Alaskan financial institutions (Fairbanks: mortgage, refinance, credit)

[riceme]

I'm looking for input on our Alaskan banks and credit unions, mostly with regards to customer service.

In the way of background, most of you know that I live in Fairbanks, and so I would prefer that anywhere I deal with have a brick and mortar here so that I can walk in if I need to. I currently have accounts with Credit Union 1, MAC, and BofA. My truck loan is currently with CU1, and in the past I've had a truck loan with MAC.

Having to do with my vehicle loan, I found MAC super easy to deal with, really nice, very helpful. Not so with personal banking. I'll spare you the details, but I have had some extremely bad experiences with them. MAC's online banking is horrific and feels like something akin to 1999 dialup. Very Alaskan.

I have had a positive experience with CU1 up until recently. In December I decided to buy a hockey mom car that I can park in my garage during winter, as my truck doesn't fit. I have a very hard time making personal phone calls during regular business hours, so I used their online messaging system. This went perfectly. It was quick and easy, and she emailed me my approval letter immediately. Well, we all know what the used vehicle market is like right now, and add to that I live in Fairbanks and I have an OCD tick surrounding vehicle maintenance and reliability, and it has been hard to find a car, which was 100% expected - this is not a new thing for me.

In the midst of all of this activity it occurs to me that I should refinance my truck loan while I'm doing all of this, since they've just done a hard inquiry on my credit. While poking around on the BofA app and figured out pretty easily that I would qualify for a very low refi interest rate through them. I really would rather keep my business here, so I reach out via the messaging system with all of the details and requesting that they refinance my loan.

Wow. This has been nothing but trouble, headaches, stress, and frustration. Note that I have excellent credit, which they know because of the hockey mom car loan approval. I even had one of my girlfriends read the exchanges, asking her, "am I the a-hole here??" She confirmed that no, I am not. Normally, this is where I would call or walk in to sort this out, but I really do not have time. Email & messaging I can do anytime - I can do it while I'm on a Zoom or Teams call that doesn't require 100% of my attention, or at night. Now this CU1 person is demanding that I call them when I have explained a few times now, that is super difficult for me.

TLDR: have had customer service issues with both MAC & CU1. Have excellent credit and looking for good experiences for auto loans. Bonus points for website & app that is not reminiscent of the Flintstones.

[terracore]

I have an account with Alaska USA FCU. I haven't lived in Alaska in 10 years and it's been simple enough to use their web site and phone app for most of my banking needs including online bill pay, etc.

As a bonus they are part of a shared branch network, so the two times I needed to do something in a "branch" I was able to go to a different credit union here in Hawaii to do it. There is also an ATM 2 miles from my house that is part of their no-fee network.

Currently I only have checking/saving accounts with them but at one time I had a mortgage and HELOC through them.

The only downside I have to report with them is a few years ago they changed their policy such that the maximum withdrawal from a "shared branch" location is $5,000/day and that includes cashier's checks. They didn't announce or notify anybody of this change and it came as a surprise when I was expecting to get a big cashier's check for a property purchase. They were able to remedy the situation by wiring the amount to the title agency, and they waived the wire fee for blindsiding me, but it was a good reminder that credit unions, not just banks, can keep you from your money any time they want to.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by terracore

I have an account with Alaska USA FCU. I haven't lived in Alaska in 10 years and it's been simple enough to use their web site and phone app for most of my banking needs including online bill pay, etc.

As a bonus they are part of a shared branch network, so the two times I needed to do something in a "branch" I was able to go to a different credit union here in Hawaii to do it. There is also an ATM 2 miles from my house that is part of their no-fee network.

Currently I only have checking/saving accounts with them but at one time I had a mortgage and HELOC through them.

