First Tech Federal Credit Union

Their name should be last Tech… definitely not First tech. Feels like a bank — not a Credit Union.

I love this bank. I’ve had an account with them for almost three years and never had issues. They helped me so much today by taking the time to retrace a check that was given out earlier this month. They saved me over 700 bucks! I’ll never forget that. Thank you first tech!!!

Michele McCarthy was so helpful. She was very knowledgeable and seemed to have all the answers I was looking for.

Long time member of this credit union. Online banking works great. When I have gone in to the branch I have always received very good service. I travel internationally and I like that they offer a Visa credit card with no foreign transaction fee. And their ATM card only has a 1% foreign transaction fee for withdrawing money, where my other credit union charges 2%

What Happened??? This used to be a great credit union.
I’ve been with the First Tech for 20 years. Now thanks to changes that make them more like BofA, I’m moving everything over to my other credit union.
They used to offer excellent Visa rates. Not anymore.
They used to give you access to a check deposit immediately. Not anymore. I’m going on 11 days and counting since a check deposit, the reason given by First Tech for the lock — I deposited more than $ 5000. (to pay-​off the overpriced Visa balance). Guess it’s expensive to be based out of Palo Alto. I’m sure someone thought that a move/​merger was a good idea.
Time to move on…
Also, I agree their letters to members about Visa increases (and also holds on deposits) leave a lot to be desired.

Ok, first thing’s first. I have been with them for over a decade.
They do checking, savings, mortgages, loans, and multiple accounts right. I have always been happy with their handling of my affairs and would recommend them to anyone. When I had to open a living trust account to handle my father’s affairs, they did it smoothly with no hassle. Same thing when I had to open a conservatorship account.
However. They are the absolute worst place to have a credit card with.
Seven years ago when I went on a sabbatical to Europe, I wanted to let them know that I was travelling. I did this because they have a habit of shutting down your credit card when they see activity they don’t like on it. At the time, they told me I would have to have someone constantly check my phone to see if they left a message. Then call them during their office hours international long distance (dead of night during my vacation) so I can constantly verify the charges. They shut down both of my cards twice during the vacation and it took me hours to convince them to reactivate them.
Nowadays they might be a little better. You can contact their fraud department (which is outsourced) and tell them you are traveling. They recently jacked up my rates via a letter (as someone else mentioned). When I went to replaced a card I misplaced, I couldn’t change the pin. I was told that sometimes it just won’t take. So I have to memorize the pin they gave me. I asked about getting a card with a lower limit for internet and got the cold shoulder. I was told that the local branch would check to see why I couldn’t change the pin and they never got back to me.
In a nutshell, in the credit card department, you take what they get — which is crap — or they could care less. They have a habit of shutting down the card if you sporadically use it and don’t catch their automated phone call. They have no interest in discussing different card types. You have to fill out long forms each time you make a change in the account. The list goes on and on. If you are one of the privileged few that they will lower themselves enough to notice, they MIGHT give you a card with high rates that they shut down periodically (I was called about 6 times last year using it normally) if you don’t continually verify that you are using it.
Yes. It really is that bad.
So prior to whatever change they made — I would have given them 5 stars.
They want your business and have great customer service.
But they need to get their act together with their credit card department. It was bad enough that I now have to rate them two stars.

Now that they’ve merged with a CU in Wisconsin, go find another place to put your money. The service level has taken an immediate hit. I just borrowed money for a home from them, and a month after the loan was approved, I got a call saying «a mistake was made, a wrong button was pushed, and you owe us an additional $ 800» They didn’t even admit responsibility, it was as if a meteor had crashed into their office and forced them to make the mistake.

