Naveo Credit Union

REASONS I LEFT NAVEO CREDIT UNION
1. NAVEO has only two ATM machines, one at each branch. You have to pay the other banks ATM fees if you use any ATM not in the SUM network, and most ATMs are not in the SUM network. At $ 3.00 to $ 3.50 per pop, this adds up very, very quickly.
2. NAVEO does not reimburse you for ATM charges. (Salem Five and Leader Bank both offer checking accounts where they reimburse you up to $ 15.00/month for ATM charges.)
3. NAVEO IS SNEAKY. I have banked with them for over 5 years. When they changed their name from CPCU to NAVEO, they switched my no fee checking over to fee checking automatically, without giving me any options and without getting my consent. They never sent me any information about the Naveo no-​fee checking account option, which I would have chosen over the one with the fee had they bothered to ask me. But, they didn’t bother to ask.
While the fee checking account that they switched me to is supposed to have Identity Theft Protection and Cellular Telephone Protection, they never gave me any info on those services, nor did they ask if I wanted them. I get identity theft protection from another company, so I don’t need it.
4. NAVEO does not have detailed information about their checking account options on their website. Leader Bank and Salem Five do. What are you trying to hide NAVEO?
5. While many of the people who work there are nice, they don’t have much power and are not well trained. I was told by one representative that I had to physically go to the branch to change my address. The only day I had time to do it, it rained like crazy. I got there drenched and was told that I could have done it online or via fax.
6. They pretend that they are a caring institution, but as stated above, no one ever asked me about what checking account option I wanted. Another Unilocaler here says that they refuse to refund overdraft charges, which sounds about right.
Do you want to deal with an institution that does things like this to their loyal customers? I decided that I did not. I switched to Salem Five and I experience a level of professionalism and actual caring that I never experienced at all ever with NAVEO. To me, Salem Five (which has a branch in Boston) or Leader Bank (which has many branches in the Cambridge area) are much better options.

Nothing makes me happier then banking with Naveo Credit Union. The recent name change was a great change. They are becoming more inclusive in the community and I love it!
The staff at both branch locations are extremely knowledgable and they welcome me into the branch with a smile every time! Naveo Credit even loves it when I bring my two year old Yorkie for a visit.
Nicolle Medeiros, manager of both locations, has always been able to help me when I had any request and for that I’m am extremely grateful!

This credit union (formerly the Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union) is now known as Naveo (which means sailing ship or navigation). I have been a customer for years. At first there seemed to be an issue as to whether only people from Portugal and Brazil (who spoke Portuguese) could be members, but I managed to get an account and so did my friend.
I had assumed this credit union was friendly to poor working class people like myself and many people I know, but aside from being nice and convenient, the biggest problem is that (1) they have a huge faceless corporate bank manage their credit cards (thus undoing the whole reason for being a credit union), and (2) they are merciless about charging fees and never, ever forgiving them unless it is their own fault, unlike other banks which will forgive a overdraft, etc fee if you explain to them how desperate your situation is. Thus, I cannot say this credit union is all that great, though it is a good place to establish good credit with a personal loan secured and making monthly payments (do this for 2 or 3 years). Banks originally made money solely by investing our deposits for the duration they had control of them. Making money from fees is ethically wrong, and not necessary. The fees exist with the foreknowledge that customers will statistically make mistakes no matter how hard they try not to, so this is unfair.
Also, Coralia is one of the best, most professional, most helpful, nicest bank workers or executives I have ever met in my life. I really appreciate her excellent professional and friendly work at CPCU/​Naveo.

I like the other location better, on Somerville Ave, but this one happens to be more convenient in my drive to and from work. They also have an ATM and a drive-​thru service at this location.
A lot of the people who work at the Somerville Ave location also work at this location. I have had the unlucky ability to find the BRAND NEW tellers at this location almost all the time. Which is fine, but I haven’t really had the time for the learning curve… If I had more time in my day then we could take all the time in the world to do all transactions.
They have parking, which is great. There is also a ton of metered parking right around that area, and a lot around the corner on Springfield Street.