Velocity Credit Union

I changed from UFCU two years ago because they got too big and seemed more like a bank than a credit union. I thought Velocity would be more like the O’l credit union of my college years that did not maximize every opportunity to charge you fees!
If you ever have a problem, count on Velocity to cash in and refuse to look at their systems or mistakes. If you have a creditor that charges you twice like I did, bank on Velocity to ignore anything you say about the facts of the situation and go ahead an let you work it out how one’s credit card is being misused! If you have cash and want money orders, they will put part of it in one account, the rest in another rather than a single account. This results in too much coming out of one account. Then accordingly, something else comes out!

These guys seem all too happy to ding your credit score if you accidentally miss a payment. I am in my thirties and I had never been reported to a credit agency before. I got a car loan here, and they have done it to me twice in the last year and a half.

Today Nov 10,14. I drove up and deposited 900.00 $ into my account. I got home and attempted to buy an airline flight. CARD DECLINED? checked my account online, no deposit was made. I checked my receipt, and yes. it happened. The teller deposited my money into the wrong account!!! It gets better. I called the branch– Ooh it was 4:55 and they close at 5:00pm. So there is no one to talk to.
Next step of course call customer service– they close at 5 also.
Next step check for additional numbers online, there must be someone I can talk to. Oh you can chat online with a CSR– but only during work hours– closed.
Next ste oh there is an e-​mail for the President of the bank provided: Let me send an E-​mail.
.- Bogus!
The email address «
.» is not recognized. Please fix it and try again.
It gets better– tomorrow is Veterans Day– Bank closed!
So it’s my fault right, I should of checked my receipt before I left–
guess this is what I get for believing that Velocity has a competent staff!
What gets me is that there actually NO ONE to call!!! Guess I just sit around broke, while everyone else enjoys the day off —
THANKS FOR NOTHING VELOCITY!!!

1) Horrible interface on their website.
2) My husband and I have been trying to set up independent checking with one joint saving account for about 2 years now at Velocity. No one at any of the locations or over the phone has been able to successfully set it up. And every time we try someone’s debit cards are inactivated or one or the other of us totally lose all access to the savings account. And to transfer money between our checking accounts requires us to go through an online bill pay process — as if we’re paying each other — and it takes 2 business days to clear. Worst of all, the last time I talked to someone at one of the branches about our frustrations, she suggested that «if» we were married it was «odd» we didn’t want joint checking and savings.
3) Recently a teller told us a check we deposited would clear 4 days ahead of when it actually did clear. We noticed the receipt had a different day than what he told us after checks started bouncing. The customer service rep I spoke to implied I might be lying about the issue when I called to get it fixed. We have never bounced a check before in our lives, it was incredibly embarrassing and infuriating to be treated so shoddily when the issue was caused by the teller giving us false information.
We’re actively looking for our next bank now. We’re not difficult people to please — I’m in customer service and understand the need for process and how hard it can be to honor individual requests — but Velocity is ridiculous. Just a mess.

Velocity’s customer service is getting worse. I have discussed several issues with them in the past year, and they have not taken noticeable steps to fix anything.
Their online banking can be horribly slow — as in, it never loads. They admit this. They tell me their «IT department» knows about it. They have done little to improve on their Web site in ages. It involves way too many clicks and selections to do things. Kinda 1990s-​ish.
We have large accounts with them, but after my debit card finally wore out after several years of use, they dinged me five bucks to replace it. I bugged them about it and they removed the fee as a «courtesy.» No, the courtesy would be, treat your customers right to begin with.
And they don’t give you a replacement on the spot. Oh, they will if you sign up for their useless card that costs an annual fee, so if you’re desperate for a card, that’s your only fast option. «The system won’t let us» replace a card on the spot is not an excuse in this age.
They summarily canceled my son’s debit card in the middle of Christmas shopping because of some fraud trigger that turned out to be completely false. And yet, they still would not re-​enable it (this time, blaming «policy» but not «the system»), and they still would not replace it on the spot.
These are the biggest issues. We are about ready to move on.

Got recommended to them for a car loan in 2006. I was threatened several times with repossession while being 2 payments behind, even after they provided grace on one due to my child breaking his ankle. You can rarely get anyone helpful on the phone or get them to read your your file long enough to actually help. Then there’s the issues with being locked out of your ATM card & intermittently being offered ‘a line of credit’ that disappears as they change policy or criteria.

Nice clean location. Soothing atmosphere. All the employees were super friendly and eager to help out! We had to wait a while to get service on a Saturday (typical) but they were very apologetic and wanted to make sure that we were completely satisfied with all our needs before we left.

