SF Fire CU Reviews

Member of 15+ years. They apparently have hired some call center to handle over flow calls. It's a glorified answering service. I was told someone would get back to me in 24 hours regarding a simple account inquiry during regular business hours. The old App was better. I would advise new people to not use SFFireCU because you would need to open an account, and I would wait until they get their customer service together.

UPDATE: New App crashes half the time with Face ID and makes you enter your password. Customer service says to delete and re-install SFFireCU , which does nothing. I would advise avoiding these guys all together. Downhill since the new CEO took over.

While the old app wasn’t “pretty”, the new app and online banking are horrible. The main screen doesn’t show all accounts; using TouchID requires using a 4-digit PIN instead of a password; some text is white on off-white and hard to read; apparently support has been outsourced (as was app development); no more access to credit score; depositing checks takes more steps since everything is hidden behind the “hamburger” icon. I brought my accounts to SF Fire CU from one of the “big financial institutions” because of the personal service; now I may head back since online banking is horrible and the personal service is dwindling.

By now mobile banking should be an easy experience and it was with the old SFFCU interface. Now some days a basic feature like deposit checks is completely missing. Want to transfer money from a business account to a personal account, well now you need to log in to the receiving account not the sending account. Want to make a business loan payment, well that feature is no longer possible, you need to call! Seriously, you can't even use the browser version to make a payment or view the balance. Even making a credit card payment is hidden below 3 layers. Extremely unprofessional.

SFFireCU rating showing as 4.5 is so misleading. People should scroll down to read the reviews since November 2017, they are universally awful.

During the 2017 redesign they removed lots of basic and useful functionality, e.g. vacation notifications to stop them blocking your card while you’re away, credit score, easy access to support.

Their previously superb customer support is now almost nonexistent, I’ve waited months (yes, months!) for responses to very basic support questions and typical response times are around a week when they do respond, often they never do. They also “lost” one of my bank accounts. And they give you 0% interest on your checking and savings accounts...so you are paying them to invest your money with them keeping all of the profits. Such a shame for a previously great credit union.

Oof. Can’t see your account number in SFFireCU , can’t update your pin in SFFireCU , can’t verify Apple Pay with SFFireCU (you need to call and talk to an agent at SFFCU, and answer a bunch of questions - which can take awhile), can’t transfer money to external accounts after you’ve successfully linked external accounts, very slow response to messages sent via SFFireCU .

Mobile app basically functions as a snapshot of your accounts with the ability to make a check deposit. But if there’s anything more you’d like to do, you need to go to a branch or use a desktop browser, and obviously the interoperability is significantly less behind other banking apps.

Customer service is really nice when you get them on the phone, but this is an app review…

When the SF Fire Credit Union updates or revamps SFFireCU , there are always problems.
If you don’t have apples latest operating system, you are screwed. The women on the phone said every bank is like that, but my other banking apps still work. I have an iPhone 13 and it is only one operating system behind and the SFFCU app doesn’t work. They used to be a very good place to do banking, now they’re customer service and
And communication is lacking.

The head of the credit union last time had to issue a letter to address all the complaints about the updates. Maybe it’s time for her to go. If I didn’t have to pick a star for the rating, I’d give it minus stars.

Jeez, I’m happy they decided to improve security on SFFireCU , but talk about going overboard! GUI is now even clumsier and less friendly to navigate, to enter it you had better have a blank legal size paper and half an hour to play around with their myriad verification question setups because they want everything but your proctologist’s ring size before you can even get into SFFireCU .

Again, happy they are focused on security, as they should be. But when it is this ridiculously tight it only means many people will have to write down all their authentication info in one place- making it LESS safe!

And BTW- all this can be defeated since they have outsourced to a credit bureau call center and network that shares EVERYTHING with ANYONE with access to the network- teenage minimum wage teller in Dubuque now has your Social Security, maiden name, addresses, balances, etc. at their fingertips. I dumped Chase to get AWAY from this type of incompetence and they just pulled me back in!

Update: as long as you have the most recent phone on the most recent operating system, the mobile deposits work! Their developers must have a deal with Apple 🙄.

I’ve been using SFFireCU for about two years, since it was created and I consistently have problems depositing checks on the mobile app. I will have to log back into SFFireCU several times in order to deposit a pile of 5 to 10 checks, so it ends up taking me 2 to 3 times as long as it should to do a simple task. I’ve called SF Fire and asked them if they will be doing updates or know why SFFireCU is not working for me, but their customer service people could not help me, and when I asked to be called back by their tech people I did not receive a call. In this day and age mobile check deposits are a requirement from a bank and I wish SF Fire would get it together and fix SFFireCU.

