| 5 star: | (5) | |
| 4 star: | (2) | |
| 3 star: | (2) | |
| 2 star: | (1) | |
| 1 star: | (19) |
I applied to open a 42 month CD with a 2.30% APY since it is just about the best yield you can get these days. Keep in mind they do a hard pull of your credit report.
I was approved and they emailed me the docs to e-sign. I read these agreements to make sure there won't be any surprises. Well, good thing I read the docs.
In order to open an account you are required to open a savings account with a $5 balance. This is SOP for credit unions. HOWEVER, after reading their fee disclosures, I discovered that they charge $2.50 per month if your savings account balance drops below $100.00. That is not a big deal but it was not disclosed by the representative who I spoke with.
The bigger issue is that after the first year you have to maintain $1,000 in the savings account to avoid a $5/month fee. (Remember, I was opening a 42 month CD, so I had to have the savings account for 42 months.) THIS WAS NOT DISCLOSED AT ALL WHEN I SPOKE WITH THEIR REP. I KNOW IT'S ONLY $60/YEAR, BUT WITH THESE LOW INTEREST RATES THAT $60 CUTS INTO YOUR EFFECTIVE APY.
WHAT SCARED ME OFF NEXT IS THAT THE REP SAID THAT THE CD BALANCE ($10,000 IN MY CASE) WOULD BE INCLUDED IN CALCULATING MY TOTAL BALANCE AND AS A RESULT WOULD SATISFY THE $1,000 MINIMUM BALANCE. HOWEVER THEIR FEE SCHEDULE DOES NOT SAY THAT AT ALL, AS I ADVISED HER. SO SHE TOLD ME TO CALL IN A YEAR AND REMIND HER OF OUR CONVERSATION AND SHE WOULD WAIVE THE FEE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM, SO BEWARE OF THIS CREDIT UNION.
I want to make you aware of the negative and frustrating experience I had when closing my 91 day CD with Inova Federal Credit Union. Despite calling before the maturity date and instructing the credit union to move the funds into my checking account upon maturity, this did not happen. Upon calling the first working day after maturity I was told that the funds had been reinvested! After a lengthy hold the agent obtained approval to move the funds into my checking account. I told the agent that I would go to a local shared credit union to access the funds and was assured there would be no problem. At the local credit union the teller called Inova to obtain approval to issue a cashier’s check, as required by shared network policies. Inova refused to grant approval. I spent an hour at the local credit union and the manager finally issued the check after determining that I had closed the CD. This was totally unnecessary if Inova had followed shared network policies. A letter to Inova regarding this has gone unanswered. Don’t be fooled by the special CD rates Inova offers; attempting to get your money out at maturity is a protracted struggle because of Inova’s unethical behavior.
I tried to open an Ovation checking account because of the 3% offer in May 2014.
It took more than one month to open the account because the Inova Credit Union representative simply forgot to send me my opening documents. I had to explicitly ask about the whereabouts before the representative admitted this. By that time Inova Credit Union changed the rules of how to earn the higher interest of 3%. They made it much harder to earn this interest rate. Then, a few months later, the interest rate dropped down to 2%. Again, in July 2015 the benefit of having a higher interest was removed. These days (August 2015) the Ovation checking account offers an interest rate of 0.07% which is ridiculously low. Trying to compensate for the lack of any benefits Inova Credit Union is talking their members into signing up for special certificates of deposit. One gets 2% for two months. But then, without notification, on maturity date Inova Credit Union moves one's funding into a CD paying 0.05%. This is enough for me! I will withdraw all my funds from Inova Credit Union.
Hopefully, they will handle it correctly. They closed them over the phone and said they will be mailing a check to me next week. The rep. was very nice. I gave this credit union 2 chances. Both times, they changed the terms just as I got my accounts up and running. I don't mind jumping through hoops to get 3% and 4% at other institutions. The CD deal doesn't work for me.
I had a joint rewards checking account at INOVA for a short time. When they dramatically lowered the interest rate, I moved most of the deposit to another institution. I closed the account on November 30, 2012 after keeping a token deposit for the required year to avoid their termination fee.