Worst credit union experience ever. If you’d like being surprised when your card is cancelled or suspended at random times, while you still have available funds AND/​OR like conducting all business exclusively M-​F 9−5p, then this is the bank for you!
Don’t expect any after hours support (holidays? LOL) and forget about doing business on the weekends. Account errors? Well your just gonna have to wait mister, because only the lovely robot only works off-​hours.
Love having few ATMs and only a handful of branches around town? Checkout Velocity! Like online banking systems from the 90s? Velocity is for you! Use a mobile phone for banking? Enjoy their robust mobile web experience (don’t worry, no apps available or coming). Seen those commercials where you can deposit a check with your phone? Yeah, you can’t do that here. But they’re local, that makes them great, right?

Stay away! I’ve been with Velocity since 1997 and I have never had a good experience with them. To them its all about the money and never about the people. You are looked at like a number not a person. Horrible!

Please stay away from Velocity! For your own good.
They are the worst. I switched from UFCU to velocity after a divorce for a change of pace and a new place to bank. Huge mistake. They hold onto deposits forever, denying you access to YOUR money. They are dishonest about their fees and practices. I was told when I opened my account that my savings account would work just like overdraft protection, and if I ever had less in checking than needed it would simply draw from my savings. She mentioned it like it was a selling point, «Oh, how convenient» What she neglected to tell me, and left me to find out on my own, was that they charge me $ 30 every time that happens!
And it’s literally a fight with every deposit just to get them to clear the check and release the funds in a timely fashion. I’m sorry if you want to have my money for an extra week or two to play with it in your account, but I’m depositing it into MY account for a reason.
Back to UFCU tomorrow. Beware.

How could anyone hate Velocity Credit Union?! I’ve been with them for atleast 6 years now and had never looked back.
Back in 2007, I had someone used a fake check with some obscure address and took out like $ 33. Went to Velocity on Braker and the manager helped me filled out forms. No later than 2 days, I received a call saying my money was put back and alerted authorities.
Fast forward to 2012, I switched my car loan from TruWest (horrendous… experience) to Velocity Credit Union because I trusted them more. Better customer service and I feel more appreciated.
I just wished they had an app to deposit checks through your phone. Hate having to drive out JUST to deposit checks. That’s silly now-​a-​days since other banks are jumping onto that bandwagon.
No worries, you’re in great hands. If you have a problem, be sure to talk to them in a calm matter. No need to be impatient as others have nicely put it.

never going to close your account? skip this review
never open an account at VCU if you plan on ever closing your account at VCU.
closed mine in october 2012, never received check, and now still going thru paperwork hassles to get my money, january 2013.
a simple stop payment on a never cashed /​never received check, write a new one, and send it. sounds easy for a financial institution. not.
thanks dudes!

I’ve been with Velocity since 1996, back when they were still Austin Municipal Federal Credit Union. I must say, I have never had a moments trouble with them. They’ve never been anything other than polite with me, and I have never felt like I was being screwed around. In 2004 I had someone illegally access my account, withdrawing several hundred dollars in the process. Not only did they alert me to the problem, they were able to cancel the transactions before they went through and put a complete lockdown in place until all my info could be changed. I’ve heard horror stories about other banks, and I feel pleased that I’ve never had to experience any of them.

I took out half my finances at Bank of America a few years back, and decided to be in more control of my money. I kept the BoA account open, just so I could gauge the difference and not have all my eggs in one basket.
And now, it’s sad to say, I’m preferring Bank of America. Yes, even though they’re an huge evil corporation, and I’ve been screwed by them a number of times, I still feel like I know where all my money is and has gone. I don’t feel that way with Velocity. And what’s more, I feel like they truly don’t give a crap.
There have just been too many times that I was left stranded by Velocity. At Costco or some other place where I was shopping for my catering business I was denied access to my money. Apparently because I’d spent more than my daily allotment. Keep in mind, I opened this checking account as a business account, and none of these terms were discussed when I opened it.
And on the savings side of things, I had another account, where I had trouble depositing checks! Yes, even though my business and I were both on that account as well, I had problems depositing checks that were addressed to my business. Not only that, but they actually refused to take my grandmother’s check because it was one of those larger checks that old people with failing eyesight use, and the writing was what one would expect of an old lady who can’t see very well.
You know who took those checks and who hasn’t ever given me a problem with my amount of business spending? Bank of America.
Finally, their online and phone service just plain sucks. Online, you can transfer between accounts to access your money more readily. Oh, but did we mention you can only do that a certain amount of times per week or month? Well, I’ll just call and have them transfer it. No? You can’t do that on the phone either? But they can do it for you just fine (and charge you for it) if you want to go ahead and make that charge on your Debit card. This is key for when you, say, need to access your savings to pay for your car. While you’re at the garage, standing there looking like an idiot.
Oh, and they also help you out online by showing you all of your transactions, so you have an idea of how much money you have in your account. Oh wait, except for those «pending» transactions. Those are on another part of their site. Guess, we’ll just pay another fee because of their misleading setup.
The best part is when you call up to complain, and the person on the phone just doesn’t care. Especially when you’re so frustrated to the point that you’re telling them you want to close your account because you feel swindled.
«Ok. Thats’ fine»
What? You actually don’t want to keep your customers?
I like the idea of a Credit Union. I’m likely going to try another one. I’m open to suggestions, but my suggestion for anyone else out there? Don’t go here.

