Vantage Credit Union is headquartered in Saint Charles and is the 3rd largest credit union in the state of Missouri. It is also the 383rd largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1957 and as of June of 2023, it had grown to 270 employees and 70,699 members at 14 locations. Vantage Credit Union's money market rates are 5X the national average, and it has a B health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in Vantage Credit Union is open to individuals and their immediate family members who live or work in the Missouri counties of Cape Girardeau, Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis, or Warren, or St. Louis City; the Missouri Zip Codes of 63627, 63628, or 63670; or the Illinois counties of Madison or St. Clair.
Individual or their immediate family members who currently work for, are retired from, or are associated with (including students and parents who are members of a PTA/PTO) any public or private school, college, university, or other educational institution in the Missouri counties of Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Iron, Jefferson, Lincoln, Maries, Miller, Montgomery, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis, Warren, or Washington qualify for membership, as do the Bakersfield R-IV Schools (Ozark County) or Centerville R-I Schools (Reynolds County); or Jerseyville (Jersey County), Madison (Districts 1, 13, 14, 15 and Region III), Springfield, IL Catholic Diocese Schools (Sangamon County), Southwestern (Jersey County) in Illinois.
See current membership details
VCU: Cares About You
After banking with Bank of America for over two years I ended up switching to Vantage Credit Union due to poor customer service at Bank of America. Thankfully Vantage Credit Union has been great. Their website is responsive and easy to navigate. I pay my credit card bill every month from their website without any issues. It's always easy for me to transfer money from my savings account to checking. Anytime I've needed customer support Vantage Credit Union has solved my issues in a timely manner. When I need to deposit a check I simply go through their drive-thru for a quick deposit, there is never a line longer than one or two cars. Their banking fees are also incredibly reasonable, if I withdraw money from a VCU ATM there isn't a fee. I also have over-draft protection on my checking account that has actually saved me money when I a company overcharged my checking account. I would rather be a part of a smaller credit union that actually cares about each of their customers than a big bank that feels like they can ignore their smaller customers. I will continue to bank with Vantage Credit Union as long as they keep up their friendly customer service and keep their website easy to navigate.
Lower End of the Credit Union Spectrum
Vantage is not one of the best credit unions to work with although they appear to offer the same dealings as other credit unions. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired as the tellers can often be very rude and demeaning. Although it is understandable that a lot of volume does go through this bank, they are beginning to charge service fees for a lot of services that used to be free, and this is putting them on the same platform as a bank rather than a credit union. Their loan products are sub par, the products they offer are becoming more outdated, although they are attempting to keep with the times, and I do not like the numerous restrictions that are on the account options that they offer.
Awful Customer Service
When I called repeatedly, to verify the mailing address where Vantage Credit Union would be mailing any and all mail to, I was repeatedly told, on three different occasions, by three different representatives in May of 2020, that any and all mail which Vantage Credit Union needed to send to me, would be mailed to a P.O. Box in GA. I now understand that Vantage Credit Union has a policy which requires that Vantage Credit Union members provide Vantage Credit Union with a physical address. However; I was not told, not once, until today, not in all of the years I have been with Vantage Credit Union, that Vantage Credit Union requires this physical address. I called in today, on June 10, 2020, and was told this for the first time, by a manger who works in the records department at Vantage Credit Union. When I was repeatedly told by various different Vantage Credit Union representatives in May, that all my mail would be mailed to the P.O. Box just stated, then I would not think that there was a problem. I have been receiving mail from Vantage Credit Union for several years now as well, at my P.O. Box in GA. However; when I received an email from the records department, on May 22, 2020, which listed a very old address on the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document attached to that email, which I never provided to Vantage Credit Union, I knew that there was a problem. On May 22, 2020, I called into Vantage Credit Union, and spoke to a woman who works in the records department of Vantage Credit Union, who sent me the email with the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document attached to it, and not only was she rude, as she seemed to want to simply get me off the phone as quickly as possible, she also did not even take the time to verify what address the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document would be sent to, and told me that the reason that I had not received the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document, (even though it was supposedly sent out on May 14, 2020), was due to mail being slowed down, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
This was obviously not true, and if she had done her due diligence, and simply taken a few moments to verify the address where the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document would be sent to, she would have discovered that Vantage Credit Union had an incorrect physical address on file, if she had only taken the time to verify this address with me. I called back after I got off the phone with this representative in the records department, who sent me the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document, as it was clear that the wrong mailing address was listed on the document. I spoke to an assistant manager in the records department, on May 22, 2020, who also did not verify the physical address which Vantage Credit Union had on file, and the Lien Release Acknowledgement Document ended up getting sent to a very old Colorado address, as apparently, this Colorado address was the physical address which Vantage Credit Union had on file, and this incorrect physical address is where the document was sent to. Thus, this document, which I spent some real time trying to track down, took nearly a month to get rerouted to me from Colorado to Georgia. All it would have taken, is for one of these many Vantage Credit Union representatives whom I spoke with, to simply put forth a little more effort, and verify my physical mailing address, in order to save all of this time and frustration. It is a waste of my time, and truly, a waste of Vantage Credit Unions time, to have to repeatedly address this matter, when this issue of the incorrect physical address could have been easily fixed, if only one of the many Vantage Credit Union representatives I spoke with had been willing to verify my physical address. Particularly when I called in repeatedly and specifically asked to verify my mailing address, my physical address should have been verified as well, especially if that is where they intended to send me mail. I would have certainly taken the time to verify the physical address which is on file for a member, to verify all addresses, if I worked for Vantage Credit Union, and I was handling this issue, and there was clearly a problem, as the member was not receiving their mail as they should be. Especially when I clearly stated, in multiple phone calls pertaining to this issue when calling in to Vantage Credit Union, that I live in Georgia, not in Colorado.