Mid-May 2015, over 29 months after the account was closed, they sent a new debit card on the closed account good through 2018! I found I could login to their web on-line banking with the ID and Password I had in my records. I sent two "secure" messages using their on-line system alerting them to their errors, but their was no response after a week!
* Poor Record Keeping Procedures
* Poor Debt Card Procedures
* Poor Web Security
* No Customer Service
These people are so dumb, I don't want to do business with them. I submitted EVERYTHING they asked for, and it still wasn't enough. I work for the State of NJ, but my paystub wasn't "valid" as proof of my income. I NEVER want to do business with a financial institution that employs people this stupid.
I opened 2 accounts last year and immediately they changed their requirements. I just got another 2 accounts going and I got my 3% interest this month for the first time. Now, they did it again. I'm out of there. The CSR, I talked to on the first of April, didn't have the courtesy to tell me that they were going to take $200/yr out of my pocket. It takes me 2 months to change my direct deposit, so I'm stuck or pay the $7.50 service charge. One of my INOVA accounts has no service charge and no minimum balance. I only have $15 in it so I will keep it open in a holding status for when they change their minds again. It seems to be about once a year. That stinks. I am not a happy camper. I'm so glad for Deposit Accounts keeping me informed. The same thing happened with FFB1.com and Heartland. I'm running out of options for 3%. Currently, I have to make 68 charges/ month it is only the 4th and I have made 60. I can get two 3% $10,000 12 small charges accounts in a few months when they have an online application available. I have 2 accounts with Heartland but I don't think I can eat 25 $5 pizzas / month to get 3%. I will try to work it out. The only upside is Heartland's total charges will be $125/mo where INOVA was $251/mo. I can still make 2% cash back on the other $125. If anbody runs across any national 3% $10,000 or > (besides Heartland, CCU and LMCU), please alert me and Ken. Thanks
I was speaking today to an Inova CSR and she told me that Inova was reducing the rate on its rewards checking account from 3% to 2% as of April 1.
Taking a wait and see attitude. I will reevaluate in a few months once I get up and running. So far, I opened 2 accounts last week. They were supposed to fund my accounts by making 2 $40 ACH transfers from my savings account at another bank. Instead, they made 6 transfers totaling $80. The problem is that I am only allowed 6 transfers per month. If I had made prior transfers, I would have been over the limit. My money is sitting at 0.9% and I can't move it to 3% until Feb. ......My advice is to initiate the account funding ACH transfer from your bank. REEVALUATION 4/4/2015. I just got my 3% for the first time on 4/1. They dropped their rate to 2% on 4/1. I'm out of there. Unfortunately, it takes 2 months to get my direct deposit changed. So, I am stuck with them for 2 more months or pay the $7.50 service charge. It was their 2nd chance. The same thing happened to me last year. By the way, I gave them two 5 star ratings in the past. I wish I could take them back. 3% $15,000 and $20,000 max accounts are hard to find. I already have CCU and LMCU. I am so grateful for Deposit Account's notifications.
This 'Alan' Guy obviously sounds like an employee of the bank doesn't he? It's comical that he thinks that WE the consumers are the scammers, just because we find an easy loophole to make interest? HAHAHA
Does he not realize that this is what banks do ALL ACROSS THE NATION! They FEED off the middle, lower-middle, and especially the lower class folks.
While they RAKE in the fees and credit card interest against these folks, some of the more educated people that play these high interest checking games sneak in and give them a taste of their own medicine! So WHAT?
The banks are still making out JUST FINE!
Calling us high interest checking players "Scammers" is ignorant as hell.
Do yourself a favor and research what goes on in the primary and secondary lending sectors. Read up on how they cripple our economy with predatory real estate loans, CDO's, etc, basically betting against the very loans they hand out.
At the end of the day, the BANKS are the scammers, often leveraging over 30 to 1... any large fluctuations to the economy makes them basically insolvent. But who walks away when they have to file bankruptcy? The CEO's... with nothing but slap of the wrist, while they keep all that bonus money they stole from the middle class... What happens to the middle class? They get foreclosed and have bad credit for years. (NO slap on the wrist for them being tricked into over leveraging!)
