USE Credit Union

USE Credit Union, the University and State Employees Credit Union, is the only credit union established specifically to serve the needs of students and employees of the University of California and Cal State University systems. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives that provide the same services as a bank. There is only one branch in Davis at the location listed above. However, USE has ATMs on campus and any Co-op Network ATM (i.e. Golden 1, YFCU, etc.) can be used without a fee. That is over 28,000 free credit union ATMs as well as 7-Eleven ATMs. You can also do in-branch business at any CU Service Center" around the country. You can bank at over 4,000 credit union branches across all 50 states. You can even bank in person at the Golden 1 Credit Union branch since they are member of this network.

You need only be a student or employee at one of the UC or Cal State schools or be a resident of Yolo, Sacramento, Alameda, Santa Clara, or San Diego counties to be eligible to open an account. Family members and cohabitants of current members are also eligible. They offer free checking, free online banking, free online bill pay, free mobile banking, savings, money market, and many other basic financial services to suit your needs. They also have various rewards programs http://www.usecu.org/home/mem/ben, and free use of FinanceWorks, a program that allows you to view all of your finances from other banks in your USE online banking account. The Davis branch tends to have free fair trade coffee in tiny disposable cups for their customers.

USE allows one free overdraft per year. If you overdraft on your checking account, USE will transfer $100 from your linked savings, with a charge of $10 (there are no monthly or recurring fees for this service). Without this linked account overdraft protection, overdraft charges are $28 each. These charges are similar to those at big banks. You can also specify when you open your account whether you would like to simply have your debit card stop working when a charge would cause your account to overdraft.

USE used to provide one free box of checks per year, but as of November 2011 tellers have reported that this policy has ended.

Please note that if your account is inactive for 12 months, that a dormant account fee of $20 will be charged.

The Student Checking Account offers all of the same services as their regular Free Checking account, but with a reduced one-time sign-up fee. Both Free Checking and Student Checking have no minimum balance requirements, as long as you sign up for E-Statements rather than paper statements. If you do not sign up for E-statements, you must keep at least $500 in your account at all times, or pay a $5.95 fee. USE Credit Union would contend that they have some of the best benefits of any bank or credit union: no annual fee credit cards, no cash advance fees, no balance transfer fees, etc. There is a fee for receiving wire transfers, which is unusual for a credit union. However, many other banks in Davis charge for receiving wire transfers. Based on the fee policies and practices of the other banks in Davis, USE is still a very good place to bank with many benefits that for-profit banks do not offer.

This branch can print new and replacement ATM and Debit cards for you in just a matter of minutes. You don't have to wait for a card in the mail like at other places, although this is far from unique.

The staff is very friendly and will remember your name because the Davis branch is not terribly busy, and you can usually get in and out quickly without any problems. Their "866" customer service line is only staffed during branch business hours.

There is no longer a 25 cent charge when using the debit portion of your card, so please disregard that portion of the comment below.

Credit unions are insured by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration). This insurance is just like the FDIC insurance for banks and your money is insured up to $250,000. Your money is just as safe and secure at a credit union as at a bank.

You can scan and deposit checks online to your accounts from any computer with a scanner, as you can with a small number of other banks. However, you have to have had the account open for a while before they let you do this.

You can also deposit checks from your mobile phone by taking a photo. They have apps for iPhone and Android.

They used to have a member referral program (not sure if this is still current): You earn $25 for referring a new member and you can earn up to $150 cash. The new member gets $25 for being referred. Get the form from their website. The new member must deposit at least $100 in the checking account and keep it open for 180 days. The new member can always take the money out later. Remember that membership fees are not being charged during this promotion. link

2007-05-31 16:38:03   I've never known a bank which always has so many staff working the counters. Most times I go in, there are no other customers but always 3-4 counters available. Maybe it never seems busy because the queues disappear very quickly! —KeithBradnam

2008-08-29 15:15:47   USE Credit Union is GREAT. All the employees are super friendly and going in there is always quick and easy and pleasant. I went in today with a pretty strange request having to do with the lease I submitted for address verification when I opened my account last year (See my comment about Acadian Properties - and PLEASE STAY AWAY from them), and Kyle went out of his way to help me out without ever making me feel like I was being difficult in any way. I came in close to tears after being treated like some kind of criminal at Acadian, and USE reminded me that good customer service actually does exist in some places. Kyle was genuine and helpful and competent, and I feel like I can say the same for everyone else I have dealt with at USE also. —shosha

2009-07-22 16:24:07   I have not had bad experiences with the people at the davis branch bank in particular. they do really do their best to get you where you need to be - where I have had trouble is their online banking/actually putting transactions through in the order they occur. It's awful and you can never tell where a fee comes from and which debit/charge/check it should apply to - also, they charge a 25cents fee to use debit no matter what and if you don't use debit you run into the above stated misorder of transactions which most often leads to more fees assessed on their end. all in all, as soon as i can get an account with a different bank i will. I am tired of going to the bank to check on my account and having even the friendly staff at a loss as to tell me what happened and why. —rdknits

2010-02-10 08:21:12   Four months ago USE began charging my account $3 per month, and because I receive quarterly statements I did not realize my account was being charged until three charges had already occured. I called USE to inquire, and was told that the minimum balance requirement had been increased, rendering my balance below the minumum and thus subject to the monthly charge. I was never notified of any change in minimum balance, and needless to say was quite irritated by these under-handed tactics. I requested that USE credit the $9.00 that was charged to my account over the past 3 months and they flat out refused. So long story short, USE has lost my business for life over $9.00 and will never be recommended by me to ANYBODY. AVOID THIS BANK LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!! —Furly707

2011-03-08 15:44:10   USE was my parents' bank and I opened my savings account with them when I was 11, which I've since had for 10 years. I've had nothing but great experiences with them and it makes me glad I don't have to deal with all the bull at the big banks. I've never had to wait more than a couple minutes in line, and 90% of the time I'm in and out within 3 minutes. They even have an on-site card printer so if you need a new ATM card or anything like that you can get it in 10 minutes instead of two weeks. —KBathory

2011-09-13 12:47:51   I have an auto loan with USE and I thought I have been happy with the low interest rate they offered ... well, it is not until now. I just found out I've been charged additional $8 per month approximately for a credit protection plan that we've never agreed to. When I called USE's customer service, they said we signed it on a pre-printed legal form. To cancel it, there is no faster way... I have to mail in a written cancellation to their head quarter address and then it will take 5 business days to process. In the past 22 years, I have always declined credit protection plans and have never been mistakenly charged for it. To USE, it may be legal on paper. However, it is not legal in the customer's mind. —shiaohwong