I called in again to Vantage Credit Union today, on June 10, 2020, to make a complaint about this issue, that the Lien Release Acknowledgment Document was mailed to an incorrect address, and to address this issue, and the manager whom I spoke with did not seem very concerned about the matter. I do not feel that my complaint was even taken seriously, and I do not believe that this issue is actually being looked into. This is not the first time though, by any means, that I have been given incorrect information when calling into Vantage Credit Union, given the run around, transferred to multiple departments, and just generally had a bad experience when calling into to speak to a Vantage Credit Union representative. It is often cumbersome to call in, though unfortunately, I do not live anywhere near a Vantage Credit Union Branch. So, when needing to correspond with Vantage Credit Union, I am forced to call in and speak to someone. Hopefully, moving forward, the next Vantage Credit Union member will have a better experience than the experiences which I have had. This is not a good way to handle business, and truly leaves the customer feeling as if they are not being heard and taken care of. As I have now payed my car off, and Vantage Credit Union has released the lien on my car, I will be closing all of my accounts with Vantage Credit Union, and will not be doing business with them in the future. It seems as if many of the customer service phone representatives who work for Vantage Credit Union are not very well trained, and could use more training as well, to prevent transferring members so much, and making it so cumbersome for members to get simple matters resolved.
The last thing which I will add to this review, is that when I spoke to an assistant manger in the records department of Vantage Credit Union on May 22, 2020, this assistant manger gave me a non-working number, in case I needed to call back with further questions. That is just unprofessional as well. I even read the number back to her after she gave it to me, so yes, that is rude, and definitely poor customer service. I was also given a hard time when I called back to Vantage Credit Union today, before I was transferred to the records department, as a phone representative tried to tell me that Vantage Credit Union does not transfer members to other departments, really??? That is interesting, because I was told by the records department in Vantage Credit Union, that I can always request to be transferred to another department, especially if one department is not able to help with an issue. This is the kind of thing I am talking about though, just how much of a hassle it is to get a simple matter resolved, and how much you get the run around. There is also a real lack of communication between different departments, and you can get 4 different answers from the same and different departments in one day!
Greed Based Banking
They prey on their customers mistakes. I got hit with almost $300 in fees. My account went in to overdraft and I was late on the payment. They sent me a notice via SNAIL MAIL with threats that arrive to my house 3 days AFTER they already took action and gave me no ability to correct the issue. Their choice of action was to "suspend my overdraft protection" and letting my account incur more and more fees (just under $300 worth)... If they were worried that I wasn't going to "make good" on $10.00.... why on earth would they purposely disable my overdraft protection causing me to owe them almost $300 now. Simple.. GREED, I paid the fee after a long debate with them when they refused to refund any of their excessive fees back to me. I closed my accounts, cashed out my CD's and moved my business to elsewhere and I have absolutely 0 issues there and never had any fees whatsoever. They even have awesome tools and notifications to help you avoid fees... they believe it earning money by HELPING people and providing services to people. Vantage seems to make their money on fees rather than services. I would suggest that you look at all banking options before choosing this one, Good luck!
Data as of Q2 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 67804 |
| Year Chartered | 1957 |
| Employees | 270 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | -0.18% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | -2.85% |
| Annual Interest Income | $22.0MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.16B$1.12B |
| Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $772.9MM$713.6MM |
| Deposits | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $1.01B$1.04B |
| Equity Capital | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $73.2MM$61.4MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$2.3MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $3.1MM$1.5MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q2 2023vs Q2 2022 | $0$0 |
