| 5 star: | (10) | |
| 4 star: | (3) | |
| 3 star: | (2) | |
| 2 star: | (1) | |
| 1 star: | (6) |
Two weeks ago I opened my first 15 month CD yielding 1.81%. I decided to open another one last week, but I was told that the daily/monthly limits to ACH funds from my external account were $2,500/$5,000.
Those limits are much too low for me since I planned on opening another $75,000 in CD's. As a result, I requested an increase. The increase granted was their maximum which are a daily/monthly limits of $10,000/$20,000.
Those limits are still much too low, but they refuse to increase them and told me that my only options were to PAY for a wire transfer, which I refuse out of principle to do, or to mail them a check! Unbelievable, what is this the 1980's? They are a $3 billion bank but behave like a mom and pop shop!
Veridian just lost a good customer.
I opened my CD special today, they were friendly and helpful.
After spending way too much time opening my required $5 minimum account at Veridian, I then found out the only way to open CD's is to do it by snail mail or wire transfer. Of course, snail mail is too slow and I am not going to pay a wire transfer fee. I called them to determine if there was another way as obviously they had withdrawn $5 from my bank via ETF. The answer is no so I told them to close the account and refund my $5.00. I wasted way too much time with them and will never deal with a small institution again. If time isn't important to you, maybe this credit union is OK but not for me.
Veridian is offering great CD rates for a Jumbo CD. As a retiree, I appreciate the opportunity to earn a little more money, thus extending the time before I have to start eating dog food for dinner (joke). The staff is really friendly but I would expect that from people in Iowa. I worked in Iowa City for 6 years and found midwesterners, by and large, to be really nice people. Great credit union and easy to join.
I was able to join online immediately unlike the other poster simply by being a member of Dwolla (no notary or photo ID required unlike other poster). They took a long time to gather my money via their own ACH (4 days) before acct was opened. Now I will use my bank to push money in (should be quicker). Only downside is online website experience is very poor re usability. They don't even show you your acct # so I had to call to get it. Annoying. Still - with CD rates at the top of the list, worth joining imo.
I have now completed opening a membership, CD and checking account with Veridian Credit Union, and the experience was mainly excellent. Most noteworthy was the customer service -- all the people I dealt with were clear, knowledgeable, helpful, nice and friendly, and on the ball. Unfortunately, customer service that good is rare nowadays at most places.
While they were all pretty much equally excellent, I give special thanks to Jessica, who, seeing some complications with the mailing, volunteered to shepard me through the opening, including me using postal mail to send in my check.
I joined in advance by registering online for free with Dwolla, and that was accomplished pretty much immediately, no delay (so anyone who wants to send me money via Dwolla is now welcome to do so. :) That was simple, fast, no special sensitive information needed. Once I got the confirmation e-mail a short time later, I was able to go online and join the CU, funding my share account via the ACH (took about 3-4 business days for the money to get to my share savings). And now that I'm a CU member and my accounts are all opened, I can drop Dwolla any time I want (for those concerned about keeping that info secure), as once a member, always a member.
The signup process included the system asking three questions gleaned from credit reports (I have had other places do this too), some of that information fairly old. I answered them all correctly, so no issues, all was smooth. I did not need to provide any further identification or notarization, as some other people report, I presume because I answered the questions correctly.
The main problem with opening a CD here is that if you are not local in Iowa, well, they are not a member of the shared branch system, so you can't just go to a branch of another CU near you in order to immediately and directly deposit a check to Veridian. (I was able to fund the share savings during opening via the ACH at no charge from Veridian.) So, I had to fall back on mailing in a check -- and the post office was late in delivering, more than three days, and I got afraid I had forgotten to put a stamp on the envelop and so used priority mail to send another, only to hear that the following day the original mailing arrived, I had put a stamp on it -- a mess that would have been avoided if they were in the shared branch system. But the customer service was great, they cooperated completely with the mess.
Of course, you also can fund your account via Fed wire or via the ACH, but fees and time delays of their own with the ACH and time delays on weekends with Fed wire are involved in that (Veridian is open on Saturdays).
This mail issue is the big issue. I believe, kind of guessing, that the CU only recently made it possible for anyone in the country to join by registering for Dwolla. While they were strictly local, the shared branch system was a lot less necessary. I'm hoping they will now look into it and join in the shared branch system, and I for one have sent them a message asking them to do so, and I encourage anyone else to do the same.
There fees seem pretty routine, fewer than many places.The one that bothers me is a $2 for initiating an outgoing ACH through Veridian; however, if you initiative it from the outside institution, Veridian does not charge that fee for it going out. (Inbound ACH is free, even when initiated via Veridian.) The exception to that fee seems to be when opening the membership and funding the share savings account.
I alert, they have some bad language on their Website that certainly can be read to mean the rate on CDs is variable. I queried, and they said no, it is not variable, it is locked, and they said they were referring that issue over the the proper people to look into changing on the Website.
