Santa Cruz Community Credit Union

My company has an account for 2 years plus and the online banking system is terrible. I cannot believe that this system could even be this horrid. On top of all of this, the incessant problems that come up over and over again is reflective of a management system that is broken. I want to support local community credit unions, but when its this bad over and over again, I’m pulling my company’s money out. They will charge you egregious fees for pulling up online bank statement beyond a couple of months. If you own an online business, don’t bank here.

Is there anything lower than one star?
I am closing my account today. Horrible customer phone service.
They recently changed their online system. I had set up a bank to credit union transfer service. However, after they changed their system, my bank got deleted from my account and could no longer transfer between the two financial institutions. There was no explanation from the Santa Cruz County Credit Union. Even worse, the new system would not let me add my bank again. I was stuck in a foreign country without the funds from the credit union which I needed.
Upon my return I called the account services. A rude and clueless person spent ten minutes wasting my time and when she could no longer help me, she hung up. Calling back puts me in an unending loop of frustration.
Enough. Never again.

Oh my goodness. With service this bad you’d think they were a bank.

Worst online banking I’ve ever seen. Trying to talk to them on the phone you will get hung up on if the call ever gets through to a person. Horrible location — the only parking is public parking and it fills up very quickly every day. Every person I’ve talked to there has been rude and uncooperative. I’ve been trying for five months to close out a loan but nobody will give me final closing payment terms so I have a THREE CENT charge that shows up every month. This is pretty much the worst institution in Santa Cruz County.

I just met with Member Service Representative Kim Wells and I’m really impressed with her commitment to assist the Credit Union members.

I’m surprised that such a small credit union has telephone customer service on par with Comcast. (The in-​person employees seem fine, but I don’t live in Santa Cruz any longer, so I don’t have the luxury of popping by for a chat.)
Trying to get someone on the phone is challenging. After a few minutes on hold, my call was routed to voicemail. After leaving a couple of messages, I realized that nobody was ever going to call me back.
When was finally able to get a human (4^th try!), they were «technically» helpful but tried everything in their power to resist refunding the fees they charged, even though there was lots of room for doubt about who was at fault. I really did feel like I was talking to a polite brick wall.
In the end, the time spent wasn’t really worth the $ 14 dollars I would have saved had they just given me the benefit of the doubt for being such a trouble-​free customer for that last 8 years.
The on-​line banking system is irritating too.

I like banking here because it’s pleasant to deal with customer service for depositing checks, making transfers and such. Also, two years ago I lost my wallet and they were quick and helpful in their response. I support the local CU mission and love not banking with large shifty lenders. My only criticism is the loan department — they are lackadaisical and don’t seem to want to help (me) qualify for a decent loan despite twenty years as a loyal, responsible member with good credit, excellent references, and steady, secure, solid employment. Went to a different lender and easily qualified for a good, low interest loan.

Do not bank or get a credit card here! You will regret it. They rarely answer the phone and it is a challenge to pay your credit card balance which you can only do without a fee by calling them directly. Also, the Watsonville phone number on the website is a fax number… very irritating to do business with this credit union. Beware!

The agency I work for has a business account here, and it has been one frustration after another trying to work with them. As others have mentioned, it is very difficult to get ahold of someone. They phone frequently goes to voicemail, but messages are never returned, so it’s a bit pointless. They have very stringent limits on the number of daily transactions, and are unwilling to change them for us even though it’s clear that it causes problems on a regular basis.

In taking a required and scheduled disbursement from an IRA, the banks computers took way too much out of the account (even taking out federal and state tax amounts we didn’t want withdrawn and getting those amounts wrong). After weeks and weeks of trying to correct the errors and a letter from the person who does our taxes telling them had overdrawn the required amount and what the accurate amount should be, they have not corrected the mistake (something about «checking with the bank’s software company» which has felt like a stall). We have been working with Mindy, the bank manager on this for almost two full months and have not appreciated her attitude about the mistake (she has frankly told us it is our mistake not the banks) and she does not appear to be able or willing to correct the mistake. They need to fix the problem now and work on customer relations. By the way, two other banks I have spoken with have told me it is up to the customer not the bank’s computer how much is withdrawn in this situation as the customer, not the bank, has to pay penalties if the amount is incorrect. Yes, money will be moved to another bank when the CD matures.

