Bank of America

[Easy180]

It's interesting that Bank of Oklahoma was mentioned, they're the ones that turned me off banks, and this was years ago. At the time, I had an account there, as well as an account at a credit union (I forget which one at the time, but it was probably Tinker). I had direct deposit with my employer set up, with some going here and some going there, and I noticed something funny. Payday on Friday, but the funds that went to the credit union showed up on Thursday. The funds that went to Bank of Oklahoma showed up sometimes Monday, sometimes Tuesday. No, not related to any holidays, this was normal. It was either Monday or Tuesday. My inquiries were answered with "that's just the way we do it", to which I replied "well it isn't the way I do it".

Now, turning the topic back to Bank of America, you couldn't pay me to have an account there. Thanks to their part in the big financial meltdown almost ten years ago and then holding their hands out for the lion's share of the government bailouts, I honestly can't decide who wins the award for bigger bastard, them or Wells Fargo. The last time I felt this way about two companies it was SWB vs AT&T, and SWB settled the matter by buying the AT&T name.

I work in the exciting world of ACH so wanted to provide some details behind these transactions. Your employer includes the Effective Date in their file. This is the requested posting date for the transactions. The Federal Reserve then establishes the Settlement Date based on the requested Effective Date and when they receive the file. If it is in time the Effective Date = Settlement Date and all is good in the world.

In most cases ACH is next business day processing so if your employer transmits today with an Effective Date of tomorrow then credit union and bank would show pending tomorrow. With that said the Federal Reserve accepts credit files two business days in advance of the Effective Date. That is when the actual postings by the credit union and bank may differ as the Fed will establish the Settlement Date but go ahead and release to the institution. Most institutions would not post the credit one business day in advance but they are given that option. That sounds like what the credit union was doing.

Either way the receiving financial institution is required to either post that transaction on the Settlement Date (assuming account info is correct and no restrictions are on the account) or return it the next business day. They are not allowed to delay the posting unless there are posting restrictions on the account.

Exciting stuff

[Teo9969]

I have payroll distributions to both Weokie and Chase. Payroll is processed on Wednesday and I always have my Chase distribution available on Friday. Sometimes my Weokie one is available sometimes on Thursday and sometimes Friday.

[shawnw]

Non-profit banking for the win (i.e. Credit Unions). You still get national branch access if needed via the credit union service center network. I've done that many times in other parts of the country to access my TFCU account.

[Pete]

Can anyone join TFCU, Weokie, etc?

[Roger S]

Can anyone join TFCU, Weokie, etc?

They all state that you have to meet certain requirements but when I joined they were very liberal in what I had to prove to meet those requirements and seemed more interested in having me as a client.

[T. Jamison]

I'm not sure of all the criteria for Tinker, but you have to be an associated with some organization on their list. I got my membership at Tinker because, I was a student at UCO. You can also gt a membership by being an employee at one of their business partners, or if an immediate family member is a member. (https://www.tinkerfcu.org/membership/business-partners/)

[baralheia]

Different credit unions have different eligibility requirements written into their charters. Oklahoma Employees Credit Union, for instance, accepts "Everyone (not just state employees) who lives, works or attends school or church in Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Lincoln, Logan, McClain or Pottawatomie Counties [...]. Also if you work at a state agency that does not have its own credit union then you're eligible for OECU. Finally, if you are a direct family member of someone who is eligible then you are eligible too." (https://www.oecu.org/About/Membership-Eligibility)

Some credit unions are more selective, but in general I'd say most have pretty lax membership requirements.

I switched to OECU from BOK and honestly couldn't be happier. OECU is slightly behind BOK in a few areas, but ahead in others; for instance, their mobile app is not quite as polished and user friendly as BOK's app, and uses more screen space to display the same number of transactions, but OECU's debit cards can be added to all of the electronic wallet systems (Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, etc) and they're chip-enabled too. I often see my paycheck hit my account Thursday evening, whereas with BOK it always posted early on Friday. Never had any issue with funds not being available after depositing a check; their funds availability policies are pretty much the same (generally, deposits are available the next business day; BOK's cutoff for next-day availability is 3pm, OECU's is 4:30PM).

[d-usa]

My credit union has had funds available from checks (private, commercial, government) the moment I deposit them.

[stile99]

Credit unions used to have fairly restrictive membership terms, but as noted above have generally opened more, to the point where the membership requirement is "have a pulse", or even "know somebody that has a pulse". When I lived in Texas, I was a member of A+ Federal Credit Union, but I have never been a teacher. Before I moved there I was a member at FAA Credit Union, but I didn't work at the FAA. Before I switched my accounts there, I was with Tinker Federal Credit Union but didn't work at Tinker.

To choose one as an example, FAA (now known as True Sky) is about as open as OECU mentioned above. "Anyone who lives, works or attends school in one of the following counties is eligible for membership: Canadian County, Cleveland County, Grady County, Lincoln County, Logan County, McClain County, Oklahoma County, Pottawatomie County". Or basically "central Oklahoma". Weokie is much the same, "As long as you meet the requirements to become a member you can join. If you live, work, worship, or attend school in Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Lincoln, Logan, McClain or Pottawatomie counties, you can open an account." Tinker's net is so wide it would be hard to find someone who DOESN'T qualify, but their membership page does note that if by some weird twist of fate you don't, give them a call anyway, with the implication that they'll find a way.

[ctchandler]

Can anyone join TFCU, Weokie, etc?

Pete,
They have a list of things that qualify you for membership, and if you are not associated with any of the organizations on the list, for a $10 donation to a charity they support qualifies you. The only thing is, they never asked me for the $10.
C. T.

[Jim Kyle]

I'm not sure of all the criteria for Tinker, but you have to be an associated with some organization on their list.

I got my TFCU membership when the car dealer -- Bob Moore Dodge -- bought me a year's membership in the Oklahoma City Computer Club. Never renewed the club but still, I believe, a member of TFCU though the car was paid off a couple of years ago.

[Relentless85]

I used to work for a company that manufactured banking equipment and we had a contract with Bank of America. Before I switched jobs, there was a big push by BOA to make things more automated and remove the human side of banking. At one point we were installing ATM's in each lane of the drive thru's. They were capable of 2 way video, so customers could deposit cash/check/coin or talk to a "teller" via the 2 way video.

I don't know why anyone would do business with BOA or Chase. From my experience working in the branches, their customer service was terrible. The local banks were better but the credit unions were my choice.

[Scott5114]

I've had a TFCU account since 1995 and have never had any major problems with them. I like to get weird denominations of currency out and they can't help much with that, and a few times their free coin counter has been out of commission, but for all of the things that actually matter (fees, interest rates, fraudulent charges, etc.) I have never had any problems with them. (I just get the weird stuff from BancFirst, where I have a business account. I would recommend them, but they do charge more fees than Tinker does.)

I went in to help someone else get an account at Tinker once and they didn't qualify as a member, so the account officer simply told her that she could join some random organization on the list for some nominal amount like $5 and it would make them eligible. They just deducted the $5 from the opening balance and that was that.

[shawnw]

I've been a TFCU member for longer than I haven't been (since I was 16). Not leaving them. However, based on things I heard from the CEO of Citizen's Bank of Edmond recently, which is starting up Midtown Bank, I'm very interested in hearing more about what they will be doing, especially technologically.

[AP]

Just found out today, TFCU has added Moore Public Schools as a business partner. That means if you are an employee, student, or relative of either, you qualify for membership.