UMassFive College Federal Credit Union — Local services in Hadley

Only use UMASS 5 if you plan to never leave the immediate area (Hadley, Amherst). That means all you college kids/grad students/professors....stay away.

I opened this account because my family members did also.

The pros are that they are nice. In the branch. Super nice and friendly, and customer service in person is great. The trouble with this model is that it is NOT sustainable. You have to also be good online, remotely, over the phone, etc.

The problems started when I moved. Here is the issue:

I ma not sure what the beef is with technology?

I have never encountered a financial institution that serves a college area (there are 5 colleges and universities in the immediate metro area)that uses technology so poorly. Presumably, a good portion of their members will move and need to use a full service online model.

I am honestly upset that I have accounts with them, and am working really hard to move. Even if it means I have to pay a higher interest rate. It is just not worth the aggravation to work with this credit union that is firmly planted in 1985. You can't pay any of your loans online. The only account you can pay online is their credit card.

The credit card website, doesn't display pending payments. They don't accept e-fax. So to set up EFT or modify it, you have to USE A REAL FAX MACHINE. Yes, you read that correctly. A fax machine. You can also MAIL it. Yes, as in the USPS. Or you can physically enter the branch.

Too bad I am in NYC.

Otherwise, I would love to astral project myself into a branch to manage the most basic of banking functions. Also, please don't ask of their customer service reps a minimally complex question about their transfer process or policies. They will not know the answer. They will become frustrated and ask you to call back. True story. The worst ever. To pay on the phone...they charge you $10.

Yep. That is correct also.

I opened the account 4 years ago...honestly, by now I expect to see at least online payment of loans.

After I was hung up on, by the third someone who didn't know how about ACH, and kept suggesting EFT...a very nice woman called me back and said we can set up ACH, and I can email the forms to you.

SHOUT OUT TO MEGAN!!! She was a shining light in the darkness. Now if only can replicate her...and have her champion technology...

Their computer upgrade has been a disaster. My husband and I have always linked our accounts. He is in the construction trade and is rarely available during the day so I transfer money between accounts and pay his credit card from my checking account.

The new system does not allow for linked accounts so I am unable to pay his credit card from my account online. Additionally, they will not speak to me so the other day he was home early enough to call himself. All I wanted to do was to make his payment, however after waiting for 45 minutes on the phone for the credit card department the person at the CU could not bring up his account to accept a payment over the phone. I got transferred to customer service and had to wait in que again for another 10 minutes. They accepted the payment but charged a $10 fee fir over the phone payment. Apparently I am going to have to do this every month since the accounts are no longer linked. We have initiated a balance transfer to another credit card and will close out this account.

Second issue; I have a small line of credit attached to my checking account. I used some of it the other day and tried to pay it back a couple of days later. I tried to transfer the entire balance to pay it off but it did not calculate the interest so there is a small balance showing owed. I tried to transfer funds to bring the balance to zero and the system will not allow me to do it. I usedto do this all the time but now can’t zero out my balance. Additionally it is showing a payment due even though the system accepted a payment immediately beforehand. So I am now sitting on the phone, in a que so far for another 30 minutes with the phone recording saying I have another 10 to go.

My opinion on your new upgrade; it stinks, obviously I am not the only one having problems or the wait que would not be so long and I am starting to transfer my...

No more. Their online system is just too buggy....I've probably even posted a review before, but, you know, sometimes you have to have the cathartic moment of having an opinion on the internet.... It's awesome that they are a credit union, and I really want to support that. I like having a local bank. They have a credit system that allows you to get certain things for free, like money orders. Most of the clerks are friendly and some of them know what they're doing. But sometimes administrative things take so long and end up costing more because the staff person you're dealing with doesn't really understand the systems well themselves. That's happened more than once. Yes, the manager can solve problems, but only if you know there is a problem -- and only with even more time. Even with those annoyances, I thought I could handle just using it as a basic savings/checking account to have an in-person option. But then -- two things:

1. They are actually not a local credit union when it comes to mortgages; they just send you off to a national lender.
2. Their online system will make you lose your mind. But sometimes you have to log in to their online system...which is inevitably going to funnel you into a kafkaesque maze of password resets, which will inevitably entail having to actually call customer service. I always think, "maybe it's me," except my other banks don't have this problem. I remember the password, or my password manager does, and we're all set. But their system is like a really forgetful guard in a monty python sketch -- a forgetful guard who is really really serious about his job. [All this said -- the long-time front desk person (I'm sorry I can't remember her name right now) is wonderful. Helpful, friendly, competent, all the things. If only she could run the online...