SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEES!! Cassandra was extremely kind and helpful. I just opened my first credit card here about a week ago, and walked in to get advice on building a high credit score. She was able to answer every question I had in addition to giving her personal advice on how to handle it. Everyone at this branch has been very helpful and Cassandra is definately no exception.

Thank you Schools First and Jorge!
I came here with my wife. She is a teacher and her school signed her up for an account with schools first. She mentioned to me that I should come with her and get an account because spouses can get an account as well as other benefits. We finally carved time out of our day to go down there and we met Jorge. Have I told you he’s a life saver. We were able to sign me up for a checking account and a savings with a minimum of $ 30. I handled him $ 30 cash. Then he asked what else he can do for us today. I told him that I was not happy with my current car loan provider because they make it almost impossible to add extra to my payment. So he said that he could see if I qualify for a auto loan thru SFCU. I qualified for an auto loan with a better APR! Boom, he was able to transfer over my auto loan that easily. He then asked what else he can do for us. I told him that I had some credit card debt I had been wanting to clean up. He told me that they over person loans and also credit cards with zero transfer balance. He was able to help me by applying for a credit card for me thru SFCU and transferring over all my credit cards to one so I could pay it off easier and faster. I was so impressed by this credit union and all they were able to do with me with just me walking in with $ 30 cash. Thanks guys!

I love this bank! Everyone is always helpful and nice. Their new location next door is bigger & better. I’ve been with them for less than a year, but its enought to say I highly recommend them to any school employees & their families.

I LOVE this credit union. Lowest rates. They offered me a realistic car loan, even when my credit was not so good. They also give teachers a 1k loan with 0% interest, every school year. I’ve also never had a single problem with customer service, which is the first company I can ever say that about.

I was having a little trouble with my auto loan but the nice lady who helped me did such a great job. She made me comfortable and worked with me to find an acceptable solution. I love this bank and this branch in Cerritos is one of the best!

I’ve been going here for over 5 years, but have never thought about writing a review until now.
I usually don’t hand out «5» Stars to anyone on Unilocal,but this is one of the few places that deserves it!!!
The workers here are helpful when you have questions about your accounts or if you are inquiring about a 403B account. You can tell they want to help and not because they have to help.
It’s always a good vibe when I go here to make a with drawl from my account. Never a hassle. If there is a mistake on the money received, they will fix it to my satisfaction.
For Example: Like the one time I was short changed $ 40 from the cash dispenser when I was taking out $ 1,000 CASH.
I was angry when I got home since I should of counted the $$$ there to make sure it was all there. Not until I got home and counted 3 times, I realized I’m missing money.
They fix it ASAP without any issues. No stress.
They tend to have cool knick knacks like cookies, water bottles, cake, etc for the clients that go to this credit union which is cool of them! I’m not saying that I’m being swayed by these things, but it’s cool for them to provide them.
They say «hi» or «hello» when you come through the doors which is awesome of them. I was like «wow». That’s different yet so awesome!
We just took our huge piggy bank of COINS to use their Coin Star machine to turn our coins into cold hard cash yesterday. Got over $ 200 bucks in cash back. NO FEEs to use the Coin Star machine. That should be a reason to be a member here!!!
I would truly recommend this credit union to those thinking about it. Not sure if you have to be a school employee or have someone that works in the field of education to become a member. You should call them to find out for sure.
2 Thumbs Up!

I love this credit union, I just switched over from LBS credit union, and I am so happy to now be a member of this credit union. They treat you like family, and they sincerely care to help you find useful products that will improve your life — auto refinance, personal loans, investments, car insurance etc. I’ve worked with Jorge at this branch, and he is AWESOME! He really knows his stuff, and he sincerely cared about what would benefit and told me exactly what to do to make sure that I was approved. Totally would recommend!

The best! Not just this branch either. The entire SFFCU organization has been awesome! From online support and e-​banking to phone help and personal visits to the branches. Always helpful and friendly!

