Patelco Credit Union

I have been a long time Patelco Credit Union member. Though I conduct most of my banking transactions online, I do occasionally visit this branch, which is located in Oakland City Center, to make a deposit.
The tellers here are very professional and friendly. My deposit transaction was handled efficiently. Another satisfied customer.

Good services, helpful staff. Their app is AWESOME. There are some weird things: there’s a communication disconnect between card services and Patelco itself that can be really inconvenient when you’re traveling ONE STATE AWAY and your card has been blocked! Expect to play a little bit of phone tag with them as they’re phones are often busy. I also really wish the East Bay locations had parking!

These guys are AWESOME! I never knew about credit unions until now, a quick search on Unilocal and this place is the first on the list, and theres a reason for that. Immediately after entering their branch i was greeted by Nick, he helped me with everything i needed and was very professional. Natasha was extremely helpful and knowledgable as well. They worked hard to get me the help i needed and now im one happy camper, thank you guys!

I walked in and was helped immediately. The service here is always pleasant. I visit here frequently. I also wish they would bring the location back to the federal building

I am so glad I switched from Wells Fargo to Patelco. The customer service is more personalized and they don’t try to get you to buy into different services. They may suggest but they are not pushy. They are helpful in achieving your goals — so they treated me with a lot of respect didn’t show any judgement towards my financial situation and Gabe helpful advice on how to handle my credit.
On top of the great service they gave a great auto loan rate! Car dealerships insisted they can beat it. And while I shouldn’t have let the dealerships rum my credit again they did and couldn’t beat it.
I walked into Patelco and Nick was able to help me right from the teller desk when I asked how to apply for a car loan. He asked me the standard questions: income, how much my portion of the rent, etc. Because I had direct deposit from work I didn’t need to provide pay stubs. I didn’t have to fill anything out. I only had to answer questions. This last less than 10 minutes. Nick then said I should get a call within the hour as to the decision.
About a half hour later Nick calles me back asking about a couple of items that were in collection. I told him it was on repayment and he just needed copies of the paperwork. I emailed it to him and another half hour or so Nick calles me with a congratulations! It all worked out! He gave me the terms and said all I had to do is go into the dealership and tell them I had a Patelco loan.
I’ve bought a number of cars and have always taken loans from the dealership. Going through Patelco was the fastest, easiest and friendliest process I’ve been through.
Nick was efficient and super helpful. Thanks Nick and thanks Patelco!

A recent member of Patelco and can’t happier. The people at this center are super professional and attentive to all my needs. My experience at this center (was and still continues) to be nothing short of world class customer service. They were willing to take a chance on me to help rebuild my financial strength and stability. Supervisor Janeka Ricks (and staff) made my application process and information gathering effortless while offering peace of mind throughout the entire process. Above and beyond the call… Feels good to know an institution and staff actually cares about it’s member’s and community. I should have done this years ago.
Thank you

Don’t even bother trying for a home loan or refinance with Patelco. Total waste of time. They use really poor quality appraisers who don’t even live in your area, or know the real estate market. Sadly they don’t want your business. Too busy pushing a lot of paper around to work with clients. Too busy to work for the business, for the profit, to help their members, and help people move away from big banks. So sad. What a waste of time and effort.

This Credit Union is convenient to my workplace. I really enjoy the customer focus and courtesy from the banking specialist.
Mieke, Andrea, Nick and the Manager Jackie are AWESOME!
Patelco Credit Union has be accommodating for many years but the City Center branch has proven to be one of the better experience that I have been having.
KUDOS to Patelco Credit Union

I recently became a Patelco member… I never understood the reason behind a «credit union». I have to say it was one of the best decisions I made. My husband and I made it a priority to become debt free by the end of 2015… This is definitely the way to go.
Today I took an unexpected day off to meet up with a Patelco Representative to inquire about lowering my interest rate, balance transfers etc.
I met with representative/​Supervisor Janeka Ricks, she went above and provided us with exceptional service and went to great lengths to explaining and answering ALL our questions. We steered her in so many directions and she never broke a sweat ;)…
If they gave an option to give 10 stars. This would be the 1 time I made that exception! :)
outstanding service!

Nick and Janeka are awesome. Always effecient and friendly. One of favorite Patelco branch.

Patelco is always good but Janeka in the Oakland CC branch makes them 5 Stars!
Thanks Janeka.