So don't cry when a few people turn around and get a dividend from these banks. Even at a $50 minimum debit charge, it's still very easy to get around this and not truly spend that $50.
So in summary Alan, don't hate the player, hate the game!
This company is a joke. I tried without luck to get insurance refund money returned to me. They would not return my money. Go elsewhere.
I have been a member for about 3 months now, and have nothing bad to say about them. Their customer experience has been great, and they are very prompt in getting back to me if I have any issues. I use their RCA accounts, and have now expanded into their CDs. I look forward to increasing my business with them in the coming months.
They move like turtles and show no sense of urgency. As a business manager I depend on them to be quick and accurate so I can return to work in a timely manner. The location I bank with has multiple. Businesses that deposit and purchase change with them daily, yet they never have their drawers stocked and I always have to wait for staff to get someone to help them get money from the vault. I was driving all the way to Goshen to drop and getting back to my store in Elkhart faster than coming here (Elkhart Ave) but due to my current responsibilities I have to stay closer to town. I would highly appreciate any efforts to improve service and urgency!
As soon as I got my money in, they changed the requirements and I lost 2 months of interest as a result. The new requirements are too difficult for me to meet. Going back to Consumers Credit Union for 3% with $10,000 limit. I will continue looking for higher limit accounts. I have FFB1, LMCU, HBANKUSA and CCU. Too bad. I was very happy with the INNOVA account I opened. But, it no longer exists.
INOVA never informed me of the draconian change to their high-interest monthly checking requirements begun on July 1. There was nothing posted on any of my last 3 monthly e-statements apprising of such a change nor was the messaging function in my account used to inform me of the change. Fortunately I went back to the website to review the terms and noticed the much more onerous requirements which prompted me to immediately remove all funds on deposit and closed my account. I will not do business with such a non-transparent financial entity. This change is sure to entrap many customers for the month of July.
I give praise when it is due. The honeymoon is over. I deposited $100 to open 2 accounts. They charged me $7.50 each. I got my money in last month in time to qualify for the $1,500 min daily balance. Now, I get a letter yesterday that the rules are changing. I won't be able to meet the requirements. I haven't made any charges this month on this new account even though I have a large balance. So, I have lost interest and I'm Going to be charge another $7.50 service charge/ account? My instinct is to take all my money out. Also, they sent a long question sheet for personal security information. The guy I talked to said he would call me back about it and he never did. If I'm not staying, I'm not going to verify more information. Does anybody know what is going on? Did they just need to sign up people for some reason and not keep them? Are other rewards checking banks and credit unions doing the same thing?
549 checks arrived today. The other rewards accounts sent none or about 10-15 to me. My account is in Indiana and a branch manager in CA answered my e-mail question after hours yesterday. Now, if we could get then to drop the debit card requirements from 15 to 10.
I applied online for a checking account, and after doing a hard pull on my credit report, their web system told me I was approved and even invited me to apply for their credit card for which it said I was pre-approved. So I went ahead with the credit card application. After about a week, however, I received a letter telling me that my applications were in fact all denied. They listed factors based on my credit report, which are all factual criteria (i.e., numbers) their computer system should clearly have been able to evaluate. In addition my FICA score varies from 750 to 770 month to month, not that bad at all so that they would think I'm a risk even for a checking account... I was of course quite annoyed and tried to contact them for a review of my application. Each time the person answering my phone calls, emails, or online chat said they needed to talk to the actual underwriter and promised to call me back the same day, which never happen. The people there were polite but it appears that INOVA does not really care about its customers. I was able to get them to reply by filing a complaint with BBB, but apparently because INOVA has paid fees to become an accredited business, BBB was satisfied with this response from them:
"Applicant applied online for membership with INOVA FCU and for a Visa account. Instant application approval or denial is based on specific criteria. Every instant approval is then thoroughly reviewed by an Underwriter based on all the applicants' information. Upon additional review of the information, INOVA stands behind its decision to deny the applicant. INOVA also reviews credit for every checking account request as those accounts also create a risk for loss. INOVA apologizes for any inconvenience applicant had with member service and those issues will be addressed."
