EastRise Credit Union Reviews 17

we have been with ERise way before when they were NEFCU. Something happened when they merged. Terrible policies now. Examples
1- We deposited a check from a sale of our home and the 85% of the proceeds will not be available for 5 "business" days. Making 7 days for us.
2- if you wish to transfer to external banks your limited to $2500 a day!! Max transfers 6 a month!
3- If you need a statement for the previous month, you wait at least 5 days before you can download it!
4_ As other stated smoke n mirrors verbiage when it comes to saving accts.

I'm done and moving my money out as soon as possible. I am guess they will slow roll that process as well. Bank elsewhere if possible

Teaser savings interest rate. They promise 5% but only on a small balance. The more you invest, the lower the rate they provide!

i have a very small account with them that was opened in connection with an auto loan in aug 2021. it was 2 year loan and duly paid off in aug 2023. because it was only $25 i did not use the account. i attempted to ask for a refund of my account. i tried to set-up my online account but learned that because they had "inactivated" it, i could not set up an online account. they then attempted to send me an email to validate but their email was locked and i could not open it. they recognized my account when i phoned in because my phone number is connected to my account. they asked me numerous questions which i answered. but they will not give me money back unless i drive over 1 1/2 hours to their closest branch. the total is $26.60 and it is utterly ridiculous to do this. i am a cpa and know all about materiality and this certainly qualifies for that threshold where the downside risk is practically nil. if they cannot figure that out for a transaction this small, i shudder to think what would happen when the numbers get big. big thumbs down to these people for being able to "think outside the box". choose another bank, like community bank.

Don't consider using EastRise, formerly the Vermont Employees State Credit Union. They are flat out terrible. As a member for 43 years, they have repeatedly been outrageous in terms of customer service. I made the mistake of believing each incident was an anomaly and eventually realized that is not the case. They refused to work with us on better rates for loans, refused to listen to explanations regarding credit rating, told us to borrow from our own money, and the list goes on. Truly unbelievably bad service consistently with most recently we were looking for a good rate for half a million dollars we had and wanted to park in a CD. When they talk about customer service, it DOES NOT EXIST. They straight up told us that having been a customer for 43 years did NOT factor into their decision making, even going so far as to accuse us of seeking special favor because of this! When we sought a car loan recently, they refused to consider the fact that we had always paid back our previous loans on time and fully. Didn't count for anything! Nor did the fact that we owned our own home mortgage free. It just goes on and on. And, even after our most recent experience centered around our cd inquiry and after we wrote them a long letter explaining our various and all BAD experiences and that we wished to close our accounts, NO ONE bothered to call us, they immediately closed us out of our account internet access, sent us a check and never even took the time to thank us for our 43 years of being customers. In short they SUCK and I would not ever consider recommending them to ANYONE for banking needs. The coop mantra of friendly, personalized and community centered banking is just plain bull shit. They are now, especially after their ill-fated merger to EastRise today, just a big bank with horrible customer service and only looking out for their bottom line. Go elsewhere.

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I dont really like working with east rise. My check has been deposited by my job. Any other will depoist my work paycheck right away. East rise won't do it because its dates for the 20th. Its why I will not use them again and ha e changed banks. My new bank has always released payment the day of even if its dated for two days later. Why? Because they know its gonna go thru being a payroll check. Alot people at my job said that's the same reason they switched. They also charge you a fee of $30 on a check or over draft of a debit card even if they don't pay it out. Not the type of bank for me. Seems its more for those who don't live paycheck to paycheck. Super thumbs down for east rise.

East Rise has gone out of its way to be the most inconvenient bank in all my experience. After providing Power of Attorney documentation as well as verifying myself with multiple IDs, and proving I am my husband’s Representative Payee for disability social security, and providing address verifications they are requiring me to ADDITIONALLY sign and notarize a document stating that I am his attorney-in-fact. We had to move to Canada (because they provide in-home care). In Canada there is no free notary service. I would have to pay $40 plus mailing fees to get access to his account which has less than $500 in it, and hasn’t been touched in 4 years.
This is an abusive bank. They will have this $500 until I am able to get back to Vermont and go in person- maybe I will also have to bring in my disabled husband who is paralyzed and cannot speak. The trip back there is 9 hours from here.
All other banks have given me access to my husband’s significant investment and retirement accounts without this abuse.