The only downside I have to report with them is a few years ago they changed their policy such that the maximum withdrawal from a "shared branch" location is $5,000/day and that includes cashier's checks. They didn't announce or notify anybody of this change and it came as a surprise when I was expecting to get a big cashier's check for a property purchase. They were able to remedy the situation by wiring the amount to the title agency, and they waived the wire fee for blindsiding me, but it was a good reminder that credit unions, not just banks, can keep you from your money any time they want to.

This is great input. Thank you very much.

Oddly, the problem you noted above that you had with Alaska USA is very similar to two of the ones I had with MAC. I was to be receiving a cashier's check for just under $5k so I called to confirm that there would be no hold on the funds, and as a cashier's check, there shouldn't be. They confirmed that casher's checks are guaranteed funds and are just like cash, so no holds, no problems. When I went to cash the check, suddenly there was a two week hold on the funds that they had no reasonable explanation for, except they were calling it a "withdrawal," which it was not. I was supposed to have been buying a pickup that day, so it mattered, and we're sorry but there is nothing we can do to help you.

I discussed the previous problem with them and thought I had this issue sorted out. I was going to be buying a home and needed this sort of issue to not be duplicated. We'd supposedly gotten everything figured out, so I had all of my house money in MAC, then when I needed it, suddenly I could not access it and we're sorry but there is nothing we can do to help you.

The completely and totally bizarre part is that it turned out I could write myself a check (the least secure method of funds transfer there is besides carrying an armful of one dollar bills from one bank to the other) and move the money to my BofA account, but I could not make an electronic transfer, write a cashier's check, or anything else that made 100% more sense. Ya can't make this stuff up.

Looks like the difference is that AK USA makes it right for the customer and MAC just shrugs their shoulders.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by riceme

This is great input. Thank you very much.

Oddly, the problem you noted above that you had with Alaska USA is very similar to two of the ones I had with MAC. I was to be receiving a cashier's check for just under $5k so I called to confirm that there would be no hold on the funds, and as a cashier's check, there shouldn't be. They confirmed that casher's checks are guaranteed funds and are just like cash, so no holds, no problems. When I went to cash the check, suddenly there was a two week hold on the funds that they had no reasonable explanation for, except they were calling it a "withdrawal," which it was not. I was supposed to have been buying a pickup that day, so it mattered, and we're sorry but there is nothing we can do to help you.

I discussed the previous problem with them and thought I had this issue sorted out. I was going to be buying a home and needed this sort of issue to not be duplicated. We'd supposedly gotten everything figured out, so I had all of my house money in MAC, then when I needed it, suddenly I could not access it and we're sorry but there is nothing we can do to help you.

The completely and totally bizarre part is that it turned out I could write myself a check (the least secure method of funds transfer there is besides carrying an armful of one dollar bills from one bank to the other) and move the money to my BofA account, but I could not make an electronic transfer, write a cashier's check, or anything else that made 100% more sense. Ya can't make this stuff up.

Looks like the difference is that AK USA makes it right for the customer and MAC just shrugs their shoulders.

The other bizarre part of my experience was that I was attempting to get a cashier's check by going to a branch in person, showing ID, etc.

When I ordered the wire, I called a 1-800 number where all I had to do was give them my account number and answer a few questions. Somebody else could have initiated the wire to their own account using stolen or hacked information, or forced me to order the wire with a gun to my head.

Their process forced the financial transaction to be less secure.

The only possible explanation I can come up with is that cashier's checks, cash, etc are more "out of the system" whereas a wire has complete surveillance of the transaction.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by terracore

The other bizarre part of my experience was that I was attempting to get a cashier's check by going to a branch in person, showing ID, etc.

When I ordered the wire, I called a 1-800 number where all I had to do was give them my account number and answer a few questions. Somebody else could have initiated the wire to their own account using stolen or hacked information, or forced me to order the wire with a gun to my head.

Their process forced the financial transaction to be less secure.

The only possible explanation I can come up with is that cashier's checks, cash, etc are more "out of the system" whereas a wire has complete surveillance of the transaction.

So. Bizarre. You really can't make this stuff up!