Mission Federal Credit Union

People are kinda slow here. Just doing the simple things Are taking forever. Just have patience

I have been a customer of MFCU since 1972 and think that overall they’re far better than any corporate bank out there. I’ve had only a few minor incidences in the 40+ years but in the past 10 years I have been highly annoyed at their over exuberance of credit card security. I can barely leave San Diego County without having to let them know I’m leaving the area and not block the use of my card. I’ve been out of the country too many times to count and had problems even after calling and being assured that there won’t be a problem. I even had my debit card taken by a ATM machine in Cabo after using it multiple times. Had my cc declined at hotels, not been able to buy gas, etc after notifying MFCU that I was traveling. Just yesterday I called to let them know my card was going to be used in Germany to purchase an airline ticket by my daughter. Daughter calls me this morning and said the card was declined. I called the 800 number and supposedly get it straightened out only to have it happen again. Had to give her another card to use. Then the credit card fraud division called me later today to tell me of the attempt on my card! When asked they said «oh yes I see in the notes the card will be used in Germany» A lot of good that does me now.
I have other credit cards so will no longer use MFCU debit or credit card when I travel which is ok because I can get a debit card from Wells Fargo and use it anywhere overseas with no fees or problems. Sorry to be so disappointed in what otherwise is a good banking institution.

I have been banking over decades now, and never really found a decent bank. So I decided to switch to credit unions. There more personable. A little upset thou with Mission Fed as I had asked for a letter for them to type up and I was going to pick it up at a branch. Spoke with customer service 800 number and the girl that assisted me never followed thru with my request. Little disappointed as I really enjoy Mission Fed. However the branches themselves are great but the 800 customer service girls need more training and manners.

I have been a customer for many years. The CU held my interest rate at more than 6% after the mortgage crash, claiming I made too much money to refi for a lower rate than my interest only payments Which is all I could barely afford. I could not get ahead so I lost out on paying down principal. Why would they not give me a significant principal reduction now? Seems fair? Please reply. My success is your bottom line…
Thank you — contact me for details.
ADDENDUM:
MFCU did contact me, let me know they did what they could do within the industry standards.
They just do not give principal reductions.
My impression is business is business and you should be thankful it was not worse. They did contact me.,

I am spoiled — I have great military banks like Navy Fed and USAA.
Julie signed my girlfriend and I up and works as a teller most days. Not sure what her title is, but she’s the absolute best teller/​personal banker I’ve ever had. I wish she would work across the street at Navy Fed where I do 90% of my banking.
I’ve received a few snotty/​bad attitudes from the other tellers. We all have our bad days, but you are in customer service, you could at least smile. I’m never rude, I literally only deposit money here, nothing else.
Don’t use their ATMs to deposit money, they don’t handle them. The only bank I’ve ever heard in my life that doesn’t service their own ATM’s that are ATTACHED TO THE BANK! They share service with other banks, so some random company comes and collects it. It took over a week for our CASH deposit to show up. We use this account to pay rent/​joint bills. Because of this, we no longer use them to pay rent because last time we were late!
There are a lot of stupid fees with these guys, too. I expect stuff like that from BOA, Chase, Citi, etc… but c’mon, we picked a Credit Union for a reason.
If I could get my girlfriend a Navy Fed account, we’d close our account here in a heartbeat and write letters to Julie every day asking her to switch over to Navy Fed.

After the WaMu to Chase conversion I didn’t like the direction the company was going. Increased fees, outsourced customer service, non-​competitive rates (though I guess that’s industry standard). The straw that broke the Camel’s back was when my free checking had all sorts of prerequisites to keep it free.
I started researching Credit Unions since they’ve a reputation to be a lot more the way things ‘should be’ and decided on MFCU.
Some Pros:
–Decent rates on Credit Cards for younger people with good credit score without a lot of history; I’m 21 with a 783 according to their FICO scoring model (which isn’t the ‘standard’ one). I’ve had Capital One card since 18 that started at a ~9% interest rate. After the Credit Card Reform act of 2009 that rate went to 22% and just stayed there for no reason. I signed up for a new card through MFCU and got a 13.9. Though I always pay off during the grace period anyway it’s still a better rate.
–CO-​OP ATM network opens you up to more fee-​free ATMs than even the larger banks can offer. You can even make deposits at significant portion of them all across the US.
–It feels like group of friends providing financials services to each other. Essentially, that’s what it is. Big banks need to pay off shareholders, you Credit Unions have to pay off YOU via better rates, services, etc.
–Phone customer service SPEAKS ENGLISH, no waiting (so far), no transfers to other departments, no telephone prompts that take longer to navigate than it does to ask your question and get a response, etc.
–No minimum balances and such on Checking/​Savings. Their value checking option pays interest in your checking (though minimally).
–Rate tables/​fees are pretty good. They’re higher than other banks/​CUs for certain services, but for 90% of what I use they’re competitive.
Some Cons:
— They have a silly 1 month policy on new accounts where they hold deposits for 7 business days. I’m not sure what this is designed to protect against; anyone wanting to fraud the account could just wait 30 days to start making bad deposits? I’d recommend that you not fully migrate away from your current financial institution until the holds are lifted (if that’s your plan). A hold on one of my paychecks was rather inconvenient.
–They provide a lot of services, but there are a lot of 3^rd parties involved. For example, ‘their’ insurance, investments, payment service (Zashpay), etc. are all not provided directly through them. They’re more or less contracted partners/​discounts to provide those programs. It’d be nice if the services were a bit more consolidated/​under one roof but I understand they’re a small institution.
–I haven’t seen any ATMs capable of envelope free deposits. This means that cash deposits take time to process and checks take longer to process unlike big banks. I can’t make it to the branch locations since I work nearly the same schedule that they’re open.
–It took about an hour and 45 minutes to open my accounts in Person. I was opening 3 accounts (Checking, Savings, Credit) so I get there’s a lot of paperwork, but seemed like it could have been more smooth a process.

OK. so, I had to make my car payment right away and while I’ve been super happy with Mission Federal CU as a lender… rates are good, ease of getting a loan was good, etc. Maintaining the car loan can sometimes be a pain.
Last year, they did away with their Checkmates program where you can electronically transfer funds from another bank to your MFCU account. That stinks. it was the easy way to get money into my account so my monthly car payment could be automatically deducted.
And, they don’t take credit/​debit card payments over the phone! I mean, c’mon! This is 2009 already! That just shows their home grown-​ness, which is great for some things, but has trade offs like this.
All in all, for most banking and loan needs and transactions, MFCU has been a fine establishment. the tellers are friendly, others I’ve had to work with in their offices have been very helpful and you can always get your questions answered, even if it takes a phone call to the service center.
Plus, you don’t get the BBS. Big Bank Syndrome where each person you speak to gives you a different answer to the same question.
If MFCU would get into the 21^st century and allow me to pay my car bill over the phone with my debit card, I’d give ‘em 5 stars easy.