Amplify Credit Union

I have been with Amplify Credit Union for over 20 years, in the past week I have had my debit card shutdown without being notified. I didn't have any knowledge about it until I tried to use my card and it was denied.
Trying to resolve this problem was a nightmare and working with the Amplify Credit Union and the Fraud department was the worst customer experience I have ever had.
Listed below are issues I encountered.
1. My card was blocked 3 times by the fraud department in less than 2 weeks with just 2 transactions which I initiated without anyone sending me a text, email or a phone call to verify if the purchase was valid.
2. At the bank a branch customer service representative could not tell me why this had happened. Nobody communicates and you can’t get answers, no one shares information to help the Amplify employee help the customer. When you call the bank, you get someone at the call center and never the same person and have to recap the whole story over and over again, time lost for the customer and the employee at the bank.
3. The fraud company is not in the United States, their English is hard to understand and you have to ask them to repeat several times. My first call to the fraud center was not successful, they would not talk to me because Amplify Credit Union employee put my wrong birth date in the database which is used to verify you are the card holder. Time wasted again.
4. Every call I made I was told it was resolved and then a few days later my card would get blocked and I had to start all over again. All the issues I encountered could have been avoided if the employee had the skill needed to fully do their job or if they followed through.
Just a few things they didn’t complete properly
a. not closing the previous fraud case when it was confirmed not a fraud
b. not updating the cell phone number in the database after it was given in the previous call
c. properly verifying the data that was put in the database was correct, my birth date was incorrect and the fraud department would not share what was not correct, I had to call several time to get someone to tell me what was wrong and what I needed the bank to update correctly.
d. identifying my cell phone as the default phone number when I asked them to do this
e. enabling notifications if a fraud alert was flagged to validate if I initiated the charge

All the above were mistakes made by Amplify Credit Union employees (preventable mistake after mistake) I spent over 6 hours of my time having to get things resolved that I should never have had to do.
6. Amplify has closed so many branch offices that I must drive 15 or more miles to a branch that is opened. I was told they are shorthanded and cannot hire enough people since Covid. If Amplify Credit Union is having a staff shortage this may be the very reason why as a customer my situations was so hard to get resolved not enough employees with skill .

This Credit Union is not what it was, and I am extremely disappointed and will be leaving when I get things moved to another bank. The worst thing about this whole ordeal is that I have been a long time customer and was never given the opportunity to reach out to upper management or the executive office to share what I experienced to help fix this problem. I question if my request to have all this escalated to top management is being shared. But too late to keep me as a customer.

I have an auto loan with them and miss no payments for more than a year. I've got a 30 day late on my credit report and called them. They said I had not made a payment for 90 days. They threatened to pick up the truck. I was able to produce 2 receipts for the 3 months and they accepted those but because I paid cash on one of my payments I could find no record of it and it still showed outstanding. There was no explanation why only a 30 day late was posted on an account allegedly 90 days late. I could not get the 30 daylight removed although I produced 2 of the 3 payments 1 of which was the most current. Their web site is almost impossible to make a payment on and is down frequently. Avoid them if you value your happiness and credit rating.

DO NOT DO A CAR LOAN WITH THIS COMPANY!! Their customer service is TERRIBLE. I had a 30 day late ping on my credit report. This was during my car loan refi (I assumed it had been paid before my payment was due) and right before my entire loan was paid off. I asked to have them courtesy remove it. Not a big deal. They refused, even knowing my situation and I talked to 3 people, 3 times. No manager ever called me back. Each rep told me I could dispute with credit agencies, and it would get removed. Amplify certified their action instead and my dispute was denied!! This has affected my credit rating by 50 points which is a big deal during Covid and means I can’t get my house refi’d. No empathy or caring whatsoever. Most lenders get it and will do a courtesy removal no problem. Never do business with them!!

Pedantic customer service and they love to charge fees. Save your sanity and bankl elsewhere. I paid off my balance very early to get away from this group.

