Amplify Federal Credit Union

Disclaimer: This review is based off of my experience as a small business and my complaints are with all locations.
I opened my account at this location a few years ago, initially to help my small business in 2013. I have had mixed emotions about Amplify from the beginning. They have always put unnecessary holds on my deposits is one HUGE issue. The other HUGE issue is that all branch locations, including this one, always interchange tellers/​managers, which makes it hard to develop lasting relationships with your local branch. We have had intermittent good relationships but they never lasted.
BEWARE!!! Here is the biggest warning I can give!!! They have relationship with a less than honorable merchant service processor, NORTH AMERICAN BANCARD TEXAS, AKA KEN GIVENS. In 2014 we ran over $ 20k on an single American Express transaction and it was a nightmare getting the funds to go through. During that time I couldn’t even get Ken Givens to answer or return my calls. I swiped the card on 12÷8÷14 and it ended up taking almost 4 weeks to fund. Being a small business, this was detrimental. I tried calling Ken to see if he could help with this clerical error on their part but he left me hanging. I was able to get a hold of Maria Passarella, Ken’s employee, and she continually told me that she was working on it and we would see the funds soon. After a couple weeks and with Christmas quickly approaching I got a little more anxious. Maria ended up giving me the merchant services number to contact directly (probably tired of my calls by this point) & when I contact them they say that there is paperwork that hasn’t been submitted by their sales partner (Ken Givens? Maria Passarella). I got them the paperwork they needed and then it took almost another week to get funds. After not being to make payroll Christmas week, I informed Maria that we didn’t want to use their services any longer since we had never had trouble with Intuit GoPayment. She apologized profusely, was even seemingly sincere about screwing up 7 families holiday seasons. Here is the kicker… they never closed my account. They’ve been collecting commission for 13 months past me telling Maria that I want to discontinue services with them. She has never followed up or reached out to me even though we haven’t processed a single credit card in 14 months. They have debited my bank account a total of $ 972.32 over 12 months without a single credit card process. They never once tried to do what is honest in this situation.
Short & long… If you are a small business, BANK ELSEWHERE!!!

I’m in total disgust with a transaction at this location.
First off, they offered me free checking through my company. I signed up. When I got my first statement, turns out the charged me $ 3 for non-​electronic method (US postal service). The person setting this up could have told me this so I could avoid the fee. Feeling uneasy about what else they charge, I decided to go into the branch and close my account.
The girl at the counter was right off the bat did not appear friendly. When I told her I wanted to close my account, she became less friendly. Not a smile the whole time. She tried to make me feel stupid by opening up account and closing after a month. She even told me there was a $ 10 closing fee. At this point I was like whatever, close the dam thing, I’m NEVER coming back. All these fees and they expect to keep customers? Ridiculous! At the end of transaction, I said «Thank You». She said nothing. They need to be trained to say «I’m sorry your leaving, but please keep us in mind for the future.
I dont know why she took it so personally that I was leaving. It felt like she was going to lose some money out of her paycheck or something.
DO NOT GO TO AMPLIFY. Chase, Wells Fargo. etc can do far better… especailly if you have a mortgage with them. Amplify is down right RUDE!
Also, I do not like their layout of the office. There is NO privacy. It feels like an open bar. Imagine getting cash and its wide open for all to see.

I’ve been banking with Amplify for probably 6+ years now. It started with a favor to a friend to open an account, however over the years they’ve been by far the easiest bank to deal with. They go above and beyond for the people that bank there.
I got my home loan re-​financed by them and recently got an auto loan from them. They worked out the details with the dealership for me while I drove to pick up the car in Houston. I saw the car Sunday night and owned it by Monday evening.
Even if you don’t need loans through them, you can definitely benefit from the FREE ATMs! Not just theirs, but they automatically reimburse you for other’s ATMs (even expensive ones in places like Vegas). This is the only bank I’ve never had any issues with and recently started consolidating everything to them for this reason.

We always have a great experience at Amplify. We primarily use the branch on University by the outlet mall. German is extremely helpful every visit and I love talking to all the employees. It is so nice to have such a friendly visit each time especially considering we come straight from work. Keep up the great customer service!

My daughter applied for a refinance of her car loan just to get in her own name. Currently was in step father and her name for a year. Perfect payment history. Same job for four years while going to High School and college. Has ¹⁄₃ of loan amount currently in bank account. amplify account for 4 years. Denied loan for ratio. Didn’t even offer to lower loan amount to make this work. Just No.

I opened an account at Amplify when this location was on Hwy 79 and CR122. It was a convenient location and the people were very nice. I did find that the Amplify website was not very user friendly or intuitive but since this was not my primary banking institution, it didn’t matter much. I did have a problem or two but they managed to correct their errors in a timely fashion. Then they closed this branch and moved to University Ave. Since I seldom visited the branch it wasn’t a major inconvenience. Then I received a letter from Amplify informing me that since I didn’t use their debit card, they would not renew it. Wait, they also didn’t renew my ATM card which was an inconvenience since I did use it at the nearby UFCU branch which accepts Amplify ATM cards. When I contacted them, they didn’t seem too apologetic or even friendly. That was the final straw! I checked a website that rated credit unions and discovered that UFCU had a higher rating so I transferred my accounts to UFCU!

I recently closed my account. A merchant took a while to ask for payment. End result I was short. Once I got the letter I called to find out what happened and acknowledged it was my fault and the payment would be in mail next business day. Forward a week later I get a threatening letter saying if they don’t get payment they will do all kinds of stuff. From close my account, which I already did. Report it, etc. I check my account and they had cashed my check days ago. Now mind you, I have been with these sorry people for years. Never overdrawn on my account. Then they send me threatening form letters. I am glad I closed my account. I opened another account with a different credit union, which is much better. Do your homework before going here. There are better options.

Don’t waste your time at this bank, they’re cheating, lies too much about bonus, easy, good deal… etc…First they talked good about $ 150.00 bonus if you open a new account with them, so I did, and after several direct deposit as required, and they didn’t give me any bonus, b. s explained, no help… etc…so I’m going to close my account soon.

This credit union provides all the services of a bank, but without the bad press or stigma that the big banks carry since 2008. Recently many more ATMs became free as this credit union is in a partnership with other Austin area credit unions. The rates on CDs are better than the big banks, and the personalized attention of their staff is second to none. Often I am offered bottled water which is great perk in the Texas heat, and makes banking more personal, a bit how my grandfather used to describe banking in the old days (minus the toasters of course). They also issue free cashiers checks which a traditional bank would charge for. Check them out!