Advantis Credit Union

I frequent this particular branch and have absolutely no complaints about Advantis as a whole. The employees are always kind and accommodating, and the wait is never too long before another employee comes to see how they can help. Sure, the website has had its ups and down, but has never had any issues that weren’t being resolved or that interfered with what I needed to do online.
A few months ago I accidentally paid a canceled credit card over $ 400 through bill pay. After spending an hour on the phone myself, between the canceled credit card company and Advantis, an Advantis employee (Lori Warner) called the credit card company with me on the line. She spent at least 45 minutes trying to sort this problem out with me. I think we all know how annoying these calls can be, constantly getting people on the phone who cannot solve your problem, who transfer you to someone else who cannot solve the problem, and so forth. Lori didn’t have to make this call with me, but she did, on my behalf, and on behalf of the wonderful customer service of Advantis. I was impressed with her level of patience, especially as mine deteriorated, and her continued care that the issue find resolve. She went above and beyond what I expected, and months later I am still so grateful for her services that day.
The canceled credit card company refunded the money to my account within a week, and I cleaned up my bill pay so that this issue wouldn’t happen again. And I pay much closer attention to who I’m sending money to!

Frustrated with the bureaucracy of a large national bank, we opened an account at Advantis. Our only regret is that we waited so long to do so. We received much better rates on our home equity line of credit and car loan through Advantis than national banks offer. Furthermore, the speed and ease of the loan processes were impressive. The employees at this branch really go the extra mile for members and are very friendly. As for the Advantis website, we’ve found it easy to use, and we love the convenience of being able to access a large network of ATMs at no charge.

Their bank hours suck. They don’t open until 9:30am and on Tuesdays they don’t open until 10am!!! Come on Advantis you need to open at 9am. They aren’t open at all on Saturdays.

Absolutely useless. Online banking NEVER works as it should. One is not allowed to speak to anybody at the actual branch that one frequents unless they’ve got an individual employees name. This credit union appears to have zero interest in keeping me as a client. To top it off they decide to do a «SYSTEM WIDE UPDATE» in the middle of a business day. 2:30 on a Monday afternoon. So my card is not approved in the grocery store. I’m pulled out of line and need to call ADVANTIS yet AGAIN. On hold, of course while it takes «service» rep to inform me of this. WORST credit union ever!

Fourth and final review! We ditched this place and that relieved so much stress for us its crazy. This place awful and no one knows what’s going on. No one who works here does any communication. They don’t call when they say they will. They don’t even talk to their members. I’m surprised this place is even in business still. It’s terrible. And if you try to do business with one person they don’t allow you. I even called Nancy as recommended in previous posts but she even had her assistant get in contact with my husband and I. Don’t waste your time with this place. It causes stress, migraines and upset stomachs.

the rude, curt cashier lady is unwilling to make simple change for a non-​member. you’re a fucking bank, not a street gang — no excuse for thinly veiled hostility at non-​members! and after waiting almost twenty minutes! fuckin’ hippies. i hate this shopping complex

I’ve been with Advantis for over a decade, a lot of paystubs and checks, a car loan and a second mortgage. They have a couple of good parts — personable, bill pay, ATM fees paid, and a couple of bad parts — sloppy web site transition recently.
But they get a 1 star for car loans.
I needed a used car loan, called, sent them the information, found a car, sent them more information. Then dribs and drabs — they requested one piece of information after another until eight days went by and my seller gave up and sold the car to someone with a more responsive bank. Very unreasonable and dodgy customer service.
I’ll go somewhere else for a car loan next time.

I’ve been with Advantis for about 23 years, and, despite how difficult it will be, I’m seriously considering switching to another credit union. I’m having trouble accessing my account and when I phone in, my call goes to a call center. The call center people are nice, but they don’t really know a lot. I had to explain to them what Marty, the telephone-​based banking system, is. The online banking is very complicated and often doesn’t work. The people are nice, which is why I rate Advantis with 2 stars, but the actual banking leaves a lot to be desired.

Online internet banking fans and techies beware. After a completely inept upgrade that was stalled in Fall 2014 and then restarted in Spring 2015 I am really unhappy. There’s really no way to get the messaging that the old system had about upcoming bills. You have to rely entirely on guesstimation about when a bill will be due based on past behavior. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I actually miss the old system, mediocre as it was. Back then you could at least you could tie most of your billers (a utility, Comcast, etc. into your account and see what you owed and when your bill was due.) There’s only a few e-​billers now. And after the change over I’ve had to go back to almost all of my billers and reestablish that I want paperless billing etc. Somehow they got word from Advantis that’s what I wanted? It’s such a mess that it’s eaten at least ten hours of my life that I won’t get back and caused lots of stress. And no apologies either. The alerts on the new system stink too. No text messages to your smart phone if your balance drops below a certain amount or if you get a big deposit. Nope just email alerts.
If this bank wasn’t six blocks from my home I would have chucked it already. Location, location, location I guess. Our relationship started out good (FU Chase) but boy has it deteriorated.