As far as financial institutions go, I have yet to find any that are as professional, and go above and beyond the call as the folks at SchoolsFirst. I’m a long-​time member… back to the «OCTFCU» days… thanks to memberships by my late parents, who were educators.
While I hate banking and prefer to do as much as possible online or through the ATM, for those matters that you’d only trust to a live human being, SchoolsFirst employees have always been courteous and top-​notch. Recently, while dealing with the loss of a loved one and their estate, I’ve had to do a lot of that aforementioned financial stuff I hate so much. One required a visit to the Cerritos branch for a notary; unfortunately, by the time I got there after battling traffic after work, the notary had gone.
While most places would have done the sad trombone «wah-​waaaah», the young lady at my branch (Mai, I believe) took the time to call the next closest branch that offered notary service, and made sure that a notary would be there, and that me and my brother would be taken care of… all after regular hours. I was impressed, and sure enough, the folks at the Cypress branch were waiting for us, and took care of our needs, even though we got there later than anticipated due to traffic due to an accident. All of this makes me a loyal SchoolsFirst member… why waste time with the big-​name banks who don’t care about you?
Thanks, SchoolsFirst.

Came in here for the free coin machine on a Saturday, near closing, yet the front desk lady was still super friendly and seemed genuinely happy to help and work there. So was the teller who helped me with my cash voucher. Second time in a Schools First Branch (first was in the Brea branch) and they get five stars from me again!

Have been going here for a few years, always have refinanced my vehicles and gotten way better rates than I had. by several points

So this has taken me a while to get to for some reason, but I finally decided to write a review.
I had previously been a member of Wells Fargo for about 10 years, and I was tired of the fees but did not plan to switch banks because my parents thought they were as good as it got when it came to banks. Finally a coworker told me I could join Schools First because we work at a school, and she made it sound amazing, and all she said was true! After putting it off for a few more months, I decided to open an account with Schools First, and it was such a courteous and relatively quick procedure. They were straight and to the point, and they didn’t try to push weird extra services on me like they did at Wells Fargo. Everything they mentioned about their Credit Union was like music to my ears, what with no monthly fees being charged. Truly amazing. :’) I love their quick service when I go cash a check, and it’s all I really wanted from Wells Fargo but everything was always so long-​winded and time consuming with them. Glad I got out of there when I did but sad it wasn’t sooner…
So now I recommend it to everyone I know, and I’m trying to convince my family members to join, but they are hesitant because they haven’t experienced this marvelous institution yet. I literally have ZERO complaints about this place, and even the apps they have are great, especially the direct deposit one – so cool!

I am updating my review since a manager called and apologized for everything that occurred. Even though it doesn’t change what happened, he did try to make things right and I am very appreciative for that.

My mother just joined SchoolsFirst last Friday after being a Bank of America customer for over 50 years! What prompted her to move was a recent announcement by BofA that they were going to start charging a $ 5.00/month usage fee for their debit card, starting at the beginning of 2012. Since my mom LOVES using her debit card (as much as I love using mine), this latest announcement from BofA prompted her to want to join SchoolsFirst and dump BofA.
Natalie at the Cerritos branch helped my mom get her account set up. My mom was extremely pleased with the courteous and professional service she received. :-) She ended up opening up a free checking account and a savings account. The best thing out of this experience was it was the last day for family members to join and NOT pay the $ 15.00 membership fee, which made my mom REALLY happy.
I’m very confident that my mom will love banking with SchoolsFirst just as much as I do!

The Schools First staff are so friendly. I don’t know if it’s all branches, or just this Cerritos one, but they are great. I was recently in making a deposit and the teller asked me to tell my husband happy birthday since it was that day. There’s always personal attention when you’re in there, but never anything that slows down your business.

Why is every single employee at every single Schools First FCU so nice, and why can’t the other banks get it together? Unless I suffered some sort of absolutely heinous financial disaster caused by School’s First, I would never, ever change banks. There’s not even one particularly close to my home, and I don’t care. Love them.
Oh, and Jorge was the best teller EVER!

Never going back to a traditional bank again. Particularly one with «of America» in its name. Credit Unions are just superior and I like this one a lot. Short lines, kind people.

This is the best credit union around,
My money is insured, safe and sound,
There are 25,000 fee free ATMs through their co-​op network,
Getting money without being charged, it is a nice perk,
I like this location, inside the Cerritos Town Center, it’s on my way home,
I can get cash, walk across to coffee bean, and order a latte with extra foam,
Their online banking
is really easy to use,
So if your checkbook doesn’t match, there is no excuse.

I’m so glad I discovered this branch here in the Cerritos Town Center. After receiving years of excellent service at the CSUF branch regularly, I was pleasantly surprised to find this location with the same service. It must just be the credit union itself. They never let you stand in line for more than a couple minutes. Their employees always greet you when you enter and say «bye, have a good day» when you leave. Their tellers are always kind. When I had very naïve questions about home loans, the man was very nice and patient in educating me. I love OCTFCU.