My parents opened a basic savings account @ Amplify (formerly IBM Credit Union) in 1978 when Dad was transferred from Virginia to Texas. They paid above average interest rates, compared to a bank, @ 7.5% for the basic shares draft saving account. I kept the account open all these years and decided to use it as an "out of sight, out of mind" account as I live back in the Virginias. I have the basic Share S-1 account, currently paying @ 0.15% interest. My Virginia bank basic savings account pays 0.40% interest, so no competition with my current rate. However, end of 2018, Amplify offered a "High Yield" Savings account paying 1.55% interest with the requirement of deposit requirements having to be "new money". No problem with that @ 1.55%. I transferred $2,500 to open the account and set up recurring monthly transfer/deposits to suffice the new money requirement. However, Amplify must have taken to heart the "bait and switch" tactic as I saw the interest rate drop like a rock EVERY Month in 2019. It went down from the initial 1.55% APR to the "new" rate starting in July 2019 @ 0.40%. Geez, same rate that my Virginia Basic savings has "consistently" Paid for over 2 years now. I like consistency, so my answer to this bait and switch? I just transferred the funds back to my Virginia account as my assumption is Amplify will lower the rate once again in August to continue with their bait and switch path. I also cancelled my monthly recurring deposits and reset those up with my First Sentinel Bank Savings Account. I always loved living in Austin Tx , but now feel I made the best move going back to Virginia in my older age. I may actually have some money when I retire by doing business with the banks up in this neck of the woods.
David N. Brown

I have been with this credit union for 25+years. Not sure why the enormous lack of concern when it comes to their customer relationships. It used to not be this way, they were really out there for the people in the early days.

I made a good-sized deposit into my savings at a local branch, and before I could get out the door - I was approached (very awkwardly) by some very junior loan clerk who wanted to talk to me about a new credit card, etc. I declined and went back to work. For weeks I continued to receive emails, etc: "consolidate your credit cards on 0% int rate card; or personal loan"... Well - I replied back to the clerk & began asking questions. Told them I did actually have two high-interest credit cards I would be interested to consolidate. A lot of back-n-forth, but one month into this process - they have run my credit twice and rejected the consolidation. Guess what? My credit score has taken a huge hit.

All this aside, my adult son has also had his account with Amplify (all his adulthood) - he worked for years building his own business, getting investors, crafting business plans - Amplify was so disinterested, and wouldn't even grant him an audience. Do not believe any hook-line-and-sinker on their small Business B.S. He wasted so much time and effort! He ended up with a much better solution, thank goodness.

Fortunately, there are really good credit unions (my preference is to stay away from big banks), and I am moving all my accounts to one of Amplify's competitors effective April 1. Not that Amplify will give one crap, but its the principle. Amplify sucks rocks!

i got my amplify account at the parmer branch way back in 2011. they gave me some money to start the account.. my account was hacked in 2012 and it took about 12 days to get my funds replaced. today i see that they transferred funds from my checking account without my consent. the customer service has been confrontational when resolving my issues the past 2 years or so. i would not refer or recommend anyone to this organization.

Back when I lived in Texas, I was a member of Amplify Credit Union. They were very good and I had no problems with them at all. No crazy unnecessary fees or poor customer service. In fact, they were very friendly when you go in there, they even called me by my name when I came in. I'm not sure why but it really makes you feel welcome when that happens. If I still lived in the area I would definitely still be with them. No complaints whatsoever.

I had this card several years ago to help me build up credit. These guys are amazing! Everything was uncomplicated. It was a huge coup for my credit score! Not only that but in general supporting credit unions instead of major banks just feels better. It feels more like you're actually part of something for the people, not just feeding the beast. They're also really personable -- I've only been to one event but I know they have law parties on a regular basis.
The only thing that I could see being bothersome is the lack of dividers between tellers. It's just kind of like one long counter. I never handled large amounts of money there but I could see how that might make you feel kind of vulnerable.