this is why i left bank of america, and another local «bank» in the austin area.
i had a huge snafu with paypal, which i bet some of you understand. there were fees and fines and i was in the hole with my balance. i made a phone call and asked for some help, knowing i’d be at zero when it was done, if i could convince them that this is not what i do and it would help me greatly.
when i rectified the problem through contacting paypal by phone (good luck with that), and getting some faxes sent to velocity, i returned to find my account well above zero the next day.
i called and asked why? there is a mistake. i owe you.
«no sir, we took your situation into account and there will be no fess, fines, or charges.»
i cried when i hung up.
i no longer live in austin but i will keep velocity as my credit union as long as i can.
thank you all and god bless.

Here’s the main thing you need to know about Velocity — go to a bank ratings site and check out Velocity’s financial ratings vs. other banks and credit unions in the area. Over at Weiss, Velocity ranks an A– among credit unions in Austin (only Austin Telco also merits an A-​, while most of the rest are Cs). With our financial system so shaky, you want to find a credit union that has a strong financial rating, and Velocity fits that bill.
In comparison, Wells Fargo, which I just left to go to Velocity, gets a D rating overall. (They also kept charging me monthly fees for checking, then refunding the fee when I complained, then charging me again. Enough!)
Velocity doesn’t have tons of branches, and the Braker branch I used to sign up was quite busy on a Saturday. But they are part of the Alliance of Austin Credit Unions, so you have a variety of ATMs you can use to get cash. They also are a part of the nationwide Credit Union Service Centers network, so you could walk into another credit union in, say, Wisconsin, and deposit money into your Velocity account. (I have yet to try this, but you should be able to perform basic tasks for your Velocity account at any University Federal Credit Union branch.)
Their banking website is fine — not great, but fine. You have to pay $ 20/​year if you want rewards perks on your debit card, however; otherwise, you can get free checking and a free debit Mastercard.
Their service was friendly and helpful when I signed up for my account — I can’t speak for it otherwise. But I find it absolutely hilarious that a guy gave them 1 star here because they committed the «unpardonable sin» of not clearing his checks in the right order after he *purposefully* committed check fraud and attempted to write a bad check! My suspicion is, if you follow the rules you should be fine here, and those who try to game the system won’t be happy anywhere.

I feel fortunate that I have zero horror stories to tell! I have had pleasant service with every Velocity interaction and transaction.
I took a giant jar of change for deposit into my savings today and was very pleased with their patience. They sorted all my spare change from the pesos, tums, and screws that made it into the jar without 1 single complaint!
Everyone that has waited on me has been nothing but completely polite and there has never been an issue with anything on my accounts. I also love love love the online banking with Velocity. Easy to use, and very self explanatory.

We are a military family, and recently moved to Fort Hood. We have our vehicle loan through Velocity and have had nothing but GREAT experiences with them so far. They are more than willing to go any extra mile to make everything easy and more convenient for us. We have spoken to three people over the phone and every time they are the nicest people. I love this credit union and wish we could use them as our bank, but we will be moving to Washington.

So I’ve been banking with Velocity and its previous name pretty much my entire working career without giving it much thought, until I got a phone call today saying their fraud department didn’t like a particular charge made on my debit card, and would I please verify it. My first thought was, «Just how phishy do I smell to this caller?»
But when I called the main office back they confirmed they actually did call me, and then asked me to head over to my Braker Lane branch to destroy the old card, get a new one, and see if I recognized all my recent charges. What they caught today was indeed bogus.
So yeah, I’m going to have to change a bunch of auto-​payment vendors and I’m not fond of the particular Gibson SG pictured all over my new card, but this is also the very first time I’ve thought Big Brother was actually looking out for me. How about that.

I just switched from a big bank that was very impersonal to a credit union that was local. I searched and searched and found Velocity Credit Union. From the moment I stepped in, the receiptionist (Lindsey) was very friendly and ready to help me. The young lady that helped me open my account (Devina (spelling)) was very helpful. When I went back this afternoon to open a 2^nd account, Lindsey was there again to assist me and she remembered me! That’s awesome customer service. Devina also helped me as well again. She remembered me as well. We chatted as if we were life long friends. Other banks are just so impersonal in this day and age, but this credit union is so just friendly. They went above and beyond for me and for that I give them 5 stars.