Pathways Financial Credit Union – Members First

I’ve been banking here for years and highly recommend them. They’re friendly and truly aim to please. I’ve sent several friends, colleagues and clients to M1st and they too have always been very happy with their dealings. You can’t go wrong.

I am a member at Powerco but, having done shared branching with MFCU, I can tell you I have never been anything but satisfied with every aspect of my experience with the credit union. I’m extremely excited about all of the transitions they’re making as they become part of Pathways Financial CU (I’ve gotten emails and mailings that have outlined all of it for me pretty well), especially in the new innovations that will be coming. I can’t wait for the upcoming mobile app, and the new website is going to be incredible. The merger honestly has and will continue to make things easier, especially in that now there are branches literally all over the place in Columbus (Gahanna, Grandview, Plain City, Grove City, Delaware), and all of them are going to be able to serve my financial needs in the same way, with the same super-​awesome-​advanced banking technology. I won’t need to do shared branching, because MY credit union will literally be all over town.
Even the T-​shirts at Members First say «Where everybody knows your name.» I feel like this is true, since they know mine and have always provided me with nothing but excellent service… further, I feel like they’re the kind of people I would go have a beer with. Those are the kind of people I want to bank with. As someone having been negatively affected first-​hand by large corporate banking, I must say that working with credit unions like Powerco and Members First is a breath of fresh air. I personally did not experience any unpleasant parts of the technology switch-​over, but I know the new system will be twice as beneficial for me as a member once Powerco switches too.

I’m glad someone reached out regarding my experience. It shows that they are listening, which means there is progress. While I still plan to bank elsewhere, I hope these changes are for the best for current and future members.
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Members First has now become part of Pathways Credit Union and merged with a few other local credit unions. While this merge is supposed to make life easier and enable members to better access resources, it’s been a huge headache since the start.
As a member for more than two years I can proudly say that I’ve supported local and banked with the ‘little’ guys, but no more. As a late 20-​something who virtually does all transactions online, there has been nothing convenient about banking here. My biggest concern is that their website is «offline» more than two to three times a week, making it increasingly frustrating to know basic information like say, how much money is in my account. Secondary to that concern is that, again, as I do most of my banking virtually, I can’t access anything from my smartphone. No mobile friendly website, no easy online bill pay access. And forget trying to find info easily on the site in general.
Now onto the merge, I get that you need change over to a new online system and such, but the entire communication process has been a nightmare. Instead of sending concise messaging with a 1,2,3 step «here’s how to make it seamless,» you send me letter narratives with a minimum of 500 words each. Hello? Not easy.
They have switched their online payment platform to essentially make things «easier» as well. I pay all of my bills online and instead of say investing in a service that helps transfer the two dozen accounts I have listed in your system, you mention in one of your one lines in your narrative that basically says, ‘hey, sorry bout your luck & inconvenience.” Oooh! Just found a line that they are going to give me $ 20 for entering my payee info into the system though. But wait, after I sign up, I have to wait at least 1 – 2 business days to be added to your system? I wonder how long it takes to actually pay the bills?
Gone are the days of prompt customer service over the phone, too. This morning I was put on hold for 10 minutes to then be transfered, then put on hold for another 5 minutes, only to return to the original person whom I spoke with first whose answer was only one sentence.
I truly get the growing pains you have to go through when there are some company changes, but my overall experience with Members First can be summed up by one (ok, two) words: hugely inconvenient.

Quite possibly the nicest and most relaxed bank environment I have ever stumbled upon. I am a fan of this great place as they are as warm and friendly as anyone who’s handling your money should be. :) They are heavily involved in the community as well which always does it for me. I feel a bit nervous about writing this as I wouldn’t want them to be bombarded with new customers and forget who I am…
MFFCU is ‘right on the money’. haha