1st United Credit Union

I love 1^st United Credit Union! I have been a member for over 15 years and consider the staff members family! When i walk in to the branch on 5^th street in Alameda, everyone knows my name and knows my situation. I have a son with severe autism, and they, since he was a baby have helped me deal with the extraneous challenges that an autism mom deals with. Simple every day tasks like banking can be overwhelming, and they have always cared with patience and kindness, respect for me and my family. Which to me is enough reason to bank there. They are really great at helping and work very hard to assure people are not kept waiting. I appreciate their service to me and to our community! Ps Sophia is a great manager! Thank YOU!

I am not a member of 1^st united services credit union but I am a member of another credit union.
I want to share my experience and service I received at this particular location few weeks ago.
I was standing in line when I was greeted by a pretty young indian lady named Fay. She asked me how can she assist me. I mentioned to her I need to make a deposit to my account at PATELCO since I don’t have my debit card on me. I was told that 1^st united services is not a part of service center. I was told that there is Patelco few miles from the branch. I told her I am not familiar with the area and I was visiting a loved at kaiser hospital.
As I was about to leave she stopped me and asked if my credit union offered mobile deposit. I told her I am not sure .She asked me if I have mobile app downloaded on my phone for my credit union. I told her yes, she asked me to open my mobile app and showed me the mobile deposit part of the app I was not even aware that my credit union offers mobile deposit. She showed me how mobile deposit works and I used one of the checks to test it. She told me always write the date and mobile deposit on the face of the check. Even though I am not a member I was definitely treated like one.
I asked her if she had a business card, so I can refer some of my friends who lives in San Leandro.
She gave me her business card and she was the manager of that branch. You hardly ever see a manager interrecting with customers in such a professional and helpful way.
Thank you Fay Sadiq for providing me with your service. You made my life easier in terms of banking.

Hands down the best choice for my banking needs. Close to my home and open weekends. My experience was great and needs meet to a tee. Brenda explained everything clearly and it was the best choice I could have made. No service fee and they give you 25.00
to get you started. I only gave her 1.00 to get started.
I now have both a checking and a savings account
with an ATM card. Thanks again Brenda for all your
help and the free credit check. I had no Idea about what was on there.

Stood in line for over 20 min with 2 people in front of me, just to be told to wait to talk with another banker about a car loan. Waited again for another half hour with no acknowledgement. Then I saw one of the bankers leave for lunch… not even a wave… horrible treatment

Probably the worst banking experience of my life. I wanted to support a local company, so I opened accounts here a few years ago. They will charge you an overdraft fee, even if you have a deposit pending. Or they’ll charge you an overdraft fee if someone runs a pre-​charge hold, and doesn’t actually follow through with an actual charge. The wait times at the bank are horrible. They’ll have a really long line and close one of the windows. They are badly understaffed. I switched to an online bank and have been very happy with them. Closed my last account with 1^st US this past weekend and was very relieved to be done with them.