Recent dramatic increases in VISA rates smack of «big bank mentality». Letters sent to customers, to put it kindly, were poorly executed.
After 24 years I am taking my business to BECU — I used to work at boeing 30 years ago…
There are other, smaller and more customer focused credit unions in the area. Some are still oregon grown, owned and managed — like onpoint, advantis, etc. There rates are much better…
I used to recommend this bank to everyone I know — not any longer — look elsewhere first…

Since they have merged, they are basically just another bank. I never had problems with them until recently.
Just this last week, they did two things that really irritated me.
1) Their software reordered an incoming wire to happen after a couple of bill pay debits (on same day). They got 3 $ 28 fees from doing that and I had to complain to manager to get it fixed.
2) They cleared, then held a check from Fidelity Brokerage (yeah, the multi-$Trillion investment firm). Again to get a «Uncollected Funds Fee». This happened on the same day… funds available, initiate bill pay, funds held, then fee, then funds available again.
These kind of games are what I’d expect from a bank, not a credit union. Luckily there is another credit union down the street.
They do have free checking, competitive loans, and a snazzy free-​to-​user machine to deposit coins (like Coinstar); but the new software they installed after the merge and use to manage their billpay seems programmed to maximize fee income via whatever dubious practices they think they can get away with. After 11 years, I’m moving my account away.

I am convert from the big banks. Love this credit union and the other one I now use. Free checking is still available here. I love the fact that I haven’t had to order checks to use my account. Since I use so few, I can go in to my branch and they will print up as many as I want and I’m good to go.
I had a couple of issues when setting up my accounts, but that probably had to do with the fact they were in the middle of their merger. Other than that, things are great and I am sooo much happier than being at the big banks. With ATM’s fee free at most 7 – 11 locations and other credit unions across the land, I’m good to go. Also have a phone app to help locate those fee free ATMs.

Several times over the past few months our account has been «locked» for security purposes. Our infractions? Once, we got gas twice in one day — that locked us out of our ATM/​Debit cards (we were on vacation — it was a HUGE inconvenience). Yesterday, my husband transferred money on line from savings to checking to make a purchase today — that completely locked us out of our on line accounts. It took extensive «verification» for us to get access to our own money. When I called their service center, a woman told me that anytime we go more than 50 miles from home with our debit card, we can expect the account to be locked. We are being held hostage by Tech Credit. I can’t WAIT to get my money out of this credit union and back into a more reasonable bank. My husband has been with them since they started — but loyalty stops when you realize your money isn’t really your own.

Well, I would have given FTCU a much better rating, but they’ve proven to act like any other bank when they changed their bill pay service. The previous bill pay service paid everything in a timely manner, but the current bill pay holds funds as long as possible (floating) before paying out funds. Be careful in using their system to pay your bills, they could very easily pay them late because of the built in delays they now have.

It’s easy to Say there Great when you have money and your not unemployed and have to feed a baby.
I was with them for over 15 years and I am filing a compliant because recently they change their services Awful just Awful.
The loan department held my saving account money and even when then took money with out consent and it positive they charged off my account.
Because I did not pay my overdraft in 1 week then they put that its been over 30 – 50 days when i proof it was 1 week.
Then stop cards acces and I have no way of getting money unless i go in the bank.
Techcu Has truly changed they were patient before now they care only to screw people over. The ones with money have no problem and you wouldnt care but when you dont have much every penny counts.
Michelle Yang
Sorry TECHCU YOUR REPUTATION IS Royally SCREWED

