VyStar Credit Union Checking Accounts

The worst bank I've ever had. I've waited three weeks for my debit card to come in the mail. When I call them, they can't help. I go to the branch and am told I have to wait 30 minutes. I call again; this time, they say there's an alert on my account. That's because a representative from their bank asked the wrong question, so I gave the wrong answer. I will be canceling my account and I highly recommend any bank but VyStar Credit Union.

This VyStar closed a 100% disabled veteran's account, which had a balance of over $5,000 in savings and $8,000 in checking, and left him stranded in northern Michigan with no way to access his funds because they sent a check to his Lake City, Florida address. Despite informing them of his travel plans before leaving Florida, his account was closed. To make matters worse, all his bills were automatically withdrawn from VyStar. This disabled veteran did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, the situation worsens as his military disability and Social Security payments, both direct deposits, are now in limbo due to the account closure. One might query Terry Ratzlaff as to why she would intentionally do this to a veteran.

It must be added that St. Jude's Children, Shriners, Folds of Honor, and Tunnels to Towers also suffered, as their monthly donations were auto-generated from this account.

My husband and I have been with VyStar for about 15 years. We've had two auto loans, a line of credit, a HELOC, credit cards, and our last mortgage with them, all paid in full. We've also had our business accounts with them, and on average, we had about six different accounts open at one time, including our retirement accounts. We've never had a late payment and used them for all our banking and loan needs over the years. To say the least, we were very loyal members. We used to love VyStar for their outstanding customer service. They made you feel valued as a member. But with the new changes they've made, and the fact that they are growing too quickly, in my opinion, they have become more like a conventional bank in recent years, and we've had nothing but issues.

I understand that growth and progress are important for a company, but they've gotten away from what matters with their members and care more about making money. One of the biggest issues we've had is with terrible customer service. The banks stopped conducting many transactions in branches, so now that you have to call the call center, the wait times have increased significantly. The biggest customer service issues I've had, though, have been with their loan officers while trying to secure a loan for a new build. These loan officers are "working from home" but never seem to be actually home when you call during normal business hours. We were given incorrect information on multiple occasions, or they were not communicating vital information at all, which negatively affected our loan process. They were always forgetting to return emails and phone calls to answer questions we had, and we were having to resend emails and texts with the same information repeatedly because they would forget or misplace information. There were inconsistencies with information given by different loan officers altogether. They also made us jump through unreasonable hoops with property we own outright when no other bank or credit union we spoke to required us to do the same. In fact, the property appraiser and land surveyor had never heard of the requirements VyStar was requesting in their 30 years of experience.

We've had them fail to send out expired debit card replacements and then not allow us to get a replacement printed inside a branch, so we had to wait another ten business days to receive a new card. We've had issues with wire transfers while trying to purchase land, being given a confirmation letter that the transfer took place in a branch, but it was never actually initiated. They incorrectly reported to the credit bureaus that we were a year late paying off our last mortgage when we sold our house. I had to provide documentation that they originally sent me, proving we paid our mortgage off as soon as we closed on the sale of our home. We've had ongoing issues with their online banking system after they made changes. The list goes on and on. After much consideration, we were so discouraged by the constant mistakes and lack of customer service, especially trying to secure a new construction loan with them, that my husband and I decided to pull all our accounts and money and go to another credit union. Sadly, VyStar is no longer a member-oriented credit union.

The bank consistently has issues with mobile banking and other matters related to your own money. The customer service team has no answers regarding disputes and only advises waiting 30-90 days to receive your money back.

I did my brother's tax return and had the funds deposited into my account. This is because my brother is hearing impaired and doesn't understand a lot when it comes to matters like this. In addition, he experienced fraudulent activity with his bank account. I went to withdraw the money to give to my brother so he could catch up on bills. The manager at the branch treated me as if I were a criminal, instead of trying to assist me. I could have easily brought my brother with me and shown all documentation to prove that I wasn't lying. As a result, they flagged the transaction, and it was sent back to the IRS. This was on the 7th of April, and it's May 1st, and my brother still hasn't received his money. I'm so done with this bank.

I’ve banked with this company for 25 years and they are absolutely terrible. I’ve had many other banks during this tenure and I’ve noticed they have the worst customer service and support of any of them. They can’t take deposits from Coinbase, they charge insane fees, and when you have to call them up; after waiting 20-30 minutes for a real person to speak to they put a person on with no background or formal training for the job. True McDonald’s cashiers and cooks running a bank. Sickening to say the least. Please bank elsewhere.

VyStar isn't a good place to bank with. They notified me 24 hours later after several fraudulent transactions had taken place. By day two, they canceled my card, leaving me with no way to make my online rental payment.

Why inconvenience me like this? Why wait a whole day before telling a customer someone tried to hack your debit card? You guys are a joke.

Let's talk about how you unknowingly ran my credit without my permission when I came in to do a secured card. At least tell me that's what you're doing and let me decide if I want a hard inquiry on my report for two years. Talking about it'll fall off... yeah, in two years.

Terrible Online Experience and More!
Every time I need to use Zelle, it mysteriously disappears from the usual menus. After waiting on hold for over 14 minutes and enduring a security check that felt like something out of an NSA interrogation, the only response the poor representative could provide—after consulting Vystar's tech department—was, "It's a known issue. We suggest deleting and reinstalling the app."
Side note: I say "poor representative" because she had to endure my justifiably angry complaints. Under normal circumstances, being told to delete and reinstall an app is frustrating enough. But when you're in a rush to send money, it's absolutely infuriating!
On top of that, since day one, I have never been able to reach someone directly at the Lake Mary, FL branch. Every single time, I'm forced to leave a message and wait for a callback.
Simply awful experiences all around!

This bank withdraws money from your accounts without permission, even though we have a ten-day grace period to pay after the due date. Then, they charge people a transaction fee, which is unlawful, even from the same bank. I am consulting a lawyer because I have asked this bank not to withdraw any money from my bank account to pay on a credit card or my other loans. I informed them that my dad had passed away and I hadn't worked in over a month. Despite this, they disregarded my situation and took all of my money.

Thanks for all the support I received from Robert Nekrasov, a wonderful team member. Always welcomed with a smile. Thanks again, Robert.