3. Alliant CU's New ACH Limits Vary By Member

Alliant CU's New ACH Limits Vary By Member

me1004
me1004   |     |   820 posts since 2010

A couple weeks or ago, OldGuy posted a thread about Alliant Credit Union putting limits on how much you can send through the ACH each day. OldGuy said he had learned his ACH limit had been lowered form $100,000 per day to $25,000 per day. You can see that thread  here.

In that thread, some commenters informed us that only some people had been notified at that point (I had not been). And pearlbrown said that in a call to Alliant, the CSR confirmed that outgoing outgoing limits were lowered  from $100k to $25k, and incoming remaining "unchanged" at $25k.

Well, in getting my monthly statement today, I find that the last page has a notice about the new ACH limits,  starting as of Sept. 9 -- nice of them not to tell me about it until Oct. 3, I might have been seriously depending on doing a transfer that they would have blocked! I also find in testing that I have different numbers than OldGuy or Pearlbrown.

That notice states:

"The  transfer limits for daily outgoing ACH transfers made through Alliant Online Banking and mobile banking have changed. As of September  9, 2015, individual daily ACH  transfer limits are determined by Alliant  using internal information and risk-based factors including, but not limited to, account history, length of membership and account status.  Members can see more tailored information about their specific daily ACH transfer  limits when making a transaction through Online Banking. Members may transfer amount above their ACH  limits by using Alliant's  wire transfer service, pursuant to Alliant's current fees for outgoing  wire transfer services."
So, from that, how much you can transfer each day varies from person to person. You will have to check to see what your limit is. It sure would be nice if they let us know what the variables are so we might do something to increase or limit -- vague terms like "account history" and "account status" don't tell us much of anything, and "but not limited to" tells us only that they are not going to tell us. It also would be nice if they told us the absolute top limit anyone can have, so we know if that is what we have!

So I went to Online Banking to the transfers page, but there is no information there to tell me what my limit is. 

So, I started an incoming transfer, set for a future date so I could cancel it afterwards; I set it for an especially high number, $200,000 (even though I did not have that much in the external bank), to see if that would even be possible. After clicking to continue, I had a red message at the top of the page telling me the amount could not be over my daily limit of XXXX (the number I had put in was well over that, so you probably will not get that message unless your number is more than your limit, so test with a high number). That number I got was notably more than the $25,000 cited in the previous thread, so $25,000 not only is not the limit for incoming for everyone, but I doubt it ever was, unless they are increasing for some and decreasing for others. 

I then did what I could to test to find my limit for outgoing transfers, but that was problematic because at the moment I don't have a lot in my account, I have well under $25,000 in it. I tested with the full amount in my account, and it did not give me my limit when I clicked through, it simply proceed to do the transfer (which I then canceled). So, despite the message on the monthly statement today, in fact, you cannot necessarily determine your limits simply by going to that Website page and looking -- you can find out only if you exceed your limit --and that is no time to be finding out you can't do what you planned and need to do at that moment!

So, that is how you find out what your daily limit is -- or find you can't find out other than the hard way. 

This whole thing has been handled abysmally by Alliant. To notify only some people up front, and the rest in an obscure message three weeks later on the monthly statement, and even now people l can't find out what their limits are, and the limit is different for everyone. Alliant has handled this terribly and done a serious disservice to all its customers.

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ChasR
ChasR   |     |   288 posts since 2013
I agree.  This was a shabby roll-out, to say the least.  I've always thought Alliant had one of the best online operations in the credit union world, but it may now be joining the ranks of cus like USAlliance and Mountain America--which, for example, conduct account promotions without disclosing pertinent details.
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cumulus
cumulus   |     |   1,067 posts since 2010
Really useful post me1004; thanks for taking the time, effort detailing this.  Agree whole-heartedly with you, OldGuy, on how disappointing these Alliant changes have been.
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foggy
foggy   |     |   20 posts since 2010
I did the same tests you refer to as soon as I saw that absurd message on page 2 of my Sept statement. My outgoing limit was now 25K (previous was 100K) and incoming was now 100K.   I have sent them a secure email to request that they reinstate my old outgoing limit of 100K.   I had only one 100K outgoing two months ago and only one 130K incoming four months ago....otherwise the amounts were less than 25K either way.   I'll post when (if?) I get a response to my request.      
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foggy
foggy   |     |   20 posts since 2010
For some reason this whole topic is not showing up in the latest posts section?   I tried to post earlier in more detail, but my post didn't show up, so I'll try again with a summary.

The reply from Alliant via the online message system was that they would not reinstate my 100K ACH outgoing limit....and a lot of meaningless generalities.

Today I called Alliant and asked for a supervisor to discuss my ACH outgoing limit.  After a 20 minute hold, I spoke with Eric Netzki and was told that these are "across the board" changes and he would not change my limit.    I told him that the notice in our Sept statement seemed to imply that the limit would be determined on a member by member basis, but I got nowhere with that argument.   I also told him that it was underhanded of Alliant to (1) notify us weeks after the changes instead of before the effective date, and (2) that if this was an "across the board" change for everyone ( I doubt that really), they should have specifically stated the 25K outgoing limit in the notice.    He just had no answers other than the corporate line.....the decision was at a level above him....and that we should complain via the online message system.
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lou
lou   |     |   772 posts since 2010
I'm not sure why you're so angry. Why don't you open an Alliant checking account and then you can write a check for any withdrawals over $25,000. Personally, I would be nervous to ACH a $100,000 or more. Much safer to write a check with that much money.
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me1004
me1004   |     |   820 posts since 2010
Lou, there are plenty of reasons to ACH rather than write a check. For one, when you ACH, the money is cash and immediately available, not on hold for days waiting for a check to clear. But also, the ACH can get things there overnight, but mail can take three days. 
Not sure why you think a check is safer. If anything, I would think the ACH is safer.
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lou
lou   |     |   772 posts since 2010
I disagree about the relative safety and convenience of checks and ACH transfers. Since ACH transfers usually takes at least 24 hrs or longer and some banks will not make the funds available (unlike wire transfers) until the end of the day or the next day after receipt of the ACH, it can actually be a lot slower than checks, which nowadays are routinely cleared (check 21) in less than a day due to electronic processing of checks in all financial institutions.

Unlike a wire transfer, you can't track ACHs, so if it gets lost it can be fairly difficult and time consuming for the bank to find the funds. Once I deposit a check at a bank, I know it is safely in my account.

The only reason I would need to withdraw more than $25,000 is if I was opening a CD  at another financial institution. I can easily overnight the check and application to purchase the CD and have it set up and ready to go in 24 hrs.

Alliant also makes it super easy to transfer money from savings to checking. The interest rate on the checking account is pretty good, but as a rule I leave all the money in savings until I need it, and then I transfer the funds to the checking account.
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lou
lou   |     |   772 posts since 2010
Also, if the credit union you are opening the CD with is a member of the CO-OP network, then depositing a check is super easy. I just visit the CO-OP member credit union in my town and in 5 minutes I can deposit a check to any of the credit unions belonging to the CO-OP. Most financial institutions will open the CD without waiting for the check to clear.
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