They generally review rates weekly and make any changed on Thursday. This can interfere with you if mailing in a deposit for a CD - the rater can change between the time you post the mail and they receive it, and you cannot lock in your rate at time of mailing. Again, this consideration could be set aside if they were in the shared branch system. But they were good with working with me on that, did not proceed with the CD without first contacting me and seeing if I wanted to at the rate in place when they got the check.
They have only one checking account generally available, and it is free, no fees, no minimum, and it still gets some tiny interest, currently 0.05% APY. While they as a matter of routine charge for a few temporary checks up front, upon my request, they were happy to send me a first set of 8 temporary checks free.
The share savings currently gets a tiny amount too, 0.15% APY.
Although the website says you can join online, they claim I could not. It's been days and no one has contacted me yet re: joining.
I decided to switch my checking and savings account from a major bank to Veridian as the major bank was charging me to keep my account open. What I enjoyed about switching to Veridian was that I only needed to keep $5 in my savings to keep my account open and there would be no extra charges. The person that helped me was very nice and courteous with any questions I had.
What was interesting is that they checked my credit, when it came back they said it was too low for certain privileges on my account, such as I couldn't deposit checks at the ATM and it would have to be deposited directly.
Since, the restriction's on my account are things I never really use I decided to open the account anyways.
Overall, I feel that it has been a good experience.
As far as Web/Mobile Experience the only difference is that I wish when my card was charged it would show it as pending as with the other bank I switched from. Sometimes charges go through within a few days and I think I had more money in my account than I actually did.
One of the biggest things I love about my credit union is that their fees are so minimal. I know other banks make you have a minimum balance of $100 in your checking account or they charge fees. At my credit union it takes $5 to open & keep a savings account & the checking is no minimum. I've also had great I've also had great experiences with getting overdraft fees & late charges reversed. They take the time to listen to an individual's situation if you're willing to talk with them. I've had 3 incidents & all three times the fees were reversed.
I have banked with Veridian Credit Union for more than a year now. I originally opened my account, because they have several convenient locations in Des Moines, IA. I go to the one at my local Hy-Vee grocery store. My reason for opening the account was that I do work online to earn extra money, and I wanted an account at a close brick and mortar location. I usually use my bankcard to pay for things electronically. But, sometimes I need cash, and it is convenient to be able to withdraw a small amount at the branch location. Also, I ride the bus and do my laundry through coin operated machines. The grocery store has stopped giving out change, so I find myself frequently going to the credit union to get quarters. I like the fact that when I get paid online, my money is always in my bank account within two days. Something that makes Veridian Credit Union trustworthy is they used to be the John Deere Credit Union. John Deere used to be one of the largest employers in Iowa, so their credit union was quite large. Since it has been open to the general public, it has gotten much larger and is a solid company. Veridian has special programs for their savers. They have a program where they match depositors with car dealerships and can put their member into a decent car with a reasonable loan that they handle. Also, they have their own version of payday loans, but they are at very low interest and they make you put part of the money in your savings account so that you first payment is automatically covered. They are great people to deal with, and I am a very happy customer.
I used to use Veridian when I lived in Iowa. It is one of the biggest things I miss about Iowa because of the awesome customer service, convenience of locations, no fees for regular savings or checking accounts and easy access. It was an awesome credit union that I have yet to find in Arizona but hope something close to Veridian will pop up down here!
I have been a member of Veridian for about a year. I enjoy banking with them, because they have a branch office located at Hy-Vee where I shop for groceries. They are open plenty of hours. They are even open on Sunday. At any given time there are four tellers working behind the counter, so it's not a long wait. One of the things that I like is that when you make a deposit your funds are available for immediate use. I often deposit small checks there, and I can immediately withdraw or use my checkcard for online purchases. Their website is excellent, and I can quickly check my balance. I highly recommend them.
Let's say there's a man with a car loan, name of "Bob." Bob was two months behind on his loan, having little income. He is told that he must pay this $200 amount within two weeks or he will be in some vague sort of trouble. Bob gets his next paycheck via direct deposit, and goes online to pay the required amount.
This is Bob's first mistake. Having payed what he owed, his next payment due in three weeks, Bob feels as though he has satisfied the debt of which we have been speaking. This is Bob's second mistake. For he has satisfied the debt, but he assumes that the bank will share his feelings. Bob goes to work.
