Austin Telco Federal Credit Union

Luddites trapped in the dark ages. Their online banking looks like something out of the 90’s and lets you do very little. Biggest problem here is that they only allow online transfers of $ 750.
Opened a business account with them and there was no mention of this limit. You tell me in what world a $ 750 limit on a business account is remotely feasible?
They also have terrible customer service — get the extension for your local branch if you want to be helped.

Summary: Terrible Credit Union — Base level employees that are very dull (we’re talking box of rocks). I have banked at several CUs in several states over 50 years, and Austin Telco does not even deserve one star. Do yourself a favor and bank anywhere else. Or, disregard and then regret it later. Up to you.
We joined ATFCU to get a loan on a boat, and they offered an attractive rate. That’s about the end of the good news. To close on the loan, we had to jump through a number of hoops, but we have good credit, and so we expected some level of closing difficulty, given this era of banks being very, very careful with loans. So, after signing about 30 pages (!) for a loan (I have NEVER had to do that kind of closing except for house purchases, and this was a very simple 5yr loan for less than $ 20,000) we thought we were done. Oh no we weren’t…
We went to take possession of the boat out of town on a Friday, but the marine dealership had numerous problems with the way ATFCU had made arrangements for the loan money to be transferred. (They told us later they had never had as much difficulty getting such a simple transaction completed and basically had to take a risk in allowing us to leave with their boat on trust.) Then, (same day at 3pm, — we’re hundreds of miles away) I get a call from ATFCU saying frantically that we had «forgotten» to open a $ 25 account with them which we needed to do to make us ELIGIBLE for the loan in the first place (?!). «Ohkaay, well, we will be by on Monday to open that account, we are out of town» I sez. «Oh, we need you to come in TODAY to fix this now» they counter. «No, we are over 200 miles from you and we will be by Monday to do this» I say forcefully. (They never owned up to it being their MISTAKE in forgetting to ask us to do it when we were there closing on the LOAN.)
They then got all panicky about the same stupid $ 25 account being set up on Monday (I think we got 2 calls that morning about it.) (REALLY? over $ 25??). But the best is this…
They demanded to get an insurance statement for the boat showing them as the lienholder. I understood, and we had insured the boat the day we picked it up, so that if anything happened, it was fully covered. We instructed our insurance to fax this to ATFCU, and they did. Then the letters started. Oh the letters. YOU MUST provide us proof of your insurance (we had!). Calls to our insurance agent. They once again faxed the needed papers, and sent us what they had sent ATFCU. Another letter came basically saying same thing (and we AGAIN contacted our insurance — they assured us it was AGAIN sent.) And then a FINAL NOTICE letter about the same thing, saying that while they had received proof, it was in an «insurance binder» and they could not accept it, and that THEY were going to pay for an insurance policy and bill us for that cost.(!)
I was boiling. I personally got on the phone with my insurance agent to call ATFCU the day after we received this last threatening letter. We called the number on the letter. Did it go to Austin Telco at 2:30 in the afternoon? Oh no, it went to a third-​party answering service! Unbelievable. Finally, the person there found out that the insurance policy that had been faxed over and over had been misfiled — and oh, gee, it’s ok now.
Will this be the end of it? Probably not. So ATFCU, if you are trying to compile a good book on how to ruin customer relationships, here’s another chapter. You bunch of bozos.
Fed UP.

This is a great credit union. I have my personal and business accounts with them and have always received the best service. I also have an auto loan here with an incredibly low interest rate. These folks are super helpful and really seem to care about helping people and providing the best service they can.

I LOVE Austin TELCO, they are the BEST Credit Union in Austin. I was with ABC Bank for many years and I didn’t learn what GREAT customer service was until I went to Austin TELCO. OUTSTANDING!

I’ve been with Austin Telco for almost 11 years. Joined straight out of high school and have enjoyed everything. I’ll say that I have looked around at other banks maybe just to go elsewhere for no reason other than just to go somewhere new and I haven’t found a better bank.
I compared everything and Austin Telco always seems to win out each time. Their app on Android is awesome. Live the fact that I never pay any fees monthly like many banks do and since its a credit union they have really low interest. Yeah I’m not moving from this bank.

I love ATelco! I have personal and business accounts with them and had an auto loan in the past.
The staff is always helpful, highly competent, friendly, and real. If I have a question about a transaction, I submit a secure message, and they always get back to me within 24 hours.
I once had an issue with Paypal withdrawing funds from my savings by accident when there wasn’t enough in that account. I talked to ATelco and they waived the overdraft fee for me. They did a lot of research to find out what went wrong, and I felt very taken care of.
Their new mobile banking apps are awesome. I use them on my iPad and Android phone. The mobile check deposit feature is pretty great, although sometimes a bit finicky.
I haven’t had any issues with their online banking interface. It’s not the prettiest, but it works! Sometimes the check images won’t load, though. It links up to Mint perfectly and it’s easy to set up automatic transfers between my checking and savings.
I’ve traveled overseas and used my debit card frequently. Everything went smoothly and fees were competitive.
I was able to set up additional personal savings accounts pretty easily (like if you wanted sub accounts for specific savings goals). I couldn’t do it online but I live close enough to a branch that wasn’t a problem.
Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’m so pleased with ATelco and have had a great experience without incident for 14 years.

