any issues like this. I my eyes, this is an act of fraud. Stay away from these people.
The credit union offered this special that if you open up an account with 10k and you filled a few requirments such as looking at your account once a month and using your card 12 times and paying one bill you would get approx 30 buck a month.
WELL a few months into the program they changed the program ...and cut the amount and the rules remained the same..and really did not inform me open...it was in the disclaimers..
So beware of these scams they just want you to open an account..which I have since closed..
Consumers Online Banking is not up to par with other online banking systems. They require you to make 12 CREDIT transactions to get a higher Interest Rate and return their fees but their online system has a flaw where it does not tell you if your transation is processed as a DEBIT or CREDIT. Online merchants can process your CREDIT payment as DEBIT without your knowledge. You only find this out per the service representation by either calling the bank or chatting with them online. They also do not respond to secured online systems.
Look else where unless you want to call the bank every month to confirm that transactions you actually made posted as CREDIT were done by DEBIT without your knowledge.
I have trusted this credit union and funded thousands of dollars since day one with them. And the person who took my funds never told me that my own money will be frozen, on hold however long until, they recieved my signature on some IRS back up withholding paper.
My trust to fund in this credit union is not treated back fairly.
What's more, the papers with which they excused to froze my thousands of dollars are not being mailed out one week later.
Please anyone out there, can you give me some advice on this credit union????
I opened a reward checking account with Consumers Credit Union. They gave me an account number to establish a link with Chase. I funded the CCU account with this link. On the CCU site I did notice that I had a regular shares & reward checking. I moved the money into the rewards checking and did the required debit transactions and ACH transfer. I received an email stating that I did not qualify for the rewards checking interest & called CCU. They told me that the ACH transfer went into savings not checking. I did not know that I had a separate number for checking as I was not given another account number. Last week I moved money from the designated "checking" into the "regular shares" and transferred from CCU to Chase. The transaction when through. This week I attempted to do the same exact transaction (I only have one link set up) & the transaction did not go through & I was charged a $30 NSF fee by CCU. I called CCU and they said the transfer was "quoted as checking". The CCU representative told me to transfer the money into the checking and see if it processes this time. I don't know how they can transfer money between accounts where no link has been established and verified. This is scary. They can transfer the money "into" the account that benefits them and "out" of the account that benefits them.
You would think that a CU would make it easy to fund a checking account you just opened with them, right? Not Consumers CU. They do not show the checking account number in their website, they do not send you the account number in a mail message, and they will not tell you the account number over the phone. You kinda need the account number if you want to ACH money into it. Are they a bunch of idiots?
I have been a member/customer of Consumers Credit Union for almost 10 years now. I have had a money market account, a savings account, IRA's, a debit card and a checking account with them. I have also used their really FAST streaming tab to keep close track of stocks I wanted to buy. Consumers Credit is headquartered in Waukegan with 3 branches in three different locations in northern Illinois. I have dealt with each of the branches and the main office at various times. I mention this because I have had the same level of service and cooperation from all branches and the main office. It's really been great. At one point I was hospitalized for a few months, and it was so easy to take care of all my money matters on their website or by phone. I now pay all my utilities, rent, medical bills--everything--using their website--with automatic monthly payments that I don't even have to think about. They just happen!! And using their debit card to pay all my bills doesn't cost me anything. In fact, it earns me interest because it helps me qualify for their Rewards Checking program. No minimum balance in either checking account or savings account. Show me a bank that will do that!! My friends keep telling me these horror stories about all the charges they incur from their financial institutions (that shall remain nameless). I eventually called and had no trouble talking with the president of Consumers Credit Union. I thanked him for the years of pleasant, trouble-free service. He was not even surprised that I had called. Apparently his receiving such calls was not that unusual. I honestly can't think of a thing I'd change about this Credit Union--except maybe if they started giving away free money--well, that WOULD be nice.
Stay away!! Don't waste your time trying to talk to a live person. You will be put in recorded message jail and no one will ever pick up. Finally got someone to call me via their online web chat, and she could not answer even basic questions.
Haven't yet opened the account but the person on the phone was very helpful. She did tell me that the rate on the Rewards Checking account will fall to 3.59% APY on April 1, 2010.
CCU overall is a good bank - more of your small credit union feel with real people answering the phone
the rewards program is excellent; not too difficult and high rates
-the debit card program excels in that it allows both PinBased and Non PinBased transactions to qualify; basically any transaction i've used my card for, ATM, VISA, online, recurring bill via phone company counts.
-you only have to make one bill pay
-no direct deposit required if you make the bill pay; an ACH deposit potentially works but haven't tested it
-your reward deposits the last day of the month
-reward checking offers ATM fee refunds if you hit the reward guidelines
-no free checks at first if that matters
-incomeing or outgoing money moves quickly, no 5 day HSBC like delays
-the rate over $25k is not bad for checking if you hover around it and use the account (ie you keep $26k in it so you don't go below 25 during the month)
the not so good::
the banking system is one of those outside packages; collection of modules rolled into one so its a bit clunky but not Pentagon bad.
there are NO ACH outbounds, you can bill pay your other bank accounts with some success using address and account number
any deposits into the account go into the defaul Shares Account(its a credit union); so you have to keep moving it to your rewards checking account if you want the interest - not sure if the bank can fix this
i personally dislike the online statements, a real mess