I like that they offer a checking account with no fees. That is my gold standard. I am disturbed, though, that I haven’t been able to log online to their site for 16 hours (starting last night). There is no indication that they are down for upgrade or anything. It’s a bank. They have my money. It is disturbing.

I have a new account and have been very disappointed. They held several checks that I deposited for 9 business days plus weekend days, as I am a new member, even though they were from UCSC and CSUMB. That means that my money was unusable for 15 days. I ended up cashing my paycheck at the bank on which it was drawn and then hand-​carried $ 6000 into the credit union to deposit. Then they informed me that they could basically hold any check they wanted to, no criteria given, at any time in the future without notification. I have never heard of anything like this.
To top it off, because I had money I could access in my savings account, I used their website to electronically transfer money into my checking account when I needed it. Well, as it turns out they have a limit on the number of electronic transfers you can do. When they are done (looks like four times), then if you want your money from your savings account you have to go to the bank to get it. Huh?
I will be looking for another bank.

I have only had positive experiences at this bank. I left Wells Fargo in 2002 because of all the fees they charged, they never stopped me from leaving and I haven’t looked back.
Since being at SCCCU, I’ve had almost no fees charged and it’s always a pleasant experience when I go inside to do bank services. I have a debit and credit card through them, and their credit card is my lowest interest rates out of all my cards. I inquired about a car loan and they were very helpful. I ended up not using them, because the car company had 0% interest, but it was nice to have that as an option.
One instance, I had a hacker take some of my money and went on a WOW spending spree, and SCCCU cleared it off my account within 24 hours and really saved me so that I could pay my bills on time. I’ve had a great experience with every employee, save one robotic woman on the phone (and no it wasn’t Ernestine as far as I could tell!)
I love having a local bank and even though there are less ATMs to use I have definitely saved money over the last 10 years from lower to no fees-​they don’t charge you for using another bank’s ATM what a concept!

A feel-​good local institution, their heart’s in the right place and they’re fine for basic services, but their administrative abilities can be sketchy. My business has banked with them for 10+ years.
SCCCU doesn’t have modern frills like scanner/​smartphone depositing. Usually nobody answers the phone. The last time my credit card expired, they forgot to send a new one. As I write this, their online-​banking site is down and has been for a day.
They only have a few ATMs. They’re part of a no-​fee network called CO-​OP which never seems to have an ATM anyplace I ever am. They don’t reimburse fees from other ATMs. On the other hand, their ATMs are ad-​free and feature inspirational quotes from enlightened persons.
Overall, if you want to support a local business and know your money’s in a happy place, and you don’t mind doing business Santa Cruz style, go for it.

All I need is an account I can make withdrawals from an ATM with, a debit card, and a place to deposit checks or cash in person. I also can live without a wide network of bank-​specific ATMs around town, in the state, nationally, or internationally. [Edit: their ATM cards actually work on a wide network with no extra fee.] If that’s you too, I highly recommend SCCCU. The interior of their bank on Front Street in Santa Cruz is pleasant, the tellers are great, it’s never crowded, and it’s got a refreshingly informal vibe for a bank.

This has been my bank for the past five years and I have never had a complaint. They have friendly tellers and seem to have a strong number of native Spanish-​speaking customers.
With that said, I have never taken a loan from them and so do not know if the other two reviewers have a legitimate concern.
I do enjoy the positive quotations on their ATMs: it is a very «Santa Cruz» touch.

Staff is nice. Some loan officers are well versed in Spanish but lack clarity in English. A communication misunderstanding and me not rereading the contract almost ruined my credit.