MIT Federal Credit Union

Poor web site, constantly asks to reset password because of «security» (there are much better ways to do this). Poor bank hours. Never return calls. On top of that, they are very quick to flag your account as «dormant», and then you have to jump through hoops with the state of Massachusetts to get the funds back.

Real people reply to my emails within a day. Need I say more?
I am a fan of small banks, especially those that work.
MITFCU is great. The personal attention and customer service I have access to is amazing. They are extremely responsive and helpful. They have a vested interest in your satisfaction.
Not having ATMs around is not a problem, as you can deposit checks at any other credit union or using their mobile app. If you need to withdraw cash, again you can go to your local credit union or use any other ATM. When there is a fee, they will reimburse you for it a few times a month.
I really have no complaints.

LOVE my credit union! Been a member since 98. Good rates, great customer service and no fees. YEAY! Only reason why they don’t get 5 stars is because you can’t get cash. Yes they have an ATM right outside their locations, are part of the SUM network so those ATMS are free and they give you 5 ATM fee refunds a month so I guess that makes up for it but it would be still nice to get your money out like a normal financial institution. Guess MIT is too smart for the green backs…

I have been an MITFCU member for 4 years. I hoped to find a quaint homey bank where they respect their customers and treat each member like they were important. Sadly, many of my experiences have been less than positive. Having said that, the folks in the Student Center branch have always been great, but one person, her name is Pat, at the main office I assume, who answers phones when you call in, is so consistently rude and apparently bothered by having to perform customer service duties that it eclipses the positive feelings I have for the bank. In addition, 2 major errors have occurred, one where I had a mysterious 25 dollar charge from some sort of scam, refunded eventually by MITFCU, and another where they confused my account with someone else’s, resulting in a week long back and forth, again finally corrected by MITFCU. I suppose, banking is what it is, they are in charge, they hold the power in the relationship.

As someone who has gone through B of A, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, and most recently Chase, I can’t say how impressed I am by MITFCU’s policies and service. Their fees for services offered are much lower than that of their competitors and they are incredibly responsive to customer inquiries and feedback. Do not be discouraged by the fact that there are not as many SUM network ATMs, as you get a certain allotment each month to go outside the network with no charge.

They are really very good compared to most banks.
Their service does suffer as a result of the multiple changes they have made to their online banking system. One of these changes resulted in a black mark on my credit report as they accidentally deleted an auto-​payment I had set up for my mortgage.

I’ve been sorely disappointed in the MIT FCU. As an MIT grad student, I signed up happily after getting kind of fed up with my prior bank (Bank of America). I was mostly unhappy with this bank’s service and thought it would be better at the FCU; and at least I wasn’t feeding a giant corporate monster, so it made me feel a bit better.
At first I didn’t mind the drawbacks too much (like you can only use SUM network ATMs which are only to be found in Cambridge/​Boston, and they have only one office where you can actually go to talk to someone). And when we bought a condo, their mortgage services are kind of nice. If you use a realtor through their network, you get $ 2000 back on your closing costs and a variety of other benefits. That’s one star right there.
However, there are a number of issues which suck in a major way. One is their 1990s-​style internet banking website. I mean… COME ON… its 2007! Its archaic, slow, and offers minimal options. They don’t have services like transferring automatically between accounts when one of them goes negative, its a major pain to get a minimal overdraft forgiven (something which most other banks don’t seem to make a big issue out of) and there were bank errors on a few occasions that were very VERY difficult to set right.
After a while it dawned on me that going back to feeding the monster (I never actually closed my BOA account) would put an end to all these inconveniences, without much of any detriment to me. Yes, their customer service people are a little bit smarter than your average BOA person, but when its so shard to get anything done, what’s the difference? So, after having changed all the direct debits etc to MIT FCU, I now changed them all back again to BOA, and I’m living happily ever after.