No specific answers to any questions that were asked.. The unwillingness to disclose any more information on their criteria makes one believe that their underwriters work rather subjectively. And yes it's OK to do a credit check to assess risk, but they could either use a soft pull or ChexSystems like the vast majority of banks do, or at least make it clear that they are not following the norm...
To be honest, I've been always skeptical when I read negative reviews about a business, thinking that any reasonably-sized company will inevitably have them, and these bad experiences are what tend to be talked about more. Only when reviews of similar kind begin to repeat, will I start to really doubt the company. I left this review, just to corroborate the stories of cows and anon2 and alert future readers of this web site -- don't try opening an account with INOVA, it's not worth the time and the hard check.
I would advise to open accounts with "any" online or walk in financial institution with small amount $ until you get the debit cards. I just got a little too good of service from INOVA with priority mail. I got debit cards in big cardboard US priority mail envelop on Monday 3/31/14. I guess they were trying to get them to me very fast and were overly helpful to a fault. However, even though the debit card and the password were in separate paper envelops, they were both in the same big cardboard priority mail envelop. I wasn't worried because I had only deposited $100 to open the account. But, if I had $20,000 I would have freaked out. I am going to call them about this. It may have been a one time thing rather than standard policy. I would advise to open accounts with " any " online institutions or even your local banks with small amount $ until you get the debit cards. I think INOVA will even open it up for $0 initial deposit and the $15 membership fee. But, you would need to verify that. The process was so simple and fast. I applied on line Sunday 3/23/14 and got my debit cards Monday 3/31/14. I caused a 1 day delay. I didn't get the documents notarized the same day they were e-mailed to me. The process is very fast. So, there is not need to rush to hit that $20,000 max. It could have happened if I had conducted the business face to face instead of online with " any " bank or credit union. I had never considered this could be a glitch in a system. All that being said, I am pleased with INOVA's "Liability for Unauthorized Use" policy. Better safe than sorry.
On Sunday, I applied on internet for 2 rewards checking accounts, one for me, one for spouse with each of us as joint applicant. I included my funding info on app. They called me on Monday morning. They did credit check. I e-mailed our driver's licenses. I was approved on Tuesday morning and they gave me our account numbers. Tuesday afternoon, they e-mailed the paperwork. Wednesday, I got it notarized and faxed it to them. That evening I set up my passwords, etc. The account was live. Thursday, they had already funded it. I talked with two people there. They were so enthusiastic and friendly it was hard to believe it was a Monday morning. Very helpful, patient and returned calls promptly.
- Rejected application for checking account despite 40 years of pristine credit history
- News of rejection only after one week despite frequent phone calls
- Over 3 weeks of trying, no one EVER returned a phone message pleading for help
- Large initial deposit was held 25 days with no explanation
- Stay away unless you want a month of frustration
I have followed this webiste for many years but never registered until now to provide a review of this horrible credit union.
I applied online for their rewards chacking account. I thought the app said it would use TransUnion to review the credit history and identity verification, but when I hit submit I saw on the screen that Experian had the questions. I passed everything and entered my funding info. I was contacted to provide a copy of my drivers license and then was told I was approved.
I was then sent a link to Docusign for my account documents to sign, but could never gain access and was never asked any questions on the site. After several days of hassle I found out that underwirting denied my checking account application after the initial approval. It was for the standard iitems I see on my Experian score reasons - too many inquiries, too recent time for account opened etc. My score is still above 750 so I was ticked off. I have started my complaint process with their management for taking a hard hit on a different bureau and a turn down that would be for a lending scenario or credit card scenario.
I should have avoided the company after reading all the negative reviews on here and other websites. Avoid this credit union and find another one. I have mulitiple RCA's but needed an extra and with a higher rate. This was a waste of time and an inquiry.
This place is a joke!! No one will ever help you. They just sit around drinking coffee and talking on their phones!!
Inova will only let you step up your CD to a rate 1.5% higher than your initial rate.
I wish I wasn't. They have consistently provided my family with poor service. I wish they cared!
Roy Clements