Western Federal Credit Union


Country United States
State Aruba
City Manhattan Beach
Address PO Box 10018
Phone 877-254-9328
Website https://www.western.org

Western Federal Credit Union Reviews

  • Jul 17, 2014

I have to complain about these non-sufficient fund fees that banks so easily, frivolously and arbitrarily charge consumer bank accounts.

I signed up with Western Federal Credit Union because I was fed up with all the fees imposed by other banks. Especially of concern is the practice of letting you 'borrow' their money so that your charges won't bounce. Then there is a non-sufficient fund fee, which, in many cases, turns out to be more than the actual transaction because one charge cascades into many since you are charged fees of at least $30 daily.

Also, once the first charge is withdrawn, it upsets every check and automatic bill pay that subsequent non-sufficient fund fees are a guarantee.

Sure you can pay for overdraft protection, but again, there is a fee.

So when I signed up with Western Federal Credit Union I made it clear that I wanted to 'opt out' of any overdraft protection and any overdraft 'borrowing'. I told them to just decline the transaction if there were insufficient funds. This is the way banking used to be decades ago. If you didn't have enough money, the transaction was just declined and the customer and merchant had to work things out without any interference or complications as a result of involving a bank.

Now I find that if a transaction does not complete or if a check does not pass, I am charged a non-sufficient fund fee anyway. This is actually a fine (not a fee) and I question their right to fine me for honest mistakes, bank holds imposed on deposits or decrease of income. Again, the fines tend to cascade until all written checks and auto bill pays are interrupted and all the funds in the account are depleted.

Shouldn't banks be working hard to keep your money in your account rather than aggressively taking everything so that they can move on to the next victim and repeat the same arbitrary fines again?

If this is legal, then the law needs to be changed. Additionally, since this is a credit union, I am a shareholder and insist that this practice be stopped.

I insist that the bank do more to reduce fees/fines and consult the customer first before imposing them. They need to receive clearance or permission before emptying a bank account and interrupting all the other transactions.

This type of practice is emblematic of predatory business and government actions affecting the financial decline of our entire middle class.

Is it any wonder no one trusts banks, our government, and large corporations?

The public is not a source of revenue to be extorted and used like ATMs toward providing a lavish lifestyle for the richest one percent of the population.

Every time a wealthy entity needs more money, it just raises prices or imposes more arbitrary fines and fees upon a middle class whose income is not increasing but decreasing. And their income is decreasing because these same entities continue to reduce wages affecting middle class workers across the nation.

These predatory and aggressive practices against honest, hard working people has got stop.

Write a Review about Western Federal Credit Union