Love Telco except for website support. No support after business hours. Login problems and reset procedures fail. Am shopping for competitive credit union with ²⁴⁄₇ website support.

I came here after being put on checksystems by wells fargo (i refused to pay for an account because my card had been stolen and i had the police reports to prove it, but wells fargo sucks, even to their employees!) so i went to ATFCU. I wanted to rebuild my credit so I took out 2 secure loans. I am not sure how the hell the add things up, but in a secure loan I should give them the $ 1000 and they should give it back to me over a certain predetermined amount of time (minus interest). I worked for wells fargo, I know how banking works! They somehow managed to screw me out of $ 300! When I went in to talk to the lady she said she saw how i was doing my math and it was right, but promised me i had gotten all my money back! She said she couldn’t explain how it worked! This was the banker not a teller! It was ridiculous!

Just an update for their website:
Super easy to use their functions for money transfers. Easy to set up bill payments to business and individuals, both as paper checks or direct deposits. Have completely converted to ATFCU and don’t miss ING one bit. Yay!

I’ve just started banking with Telco, and so far so good! Wish they would get an app that would make things easier but other than that I’ve no problems with them! :-D

I used to be a fan; in fact, I will soon «used to be» a customer. My girlfriend sold her car, got a bank check from another credit union, and deposited it in the night drop (since the lobby hours are only for people who don’t have to work).
The next day, she got a call from AFTCU, telling her that in order to deposit the check, they would need the payor (her car buyer) to sign the back of the check AND PROVIDE A COPY OF HER (the buyer’s) DRIVERS LICENSE. I’ve never heard of someone writing a check to someone else, and then having to provide a drivers license in order for the payee to deposit it. Why not just hold the check for a few days if there was concern about the check’s validity?
Yeah, fraud protection and all that (protection for the credit union, not the customers), but she had banked there for years. Why not call the other credit union (from whom the check was issued), instead of calling the AFTCU customer and having her jump through hoops? My girlfriend has never bounced a check; maintains a healthy amount in the account, and has never caused AFTCU any hassles whatsoever.
Others have commented on the dullards at the teller windows, who act like you walked in on them while they were in the bathroom, so I’ll not be redundant. We are both withdrawing our accounts from AFTCU, and hope to find a decent credit union where the customer is treated as something other than an annoyance.

ATFCU makes me never want to bank with another credit union in my life. Reasons why:
1. Their hours are freaking ridiculous. The only people who can bank between 9am and 4pm during the week DO NOT HAVE JOBS. I banked here for about 6 months and probably made it to the lobby before they closed TWICE. Most of the branch lobbies are not even on the weekends, which means I have to do my banking on my lunch break.
2. The locations are just as bad as the hours. No wonder I can’t make it there in time, I have to drive 30 minutes to find a branch. I live in Hyde Park and the Shoal Creek location is the closest bank to me, which is more than 20 minutes away.
3. Despite all the raving reviews I read before banking here, the staff at the two branches I have been to have been slightly less than happy to help me. They have not necessarily been rude, but I would expect a little more in the way of customer service form a small, local bank that claims to serve the individual customer. I have since switched to Wells Fargo, and their customer service is outstanding, especially in comparison to ATFCU.
4. Every paycheck I have deposited has been held for 4 – 5 days. I’m not talking just the first paycheck, but every check. I have bills to pay and i cannot afford to wait that long for every check to clear.
In general, ATFCU is not practical, inconvenient, and a general waste of time to bank with. If you want to make the most of your money and your time, switch to WELLS FARGO. They are by far the best bank I have ever banked with.

Austin Telco rocks! I have been with them for just over ten years and they have never disappointed me. My visa check card was stolen once and used to the tune of 600 dollars and Telco gave me ever dime back within 30 days. They also provided me with a letter in the event the theft affected my rent and other purchases. They are always personable. I use the drive thru at the South location, the East 290 location and the North 183 location on occasion and they all are friendly. I was fed up with Bank of America and their fraudulent practices. ATFCU was a breath of fresh air.

I’ve been with them for about 7 or 8 years and have not had a single problem out of them. They don’t have any stupid rules like BofA (too many deposits in one month b.s.) and other banks. They’re personable. I would highly recommend them.

BEST ONE YET. I HAVE BEEN WITH THEM FOR YEARS. I would recommend them to anyone and everyone around Austin.

I tried Bank of America. I did, honestly! The fees, the unwillingness to help you out in an emergency, the rude tellers… oi!
There were a couple of guys at work who had Austin Telco and raved about it. I started banking there and raved about it. Soon, about ten people at our company were banking at Austin Telco.
The fee’s are reasonable, they know you by name, you can reason with someone who has the power to make acceptions to policy and they are polite and kind. Which, I am sad to say, is something I cannot say for corporate America.
So, let me say to Bank of America — SUCK IT!

This is my credit union. I’ve tried banks and they just don’t cut it. A credit union seems to really care about it’s members. I’ve been treated great by the people here. They know their customers and take care of them. When I first joined I didn’t catch the rules on how many account inquires were free. They charged me for a bunch but when I called confused they explained the policy to me and gave me credit for the charges. When my car insurance ACH debit hit my account prior to my direct deposit they honored it. They charged me a fee but it was a lot less than the loss of my car insurance would have been. The lobby at this location is open on Saturday mornings for people who work full-​time and still need to do some personal banking. The next time I buy a car I will definitely hit them up for a loan.