Avadian Credit Union

Here is the real deal:
AL Teco Credit Union has a lot to offer. Good service. Personal attention to your account and needs. Banking officers willing to work with you and adjust the rules for common sense and human happenstance. In other words, They are aware that you and I live in the world of real life. Of course they have free checking and the lowest rates for most banking services and products. I have experienced the same quality of service as both a private checking and a small business customer.
All that said, they have one disquieting flaw. And it isn’t a small one. Currently AL Telco has no way to process deposits during the standard banking day ahead of debit transactions. Put another way, if you have a pending debit transaction in the automated cue, it will be triggered and recorded at the start of the banking day. Typically this happens around 7:30am. At present, Al Telco has a non-​automated deposit drop box. This box is emptied and processed around 10:00am on most days. I think you see where this is going. The point is that if you find that there is a debit pending the day before it drops and you have missed banking hours, there is literally no way to deposit cash ahead of that draft. Given that at any other bank with an ATM, you could deposit cash or check and have that amount recorded and processed at the time of deposit (assuming the deposit is valid of course) and have it recorded ahead of the debit the following day. Many if not most banks now offer deposit at home via a scanner or smartphone. Not so Al Telco. And I fear it is by design.
Banks have differing policies about when drafts are processed with respect to deposits. There is no law regarding this but most larger banks will try to process all deposits ahead of drafts and will certainly check cash drops ahead of starting the banking day — this benefits the bank as well as the customer for a number of reasons. The problem is that the fees and penalties with automatic overdraft protection and balance transfers become expected and relied upon as daily revenue. Bad plan.
So I have mixed feelings about Al Telco. It is a proactive and customer oriented Credit Union with a truly personal touch. On the other hand, they seem to gear their entire deposit structure with an eye toward preserving and collecting as many overdraft fees as possible while offering the consumer few if any tools to prevent them. So bank with caution and check your balance daily. Also note that pending transactions do not always show up in your online summery and the low balance alert is buggy.
I’m torn here because I really want to like AL Telco but I fear I have found their hidden customer unfriendly face.

I’ve been a member of another credit union in town for years. About a year ago, I began looking around. A few friends pointed me in the direction of ALATELCO. From day one, I noticed a difference in their over all service. The two small loans I have with them took minutes to set up.
The best part is the online banking. It’s super easy to check my accounts and move funds from one to the other.
If you’re looking for a new place to keep your money, I suggest ALATELCO.