I have a Solar loan with these folks of which I pay a handsome amount of interest upon. I pay via ACH/Auto payment out of my BUSINESS account ( home business ) which EastRise help me setup. This past Dec 2024 the loan changed because of taxes and They stopped auto payment and then never told me. They did attempt to call me twice without leaving a reason for the call on the VM. I called back and left them a VM asking why they called. last week ( it is now late Jan 2025 ) they called and I was able to answer and found out that I was delinquent on my loan for Dec. AND for Jan ... AND that both would be reported to the Credit Bureaus as delinquent. WTF??? They could have emailed me OR left me a voicemail STATING that there was an issue with delinquency on the loan. Or maybe a letter stating that they need to rework the ACH payment method Or maybe a letter back in Dec. stating that they missed a payment and why?? This is how the other 2 Credit Unions I work with handle these types of issues. NOT EASTRISE! It is not my issue that they can no longer TAKE ACH/Auto payment out of the account, BUT I AM THE ONE WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT VIA MY CREDIT SCORE Because they did such a $h!t job communicating. BS!! What is worse is their attitude about it...Like oh we left you a VM saying to call us. To which I did. I had no IDEA why they needed to speak with me. It could have been a sales call for all I know. THE OTHER CU's would always tell me the nature of their call in a VM and would bend over backwards to let me know if there was an issue with the account!! NOT EASTRISE. Furthermore they ARE NOW telling me that they can't use a business account for a personal loan. WHY??? It was perfectly acceptable to do so last year ??? They set it up as such know full well that it was a business account they were drawing said payments from. GARBAGE. Since the start of this entire process with these folks I have not been impressed with their customer service and they were ball busters on interest rate. If you are looking for a CU avoid EASTRISE.

Small business go anywhere else. These people don't care about you they want to take your money not help you grow it. I wish I knew this bank would become the McDonald's of banks as soon as I switched to them. I should have stayed at Opportunities. Now I'm stuck with these skeezballs until I figure out how to cut ties.

We received a fraud alert for $0. My husband’s card. I called to confirm it was a transaction that was never completed. My husband called cause it was his card. They told him to release the hold on his card himself. Spoke with a supervisor Edward who not help me and stated my husband had to call. As of now 2 calls from me and 2 from him. Still waiting to get the hold released. The call hold time, each time gets longer. Been with Vsecu and NEFCU for years. Separately they were great credit unions. Now it’s frustrating to say the least.

When FEFCU and VSECU merged they told us it would be great for us (customers). It has been anything but. Before the credit unions merged, I would never wait on hold with VSECU. Since the merger, the wait is routinely 4-5 minutes. I travel to England quite a bit to visit family. I always call VSECU and tell them the dates and the country, and my ATM card always worked. This most recent trip it did not. I called from overseas and they said stop in and get a new card. It would be quite easy they said. When I returned I stopped in. The teller said it would take 10 - 15 minutes. I said great, I will got to the store and stop back. Thirty minutes later I stopped in and new teller said they had no record of a request but if I could wait 15 minutes they would get me one. How much money was spent on trying to get the merger through and now the rebranding. Will be leaving this credit union as soon as I can get accounts set up at another one.

In the last year this CU has gone downhill to the point where I'm actively looking for a new CU. 33 years with them and if not for my mortgage I would be gone already. Their on-line billpay is unreliable. 1 out of every 6 payments just doesn't get paid. When I call to tell them they have a problem I'm told that I never even signed on. When I try to show them a screen shot of the conformation they just say they can't receive it.

The line is so long now that people give up and leave without being helped. When calling up members are often rerouted to a who knows where answering service who can't help. When you are promised someone who can help will call back within 24 hours nobody calls.

I am so distraught with the changes since the merger. I went to the bank the other day, to withdraw money from my power account, which I have done many, many times, only to find out that I can no longer withdraw money from my power account. I went to put money into my granddaughters account today and I wasn’t able to transfer the funds. I’ve been transferring funds into her account for five years now. I’m just disgusted. The merger has ruined everything. I’ve been with NEFCU since the IBM days and I’m ready to leave and go elsewhere.

I have been an account holder since the IBM Credit Union days...more than 30 years. Up until Oct/Nov 2023 I would have highly recommended. Since the merger with VSECU the experience and the service at this institution has plummeted. The web interface could be argued to have improved, but loan servicing has become impersonal, rigid, and frustrating. Even in person you have to get past the wall of automation. Asking a teller for anything has them having you enter all the information on your own anyway.

Another interesting anecdote going to withdraw cash after hours from an ATM with a newly issued card (because of the merger), having the machine give an error as if the card did not work, then during business hours the next day being told it was because the ATM was out of cash and would not be filled until the next day. The employee asked if I tried the other ATM next to it...that it had cash. I asked if they might put up a sign on the empty one and was simply told again it would be filled tomorrow.

Not the same credit union of just a few months ago. Shop around.

They are all about making money & could care less about people. Narcissism to the Max! Use local banks-you will be better off!!!

& do not ever work for them. The top few make so much!!! They should pay their employees better. Unbelievable!

They've merged with another credit union and it's been downhill ever since. Money is in the account and card declined, over and over. Fear every time you want to use your card.

I would bank nowhere else. All my banking needs for the past 40 plus years have been nothing short of excellent.

They have the best auto loan rates around. I used them for my car loan and was very satisfied. If you go to them first (rather than to the dealer first) you can get an autocheck. You get approved up to a certain amount and then can negotiate with the dealer and write the dealer the check for the final amount.

They also have other products like a Future Saver Plus 12 month CD which has a higher interest rate. You start out putting at least $25 in and then can keep adding money until the 12 mos. The interest rate was 1.75% last I checked but I bet it will go up b/c of the fed hiking rates.

They have a decent number of ATMs (and use the Falcon network for free ATMs and shared branches), and a decent number of branches. Definitely a solid credit union/bank.