I used to be in love with First Tech, so much all my family followed me over. I have banked with them for as long as I can remember. They were nice and if I needed anything I just called and they took care of it, even loan applications, they made my life easy.
Since they have merged into First Tech Federal Credit union they are awful. First off the merge was horrible, took longer than they initially said, I was locked out of online banking for days. I sent them multiple emails since and no one ever returns any of them. I finally did get an answer after I sent about 5 emails over a 4 week period.
I hate how online banking works now, I used to be able to pay my bills when I wanted now if you want to do it before the date online banking suggests they want to charge you 15 bucks? WTH? I can no longer see cashed checks online and when you use bill pay it used to deduct the money right away now it takes days and I use the online balance to figure out how much money I have and this makes it very difficult.
Overall I hate it and when I called to address some of my issues it was very obvious they don’t care, the gal I talked to actually was snotty and had attitude with me. If I wasn’t so lazy I would transfer banks.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. First Tech’s weakest link is now its insurance arm. While I still bank with First Tech and have generally good experiences on the banking side, it is very important for everyone to know to never ever ever ever ever choose First Tech as your insurance agent. A couple years ago, they were great. They’ve apparently had a complete turnover in the insurance department, however, and they no longer care about their customers. It’s almost as if they’re in the back pocket of the insurance companies they represent. It used to be the other way around.
I was torn on giving a 1 star rating, but then I realized that the average of a 4 star (for the banking side) and a negative 6 billion star rating (insurance side) was well below 1 star, so it is perfectly fair.
I admit I can be unreasonable at times, expecting good customer service in a world of mediocre at best customer service. However, this was even one of my least unreasonable times and I obviously still thought it was awful. I gave them every chance I could, really I did. The small group of people working on the insurance side simply couldn’t have cared less. I won’t bore you with the complete story, but I’m still working on fixing the mess they have made.

I’ve been with First Tech CU since the beginning. They have always been head and shoulders above any other banking institution. Do you know they were the VERY FIRST bank to offer on-​line bill paying. It was before any of us had access to the internet, if it even existed. But we dialed up to the bank, checked our bank statements and paid our bills. It wasn’t a very user-​friendly situation back then, but First Tech offered a free class to instruct us on how to use it.
And still today they stay right on top with the latest technologies. And the people at First Tech are amazingly cordial and helpful. This is the very finest of banking institutions.

Amazing customer service and the most technology advanced credit union ever. Lost my ATM card and they made me a new one at the branch. I have been a member since 1999 and have nothing but good stuff to say about them.

As a long time member of First Tech, I regularly recommend them to friends and family for financial services. The best part of belonging to a Credit Union is that it is a financial cooperative, where each member is a part owner of the Credit Union.
There are surprisingly few ways for members/​part owners to communicate directly with their Credit Union to share their thoughts and wishes about how the CU is operated. This is an area where First Tech is breaking new ground, they recently created a public facing blog where employees post blog entries and anyone can comment on them. Check it out at:

First Tech has EXCELLENT customer service (member service) and has plenty of branches in the Hillsboro area where I live and work. The one thing that keeps me from rating at 5 stars are their high service fees, (on par with banks) as noted in this industry study. Check it out at:

After WaMu participated in the rampant irresponsibility that brought the world economy crashing to its knees and nearly sent it over a cliff, I decided it was time to find a good local credit union.
I opened a Regular Share, First Checking, and Instant Access account and have been a very satisfied member for about a year now.
First of all, their branch in Hillsboro is very nice, the tellers are friendly, and the drive-​thru service is efficient. Their customer service reps generally answer emails within the same business day.
Additionally, their Online Banking works great, and is well designed and easy to use. The usual capabilities are there: ability to transfer between accounts instantly, as well as Bill Payment.
Their fee schedule is very reasonable. Three free cashier’s check per month, which I have used. Foreign transaction fee on their ATM card is 1% of balance, which is below average, from what I’ve seen. I’ve confirmed this overseas, and have had flawless operation with the card.
Most importantly, for people that worry about availability of branches and ATM’s, they participate in a shared branching network and the Coop Network of ATM’s, allowing you to conduct business all over the country. I have input many zip codes into their search, and have been more than satisfied with the availability of free ATM’s and branches all over the US.
First Tech has been a great credit union, and I hope to stay with them for a long time.

I’ve had a checking account, a credit card, and a car loan through 1^st Tech, and have no complaints about their service. I was stuck in a long line about a year ago due to them «upgrading» their system which ended up causing a lot of problems for a lot of the people in line, but that didn’t affect me. Admittedly, I do very little online banking, and I believe this was the portion affected most.
Pros: Little of the usual bank bs such as fees for everything, customer service is good
Cons: Could be more open during evenings/​weekends, but that’s how banks are
Recommended: Definitely look into them if you’re considering an auto loan. Very convenient.