The next day, Bob is hungry and has all of one banana and a serving of cereal (no milk) in the house. He tries to buy groceries and his card is declined. (But yesterday, Bob thinks, I still had enough money left after the loan payment. What happened?) Bob goes to the ATM to check his balance. This is his third strike, and he is punished. His card is taken, explained by the receipt with two words: CARD HELD. Bob is displeased. He calls Veridian Credit Union and is told that he owes $100. He explains that he owed $200 yesterday, which he paid. And his loan's next due date should be in three weeks. After holding for 15 minutes, Bob is told that paying online does not update the system. That is, the system will not know he has paid two months worth of loans. The systems feelings on the matter are: "You had two loan payments to make and made one." Without checking whether the payment amount settled one payment, two payments, or the entire loan, he is flagged as delinquent and cannot use his debit card. Checking his balance at an ATM results in loss of said debit card. There is no visible way to make a complaint about the website not working. It will take a week for a new card to arrive, and Bob does not live near a branch of Veridian Credit Union; he cannot go in and get a new card himself without putting gas in his car. For which, of course, he would need his debit card.
Hello, I'm Bob. I could go hungry for a week because of Veridian Credit Union. I have no family where I live. That is not the fault of VCU. But website errors leading to my card being taken from me just may be.
Veridian is not evil. It is not an omniscient financial god. I may have been the first to encounter this bug in their website. But I have found no way to report it. And the workers at Veridian seemed aware of its existence already. And I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes without having eaten today.
In retrospect, what's the point? There are two.
First: I'm not able to buy groceries because of an error on VCU's part.
Second: That error will not be prevented from occuring in the future.
I been in customer service for over fifteen years have been a manager for over half that, I have never had such bad customer service in my life!!!! Banking at this bank for fifteen years I got bad service and would not recommend Verdian credit union to anyone. I feel they do not value you or your loyalty! I had a credit card their for over four years and did not use it very often and when I did use it we would pay it off every month for the most part. I had recently lost my job and used it one time and was 33 days late, they turned me into the credit bureau and closed my credit card without even tell me!! Sent me a letter after I had paid it off, that if I didn't make a payment they would take action, so I called and talk to someone and they told me "that everything was ok, and it was paid off" not using it very much didn't use it tell months later and it was decline when I tried to purchase something not sure why I called them. They claimed that I no longer had a credit card they had closed it and reported it to the credit beruea. I was so upset no one had bother to tell me this when I called before!! When I talk to them after it was closed they stated, they were sorry I should of been told that when I called in and asked if everything was ok. YOU THINK! All they could keep telling me is that I was 33 days late in my payment, which I understand, but I would think they would value thier customers a little bit more. All because I had made one late payment that was 33 days late!! After being with a credit union as long as I had been I would never expect that! I know that I would never treat someone that way and would not expect a business to act that way if they valued their customers!
I would like to update my last review stating about the Payment Protection insurance. Today they just called me and offered to refinance my home equity loan with no closing fees at over 1% lower than my previous rate. This will obviously make my monthly payment lower than before. I feel that they have "made right" on their mistake--for which I am grateful for, and therefore wanted to update the review.
We have banked with Veridian for a number of years now, and were very happy with them in the past.
A year ago we decided to obtain a home equity loan from Veridian. When we went to close the loan, among the many pages of paperwork we were required to sign was a page agreeing to a Payment Protection insurance. We asked about it, and saw that it was grossly overpriced, and we would not have even been able to use it as my husband is self-employed. We stated that we did not want it. The loan officer said that we had to sign it to get the rate were looking at, but we could then sign another paper saying we were declining it-which we promptly did.
A year went by, and honestly I didn't think about it again. I was running through some amortization calculators online when I realized our monthly payment amount for our loan was much, much higher than it should be considering the term and rate were at.
Upon further investigation I found that they had indeed been charging us for the Payment Protection insurance for an entire year. I notified the Credit Union--they apologized and refunded the amount to us right away. However---they as of yet will not reduce our monthly payment on the loan to reflect the fact that we are not buying the Payment Protection insurance. The monthly payment is much higher than it should be for the term and rate that we are locked in with--thereby essentially making the loan be a much shorter term than stated in the loan documents.
Currently they are still advertizing heavily their "great rates" for home equity loans. If they deceptively add this to every loa--this is truly where they are making a large amount of money. BUYER BEWARE!!!!
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I have been a member at Veridian since I opened my first account there. My husband has always been a member there as well. They always have wonderful service and we have never had any issues with our accounts. When we got married, we decided to stay with Veridian even though we have to drive 40 minutes to get to the nearest location! We knew we wanted to stay loyal customers in the long run. I highly recommend Veridian to anyone!
I have been a member at Veridian Credit Union for 12 years now. I opened my first Savings and Checking account here. I have been completely satisfied during my time as a member here. The staff at Veridian are always very kind and helpful. They are always polite and willing to help with anything that I need help with when I go there. I have a credit card and a car loan through Veridian and have had a few other loans over the course of time as a member there. They have excellent rates and are really accommodating. Their online banking feature is very convenient and easy to use. I do not think that I have ever had a bad experience with any aspect of service through Veridian. Even if you live far away from an actual Veridian branch, they are still very convenient and accommodating. This credit union is the best credit union ever!