Looking for Credit Union Recommendations (Pittsburgh, Millvale: credit card, employment, school)

[Tirade]

PNC's recent announcement that they are ending their free checking account program has finally pushed me to close my account with them and seek out a credit union. However, after hours of research, I'm having problems finding a local credit union that I'm both eligible for *and* accepts paper checks (no direct deposit). Here is my situation:

• I'm self-employed and have no family in the area. This limits my options as many credit unions base their eligibility upon employer / family members' employer.
  
• I deposit a lot of paper checks every month. I need a credit union where I can go to a physical branch to deposit these checks. Switching to direct deposits is not an option for me.
  

Any recommendations for a credit union in the area that meets these requirements would be greatly appreciated. I know that other banks in the area offer free checking, but I'd much rather support credit union if at all possible.

[doo dah]

Try this site for a start:
America's Credit Unions: Where people are worth more than money.

Search by zip code.

The fields of membership are:

• Company for which you work
• School that you attend or have attended
• City in which you live or work
• Place of worship to which you belong

[steindle]

I use Pittsburgh Central Federal Credit Union on the Northside (right over the 16th St. Bridge), and they definitely meet your criteria. They also have a branch in Wexford.

[SteelCityRising]

Thanks for starting this thread, Tirade, as I, too, am now looking to switch after the announcement. I net nearly $4,000 per month, yet my employer doesn't offer direct deposit, which means PNC, ironically, is driving away decent-earning and regularly-depositing clients like me due to shortsightedness. I can't justify being "punished" by paying PNC nearly $100 per year for a diminishing array of services due to a circumstance beyond my control.

As if I needed another reason to hate this evil corporation...

[greg42]

Pittsburgh Central, Clearview or Riverset are the main ones I know of that are not tied up to any particular employment groups. You can join these just by living and/or working in area. But are you saying one or more of these won't let you have an account without some kind of direct deposit? I didn't think that was the case, but I haven't opened one yet so don't know for sure.

Which one is useful in your case will depend upon where you live or are frequently near, so you can get to a branch. One or two of those (not Clearview) actually allow ATM access via PNC's ATM network, which is handy because you get a lot of free ATMs that way, but that doesn't sound like it will be quite as critical to you. Clearview has the most branches but if one is not convenient then that really doesn't help.

I'd also like to give a shout out to Huntington Bank, which I've found to be welcoming. If you open an account there first look for a special offer; they're usually giving out free money for opening accounts and meeting certain conditions. Dollar is pretty good too although on a personal issue that they were inflexible about I have soured and switched all my day to day stuff to Huntington (who actually address the specific issue I had with Dollar).

[Bong477]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Thanks for starting this thread, Tirade, as I, too, am now looking to switch after the announcement. I net nearly $4,000 per month, yet my employer doesn't offer direct deposit, which means PNC, ironically, is driving away decent-earning and regularly-depositing clients like me due to shortsightedness. I can't justify being "punished" by paying PNC nearly $100 per year for a diminishing array of services due to a circumstance beyond my control.

As if I needed another reason to hate this evil corporation...

PNC checking will still be free if you have an *average* balance of $500 a month. Obviously not everyone is capable of meeting this, but it shouldn't be all that hard either if you are an adult with a steady job.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Bong477

PNC checking will still be free if you have an *average* balance of $500 a month. Obviously not everyone is capable of meeting this, but it shouldn't be all that hard either if you are an adult with a steady job.

Thanks. Yeah, I just found this out. I was under the initial impression that you would need direct deposit to keep the account free, judging by what I had heard from other sources. I will have no trouble keeping a $500 average balance, barring an unforeseen financial emergency.

[LIRefugee]

Anyone who is thinking of closing an account with PNC because it is ending "free" checking (nothing is ever really free), should keep this in mind:

Originally Posted by PNC Bank

There is no monthly service charge for Virtual Wallet if you meet any ONE of the following requirements:

- $500 in combined, qualifying monthly direct deposits* to the Spend account

- $500 combined average monthly balance in the Spend and/or Reserve account

- Use of only ATMs, online banking, mobile banking or other electronic methods to make withdrawals, deposits, cash checks or obtain cash

- Proof of active enrollment in an educational institution (monthly service charge waiver expires 6 years after it is assigned).

Otherwise, the monthly service charge is $7.

Other than the balance/deposit requirement or the student exception, you can avoid the fee if you never conduct any transactions involving an actual human being.

[Bong477]

Also, it's not uncommon for credit unions to also have requirements to retain no fee checking... either minimum dollar amount relationships or direct deposit.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

Other than the balance/deposit requirement or the student exception, you can avoid the fee if you never actually conduct any transactions involving an actual human being.

It's actually amazing how many Pittsburghers are technologically-illiterate, though. When I was a financial consultant with PNC I'd routinely try to encourage people to deposit their checks at the ATM outside our front door because then the first $100 of that check would be immediately available for withdrawal if they needed it (and more often than not people were in dire straits). I can't tell you how many people would refuse my offer of escorting them out to the ATM to demonstrate how to deposit their check but then would also expect me to make a portion of their check immediately available at the teller window after depositing it for them the "old-fashioned" way. That wasn't possible. Either utilize new technology or be left behind is what I wanted to say to people sometimes. I deposit both cash and checks in the ATM now in a matter of a few seconds---very convenient.

The only time I ever walk into a bank now is to get a roll of quarters for laundry or parking meters (which I wouldn't need if Pittsburgh's meters wouldn't force a minimum of a $1 charge to a debit/credit card). I'm also planning to walk into the Millvale branch soon to upgrade my account and apply for a credit card simply to give the one employee some incentive points towards a bonus that otherwise would go to nobody if I did both online.