Amplify Federal Credit Union

Disclaimer: This review is based off of my experience as a small business and my complaints are with all locations.
I opened my account at this location a few years ago, initially to help my small business in 2013. I have had mixed emotions about Amplify from the beginning. They have always put unnecessary holds on my deposits is one HUGE issue. The other HUGE issue is that all branch locations, including this one, always interchange tellers/​managers, which makes it hard to develop lasting relationships with your local branch. We have had intermittent good relationships but they never lasted.
BEWARE!!! Here is the biggest warning I can give!!! They have relationship with a less than honorable merchant service processor, NORTH AMERICAN BANCARD TEXAS, AKA KEN GIVENS. In 2014 we ran over $ 20k on an single American Express transaction and it was a nightmare getting the funds to go through. During that time I couldn’t even get Ken Givens to answer or return my calls. I swiped the card on 12÷8÷14 and it ended up taking almost 4 weeks to fund. Being a small business, this was detrimental. I tried calling Ken to see if he could help with this clerical error on their part but he left me hanging. I was able to get a hold of Maria Passarella, Ken’s employee, and she continually told me that she was working on it and we would see the funds soon. After a couple weeks and with Christmas quickly approaching I got a little more anxious. Maria ended up giving me the merchant services number to contact directly (probably tired of my calls by this point) & when I contact them they say that there is paperwork that hasn’t been submitted by their sales partner (Ken Givens? Maria Passarella). I got them the paperwork they needed and then it took almost another week to get funds. After not being to make payroll Christmas week, I informed Maria that we didn’t want to use their services any longer since we had never had trouble with Intuit GoPayment. She apologized profusely, was even seemingly sincere about screwing up 7 families holiday seasons. Here is the kicker… they never closed my account. They’ve been collecting commission for 13 months past me telling Maria that I want to discontinue services with them. She has never followed up or reached out to me even though we haven’t processed a single credit card in 14 months. They have debited my bank account a total of $ 972.32 over 12 months without a single credit card process. They never once tried to do what is honest in this situation.
Short & long… If you are a small business, BANK ELSEWHERE!!!

My sincerest thanks to Mr. Thibodeaux, Daniel, and the young lady wearing the Saints shirt. Today I received outstanding service, as well as a pleasant attitude from each individual working in your branch. I have been dealing with another Amplify branch in Round Rock in the past, and unfortunately I have nothing good to say about they’re service. I can go on and on about how horrible the other branch is, no need. You guys restored my faith in Amplify Credit Union. Just because a person is past due on they’re loan, that does not give any person with a CUSTOMER SERVICE role the right to be rude, or treat the person in a way to make the past due person feel belittled, or start to have a completely negative outlook on the contact they themselves set up. My highest commends to All three of you for not having a god complex and providing impeccable customer service today. You guys followed through on a commitment that a completely separate branch made with me, even though the failed to notate my account of the commitment. I wish I had came to this branch initially I’m sure I would not have had these same issues. Thank you all so much.

This branch is the best in North Austin. I love the reps and the manager Michael. They’re always very welcoming and friendly without making it seem too uncomfortable to do business, like it normally is in a regular bank.

Went in for an auto loan, Ryan was very courteous. straight forward, and clearly answered my questions and concerns. I walked out with a loan deal for processing within 20 mins.

I love the employees. I’ve been banking w Amplify since I was 15 or 16. They were still IBM. Anyways. Being a member for so long one would think you would be treated like a loyal member. Wrong. I can’t get a loan w them for the life of me. I got one back in 2010 but that was bc I was in the Army. Now I’m a college student getting VA benefits and they don’t wanna approve me for the smallest loan. Wth. Can I get some kind of love?

I prefer using credit unions mostly because they’re «member owned». Having an account at this bank means that you own a small piece of this business. Your money is being loaned to other members but you also get a piece of interest when the loan is being paid back. They are not for profit companies. They are not selling you down the river.
Being small they won’t have locations everywhere and you’ll likely have to use an ATM from another bank. Credit Unions are pretty much linked to all the others on networks now so I can actually do the banking with my credit union in Alabama at my local Amplify location.
Since there aren’t ATM locations everywhere Amplify uses an incentive that reimburses fees if you use any ATM from their credit union network. You don’t have to save the receipt and file for the reimbursement it happens automatically.
This location is the closest to our house. We rarely have to visit because most stuff can be done online. The parking at this location can be a bit crowded. The people are incredibly nice though they can get swamped right before closing sometimes. Weird bonus is the coinmaster machine in the lobby that will count and deposit change into your account. And they always have cold bottled water for visitors. It’s the little things…

The good: they have very good rates on loans. I’ve opened 2 loans with them in the past 6 months, the most recent being today.
The not-​so-​good: every employee that I have dealt with has been sub-​par, and their processes are antiquated. We made an appointment to go in today to this branch in Round Rock. They needed 2 signatures each from my wife and I for a very simple transaction. Other credit unions use DocuSign or similar technology for something so simple. Not Amplify. OK, so there technology is old, and we had to go to the bank in person — not the end of the world. But despite making an appointment 4 days in advance, they did not have the paperwork printed when we arrived. The paperwork was all of 5 pages. For some reason, it took the person that we were dealing with 20 minutes to get those 5 pages printed. When we politely inquired the reason for the delay, he just laughed it off, and did not even bother to apologize.
We had a similar experience, fraught with multiple errors (that always inspires confidence in a bank, huh?), when closing on a different loan product at a different branch. That guy acted liked he had never seen a loan document before.
Two different branches, two different products, two different loan offices, two different closers… but ONE result — bottom-​rung people that didn’t seem to have a clue about their jobs and no interest in customer service. They only get the 2^nd star due to low rates.
So, Amplify, I will continue to take your money when you are willing to lend it so cheaply, but you won’t ever get a deposit account of mine with the consistently poor customer service I’ve received.

Amplify has brought sexy back.
3^rd time in a week later — «Hi Katie!»
No cheating, I promise, I hadn’t handed anything over yet. Unless they have a secret face scanning and name matching machine above the door I’m really impressed.

This is where I bank, so I have to give them a five, they have helped me lots!
Today I went in to get money.
Teller: How much do you want?
Me: 1000 dolla
Teller: How do you want it?
Me: 1 dolla bills!
Teller: OK, 1 dolla, 2 dolla, 3 dolla … 1000 dolla!
Teller: Whew what are you going to do whith all those dollas?
Me: I am going to put them back in: 1 dolla, 2 dolla, 3 dolla …
Teller: DOH!