First Financial Credit Union

All I can say is… why bother? Don’t be fooled by the low interest rates because there are many ways First Financial likes to screw you over. For one, I have gotten my money deposited in the completely wrong account. Yes you read that correctly, they do not even bother to see if they deposited in the correct account. And of course they are not open on the weekends and there is no 24 hour hotline number you can call so I was left screwed for almost 4 days. Top it off with no convenient ATM locations and a whack ass online banking system. I would recommend Chase any day over this sad excuse for a banking institution as there is way better customer service, 24 hour support, convenient ATM’s, no bullshit. Please stay far away.

Yes, I used to be with a big bank– the biggest one probably, with the red, white & blue logo… but their incessant fees and their selling my home loan to some other entity finally drove me away.
I had some prior experience with First Financial at their Wilshire branch. The car loan was a great rate and, although I didn’t buy a hybrid the last time, they offered 1% more off your loan for a hybrid purchase. I thought that was cool. A good first impression.
So when it came time to leave the big bank, I found this location, which is close to one of my work sites. Very friendly and personal service. They make an effort to remember you. It’s never crowded or stressful.
Since it’s a credit union, you can use your ATM card at any 7 – 11 or at another credit union. They have online banking too, of course. They offer auto loans and home loans. The only glitch I’ve run into is that you can’t get a print out of your account activity at their ATM. This can only be done in person or online. But, overall, I’m saving big money from those ridiculous fees I used to be charged. First Financial only charges you a once yearly overdraft fee– that’s a lot of extra in my pocket!

Walk away from this institution. No, run. Run super fast and super far away. I have just filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against First Financial Credit Union. They engage in unethical lending and they cannot execute the simplest of financial transactions.
A couple issues off of a vast and varied complaint list:
— You cannot make online payments. If you’d like to pay your credit card balance online you are out of luck. If you’d like to make a payment over the phone, you are going to be charged a huge fee.
— Why would you tie up your checking with them? They have no ATMs and no convenient locations. Furthermore, the locations have hours that don’t accomodate anyone with an actual job. So, there is really NO way to do your banking.
— Don’t even bother trying to call them. They have hung up on me repeatedly.
— Don’t even bother trying to use their online secure messaging system as I have sent over 5 and not received a single response.
— When you do go into the brick and mortar locations because you’ve given up trying to accomplish anything online or by phone (in 2015) be prepared to be pelted with sales pitches for a used car loan, a new car loan, another credit card, small loans, checking accounts, savings account, etc. I’ve never been pressured SO hard to participate in SO many programs in one setting.
— When at long last you’ve had enough and you would like to pay off your credit card and transfer the balance to another card (Chase for instance) they will return the balance transfer several times and claim they never got it — even though Chase will tell you it was returned by someone at FFCU. When you finally get everyone on the phone to try to work it out, FFCU will blame the other and will tell you they are on your team trying to correct the other institution’s mistake. When you ask them why you were hung up on by FFCU and why no one every responded to messages, they will «have to look into that» for you. It has been over 3 months that I have been trying to get my balance transferred and they will not transfer my balance. They clearly don’t want to lose the account, but it is completely unethical to not accept funds to pay off my account.
STAY AWAY.

New customer, but my mom has been a customer for years. Anyway I love this place!!! Always so quiet when you walk in and there is always someone to help you.
They set me up with my first debit and credit card. And because I’m a student I get free checks for life for signing up !
The whole selling point is. .. They helped us find me a car!!! A new 2013 Honda Civic Sedan with 1,300 miles and was $ 16,400. Practically a new car and the place we went to had the nicest people!!! Highly recommend First Financial!

…and done. They went downhill again, waited 5 days to take money out for my loan, and got a $ 35 non transfer fee. If they took it out when they should have, my other charge would not have gone through, so I could’ve avoid not having enough funds. This is not my main bank account so I don’t look at it ²⁴⁄₇.
Other places don’t require automatic payments, like Statefarm, and I still get a lower APR. Bye First Financial.

There is usually only one teller and on pay day it can take forever to get through the line. They are friendly and the rates are decent.