Sigh.
I went here with my family today.
My wife and I both regarded it as a stressful experience (we now have to go to this location because the Union City branch is about to become an ATM-​only location).
This branch is open on Saturdays from 9 – 1 p.m. (my wife and I only did our banking today because we both have the day off).
The Hayward branch is closer to us, but it’s no longer open on Saturdays (I’m starting to lose faith in 1^st United Services).
The parking lot is abysmally small and tight.
There is only 1 way to enter and 1 way to exit.
I’m truly annoyed that a better location for this branch wasn’t chosen (it was a hassle entering and exiting, and my wife wonders how things are on Saturdays– we’re sure that things are worse then).
Returning home was even a pain (after waiting a minute for traffic to clear, my wife made a U-​turn on Dutton Avenue).
(3÷28: 2 spots would have been available had we waited another minute, but my wife and I ended up parking in front of a house about half a block up.)
One of our favorite tellers works here (Franco).
Sadly, though, he wasn’t around (the 2 tellers who were here did a solid job).
There are at least 4 teller stations (modules).
In addition, some tellers from the Union City branch will probably begin working here soon.
If you have to wait to be helped, it’s a little confusing as to where you should stand.
A woman who entered after us basically stood near the wall, as if we were diseased (I just smelled myself and now have a different theory).
You have to wait for a blue light to appear in order to exit (at the Union City branch, you’re only waiting for a blue light in order to enter).
(Maybe they suddenly changed things, as this wasn’t an issue on ³⁄₂₈.)
It’s not a big deal, but I got spoiled by the chairs at the Union City branch (my wife and I usually go up together– if there’s a chair, I’ll sit down while she does her banking).
It was also nice not dealing with bulletproof transaction windows (I guess my life of crime is now over).
The waiting area consists of 3 chairs on the far left (on 3/​28, a boy was killing some time on his phone while the rest of his family was taking out a loan or something).
There’s no area for children (there was a small play area at the Union City branch).
It smells a bit musty inside (my wife noticed this). The building seems older than it actually is.
There are 3 ATMs (1 inside, 2 outside).
All 3 were used while we were here (there were at least 6 other customers around).
«Is there anything else?»:
Our teller made me feel a bit rushed (I felt like telling her that things were going to take a while), but she handled a lot of transactions quickly and accurately (my son now has enough money in his savings account to go to college for a week). Kudos.
We were in a hurry.
The chief financial advisor was around, but he wisely left us alone (I don’t know what he was promoting exactly, but he talked to 2 women around us).
He was nice and professional.
This isn’t a bad branch, but going here will be an adjustment for us.
The parking lot, in particular, is an issue.

I have had the pleasure of having Brenda Smith assist me. She was not only helpful and knowledgeable and very friendly. I arrived there very panicked and stressed out but she was able to assist me very quickly and turned a bad day to a good day. Kudos to the branch!

I have been a member with this credit union for over 20 yrs and the service is awesome. The employees are nice and very patient. They give every member their undivided attention and makes sure all your needs are met…

I have been with 1 united services for many years… I’m extremely happy with the service. And great customer service… I especially love Elaine super nice and efficient.

Elaine was the teller helpin me today and she has helped me in the past and she has always been so helpful. Great service Elaine Thank you!

This is my favorite BANK ever!!! Their service is incredible. The manager Fay is awesome and the staff is great. Always willing to help.

Fay and co. really did a good thing in allowing the Washington School Dad’s Club open an
an account! This location will be super convenient for the school and we are pleased that the CU does so much with SLED. Thanks!

I opened both checking and savings accounts. The process was handled in a professional and timely manner. Brenda Smith handled my accounts process. She was outstanding. Her professionalism, and pleasant manner were terrific.

They have an outdoor ATM, which is convenient but they have a really small parking lot. A-​OK for a Credit Union.

I’ve been with 1^st United my entire life and have always been satisfied with my experiences here. I have both a savings and a checking, and when I was about 17 they sent me my first credit card, with a $ 300 limit. Online banking with them is easy to use and I paid a balance on my credit card seamlessly. This location in particular has friendly staff, and they recently included a security door where the staff has to buzz you in before you can enter. My only problem with 1^st United is that they don’t have enough atm’s available around the bay area, so you can pretty much expect to be faced with atm fees if you’re using your 1^st United debit card at an atm. But other than that, I’ve never experienced any other fees or problems using them as my bank and plan to continue using their services.

SERVICE = I’ll be honest – I go to the Alameda Marina Village branch more often. The service from this location is ok. Not as good as the other branch. The one guy I spoke to about my car loan a couple years ago was nice.
PARKING = They have their own lot but it is very limited on spaces.
*EXPERIENCE* = I honestly am only giving this location 4 stars because I like the bank itself. otherwise, I would probably give this location 3 stars. The place as a whole inclusive of their service, etc, isn’t that great. When they changed the method of entering and exiting the bank, I thought that was pretty cool and it seems like it would be effective with security. As far as the bank itself, I like that I don’t get dinged for extra charges all over the place. Now, please note. I don’t have a checking account – just Savings, CD and Money Market with 1stUSCU.
APR = I got a car loan almost two years ago and it was reasonable. Even the car dealership was surprised at my rate.
CD = Before our economy recently took a dive, my rate was awesome!
MONEY MARKET = I’m happy with it so far.