All the employees at this branch are fantastic! I don’t go in too often, but each time I do I am greeted right away with a smile and offers to help with whatever I need. Asking about my day with genuine care and speeding through my banking transactions makes going to the bank feel like less of a chore.

I’ve done my business and personal banking with Advantis CU since fall of 2013. I’ve been impressed by the quality of service. The employees I’ve interacted with have been professional and personable. I haven’t experienced any of the nickel-​and-​diming, fee-​layering, or intentional customer confusion that I experienced at other (yes, larger) banks.
Their account offerings are good and fair, they are dedicated to supporting the community, and they are invested in the community and therefore probably more responsive to the community.
Their online banking system has worked well for me, including internal and external bank transfers and mobile deposits. I also like that they offer a free coin depositing service. It seems strange that this is a bonus, but my previous bank, which shall remain unnamed, charged to use their coin counter which was out of service a good deal of the time.
All in all, a great place to bank, if my experience is any indication.

I’ve been with Advantis for a few years now. I initially went with them during the great deluge of depositors from big banks to credit unions. My bank hadn’t really ever wronged me in anyway, it was more the zeitgeist. I looked at the various major credit unions around Portland, but I was struck by Advantis’ Fusion Checking. At the time it was offering 3% interest, refunded ATM fees, and free checking. This met all my criteria and then some.
I still remember opening the account as the associate was really nice and also his name was pretty memorable, Mustafa. There are a few services that a small CU didn’t offer that I was used to with my bank. The first was mobile deposit. Thankfully Advantis did get mobile deposit a few months ago so I no longer have to find an ATM to deposit my room mates rent checks. However, their mobile app is still pretty weak. Another issue is their transfer system. It is also pretty weak compared to what the big banks have.
My two real complaints though are lack of communication in changing fusion rates and their NSF check policy. They dropped their rate on Fusion Checking with no notice. An email would have been nice. I only noticed because the monthly dividend was smaller than before. My other gripe is their NSF policy. If someone gives you a check that bounces, they try to deposit it three more times after it bounces. I was never informed of this so when my room mate gave me a bad check, I had him write me a new check that I deposited. Then the old check got redeposited and the new one bounced. Then Advantis tried to deposit that one two more times with it bouncing. All the while we were both getting hit with NSF fees. I was never made aware of this policy and have never encountered it before. When I called to opt out they told me they can write a memo on my account, but they can’t guarantee that it won’t happen again.
Despite my gripes I’m still pleased with Advantis and after shopping around for a mortgage lender I settled on them. Their loan officers were incredibly helpful, responsive, and courteous. It was my first time so I had a lot of questions. On top of that my APR was only 3 basis points higher than my interest rate. Best deal I found by far.

Good bank, interest on your checking account. Good service, good on-​line tools. Not a huge fan that you have to get a credit check to open an account here, but it is a good bank.

I don’t mean for this to reflect poorly on this particular branch but as a member I used Advantis for a Used Auto Loan through a Private Party, and yes, the loan was a great deal, however, the service has been terrible. I have been so frustrated with them saying they will call back, and then never having my call returned. Saying they will have the email in by the end of the business day, and then they don’t. I have told them everyday I don’t have the car I need I can’t work, and everyday they say they’ll have someone call me and let me know the next steps but then another day passes and I have to call again and ask the next steps and have them say «the person working on your loan will give you a call back by the end of the day»… and then they don’t! It is so frustrating to be approved and then just have to sit and wait for a call back that doesn’t come. Finally I got a hold of someone that let me know the lady should have called me to set up a signing.
Pros: 72 months at 3%
Cons: No follow through, you have to move the loan process along.

By far the best relationship I’ve ever had with a bank or credit union. This branch is my local one but all Portland locations I’ve visited are great. I do wish there was a bit more privacy when talking with the loan and account folks but the branch is tiny so it makes sense why there isn’t. Everyone there is super nice and helpful, and I love their availability by phone. Excellent!

Just starting doing business here a few months ago, and this place is great. Very friendly service and they have a coin machine with no fee (even if you don’t have an account here). Really like their Fusion checking — just switched from another bank, and so far everything’s good. Location is great — not that far from where I live and convenient to areas I’m at a lot.
If you are looking for a new place to bank or get a loan — you should check them out.