January 2015. It’s the start of a new year and like many Americans, one of my resolutions this year was to assess my financial assets and try to maximize them. Since May of 2014 I’ve been carrying around a refer-​a-​friend offer from a friend who consolidated his credit cards at Petelco. I kept putting it off – I didn’t want to run a credit check, I didn’t want to think about that shameful balance I was carrying on my cards. Overall I was just avoiding an honest assessment of my spending habits and fiscal responsibility. Enter the new year. I have goals… things I want to do with the hypothetical savings that I’ll accumulate in 2015. I finally haul my lazy butt into Patelco, embarrassed and reluctant. There’s a line, and I almost leave, but I don’t.
I get to the front of the line and Janeka is waiting to assist. I mumble something about the offer and ask to make an appointment. Janeka says «How about now?» 30 minutes later I leave with a new checking and savings account, and all my high interest credit cards consolidated at ZERO percent interest for 12 months and a very competitive rate thereafter. I’ve never received kinder and more professional service in all my 40+ years. I left feeling nothing short of elated. I’m kicking myself for not taking this measure sooner. I could have saved a boatload of money. It was SO EASY. The bottom line is that banks and credit companies exist to make money. Credit unions exist to fiscally strengthen communities. They want you to prosper financially and not gouge you into the poorhouse.
I wish the happy tale ended there, but it doesn’t. Mind you, it’s still not a bad situation.
After the great move over from Bof A, we decided to refinance our house there. The rates were really low. Unfortunately, the process took FOUR MONTHS. This is my third refi, and I’m accustomed to taking a week. During the very very very drawn out process, the rates went up– not a little — a LOT. And during that time, nobody called me or reached out to me. They also didn’t offer any recommendations or review options with me. I was on my own. And the paperwork? It was RIDICULOUS– more than twice as much as your average bank. Ended up with a slightly better loan, but I worked for it, and if they’d brought their a-​game it would have been so much better.
I should have known better, but I decided to use them for a HELOC loan too to fix my garage. Again, the process was hands off. All on line, shifted from one party to the next, all coldly done over email. In the end we were rejected on a technicality, which the initial assesor would have known if they 1.) knoew their internal policies, and 2.) actually read the paperwork. The rejection letter was sent the day after the CONGRATULATIONS YOU’VE BEEN APPROVED email. After that… radio silence. No «Damn! We’re sorry we wasted your time and didn’t read your application! How can we make it right? Why don’t you try this?» Nothing.
My final complaint is that Patelco’s IT is so last century. Their website looks like it was designed by a college student taking their first webpage design class. If, for example, you share a mortgage with your spouse, or a joint checking account, they can’t see the information on their OWN account. They have to log on to yours– Yes, you read that right! You have to give them your password, whereby they can then go through your personal account and see what you bought them for Christmas, from where and how much it cost. It’s super rinky dink– which might be okay if you were banking in Jackass Flats, but this is the Bay Area. Surely this enhancement of seeing your joint accounts on both logins should have already happened… in say…2000.
In short, Patelco is okay, as long as you maintain a single personal account, or one joint account. The deals are pretty good, but if you try to get sophisticated, you’ll be frustrated by the glacial pace at which decisions are made and by the horrific communication, the lack of general knowledge and crappy customer service of the financial products division. Hated to do it, but had to go crawling back to bad old B of A to have my big needs met.

I would like to give out the Highest praise to Brittany Embry for her outstanding customer service. She is one of the main reasons I love to use Patelco for my banking needs. Brittany keep up the excellent work.

I have to say that Jackie was a true blessing today! Due to the government shutdown I have been off work since October 1^st. My bills were due by the 15^th and due to the little paycheck we received for 6 days I wasn’t sure how I was going to buy food for my house and pay them. I came in yesterday to see about a loan or any help that could be available, and Jackie worked with me all the way to the last second. She was absolutely wonderful, not only was able to provide me with a loan and refinance my car, but a revolving loan that will allow me to get myself out of my predicament today and pay it off to use another day. Her understanding of my personal situation and that of my fellow government employees allowed her to advocate on my behalf and ensure that I was treated fairly and equitably. Thanks Jackie and Patelco you will always have my support and business!

After this review went out, I received a slew of calls from Patelco, apologizing and trying to sort it out with me. I have taken out most of my money, but haven’t closed my account. I definitely will never try to deposit a Canadian check again.

Very welcoming environment! Came in yesterday on my lunch break and there was hardly a wait thanks to the efficient and friendly staff! If you want to be taken care of make sure to see Nick! Super nice guy!

As good as it get man! The folks here are awesome!

Jackie and her team are awesome. I’m telling everyone to go to this Patelco!!! They were totally understanding of my situation and really did me a huge favor!!! I really appreciate them. Thanks guys!!!
~Dez

I write novels about small-​town America. In my little fictional town, everyone knows everyone else — the banker knows your business and your brother’s middle name. Patelco made me feel as if I lived in tiny Cypress Hollow instead of huge, metropolitan Oakland.
I went in for a car loan. Spur of the moment — I needed the used Smart Car of my dreams. I got denied for the loan, though, due to some difficult life circumstances in my past. Instead of just shaking my hand and seeing me out, Brittany said, «Can you tell me what happened?» I told her the sad story. It was sad. She said, «You know, we deal with real people here; let me explain the situation you were in to our loan department.»
I nodded, figuring it wouldn’t be any use, but she let me know minutes later that the loan was approved after reconsideration. I was gobsmacked.
Then, when the paperwork got tricky because it was a private party sale through the Buggy Bank in Berkeley, Jamie went the extra mile. No, she actually went about forty miles, I think. She made things happen that seemed impossible, and everything just fell together, because she worked so hard for me. As if she cared. As if I were a loyal, local customer (which I am, but we live in a city of half a million! She didn’t know that about me).
I felt trusted and valued. We switched to Patelco last year because we wanted to keep our money local, but we’ll stay because Patelco is just freaking awesome.

Super small location with only two tellers and the front door is always open. Maybe its because they don’t have air? Maybe its because the smells of the Starbucks a few doors down goes well with the smell that the Popeye’s Chicken is letting out their always opened door. I’m not sure but I always feel welcomed!
One downside: only M-​F 9AM to 5PM.