There isn’t anything you can’t easily do from within SFFireCU . I just do everything from my phone now and no longer pull up their website on my laptop. It’s amazing that this little credit union has a far sleeker, more functional app than a big bank like Bank of America (whose app is frustrating and almost useless).

The bank need to make it easier for members to transfer funds from one Credit Union to another credit Union.
Currently with 2 credit unions SFFCU and SFPCU. I rarely make a mistake but I used the wrong checks for a bill payment and it was difficult to transfer funds from one credit Union to another.
Only because I Missed 2/3 security questions.
A password or wrong answer etc…I wasn’t able to transfer funds.

SFFireCU has changed the way I bank! I really am grateful to have SFFireCU on my phone, to make on the go banking easy and to make my trip to the bank easeful. I’m glad to have the bank on my side with any customer service needs, or just with making checks. I’m very glad that my family is also welcome at my bank. And glad to have the mobile app to keep track of my funds

that you can process a check through SFFireCU versus going to a local branch.

Cons: All accounts are connected, so you see your sum total of money for ALL accounts that you’re listed on. It would be nice to have the option to preference seeing certain accounts, but have the ability to look at the whole umbrella at times if you needed to. Certificates can’t be edited through SFFireCU anymore which I hope they’ll update in future versions.

I absolutely hate this new update. I have been trying to figure it out for two days. I can’t look at my account number anymore deleted my accounts I transfer money to and have no idea how to add them back on because they made everything so confusing. Don’t know how I am going to pay my bills if I can’t transfer money..... And no one even knows their account number and can’t look it up so I can add them back in my transfers!! Horrible update I want the old one back.

This review is just for SFFireCU . But they are a great bank to bank with and I’d give them (the bank itself) 5 stars. Now onto SFFireCU . App is generally overall good, but I’m giving 4 stars because they should really implement a night mode so I can view my accounts outside in the dark without having a super bright white page blinding me. Another thing is, as of recently, everytime I login, SFFireCU keeps telling me I have a new notification that keeps asking me if whether I want to enroll in E statements even though I’m already enrolled. I can click on it and then hit yes enroll in electronic statements but every time I login SFFireCU notification will continue to reappear, every time. Please address this bug and also please implement a dark mode. Thank you!

I was banking with Wells Fargo since the early 1970s when a few short years ago a friend told me about the San Francisco Fire Credit Union. At the time, Wells Fargo had been charging fees for everything including phone calls! What a gigantic relief it was to join the Credit Union! They took fantastic care of me from day one. They reimburse you for all ATM charges! Another plus for me was that there are no ties to any huge organizations and it is run by the members. If this review sounds a little over the top - it is! I love my credit union!

I feel truly blessed to be apart of SF FIRE CU. I have been treated so well financially, privately, and individually. I have used loans for my family’s vehicles over the past 10 years from SF FIRE CU and they have been so fare with my loan amounts, interest rates , payment schedules. My credit card limits , interest rates are also fantastic. I just want to say thank you SF FIRE CU. You truly have made banking hassle free and worry free. Your employees are very professional and offer amazing customer service. I mean it. You have been a pleasure in my family’s BANKING life. Sincerely, John Quintell

I am so happy to be a SFFCU customer! I love how easy it is to use the mobile app (depositing checks is a breeze), and it seems they are making improvements all the time. When I’m using online banking, I like the availability of web chat for questions, and customer service by web and phone has always been stellar. I especially love the reimbursed ATM fees for my debit card use, even internationally! I was a customer for many years un San Francisco, and was delighted to learn that I could stay with SFFCU when I moved out of state. The features of my accounts make me the envy of my friends!

This updated version has removed helpful features and functionality of the previous versions. I no longer can access information indicating how many ATM rebates I have remaining. I also cannot access my complimentary credit ratings. Functionally, there are more screens to navigate so its more time consuming and if you click on any transaction in your history then go back to the previous screen you will be taken all the way up to the top. Huge waste of time! And it is very slow to load a longer history of transactions. Seriously big FAIL on this one.

What were you thinking? To initiate a massive takeover makeover of your online web presence right at the beginning of the holidays is akin to changing the control system of a ship just as the ship is entering a reef strewn inlet. And the interface. Austere and clean, devoid of necessary clues to navigate. Tiny symbols that were once stray specks of dust on the screen now are the equivalent of the Rosetta Stones to decipher the SFFCU website. This interface was designed by people who don't interact with the real world. Who did the beta testing? Why couldn't they have a core group of firefighters of all ages beta test before unleashing? They would pulled the ceilings on it and found the smoldering bugs. Remember your origins SFFCU.

I worked retail for 4-1/2 yrs ... not my usual line of work, and I learned about SFFCU from a co-worker, who was saying great things about SFFCU. I asked my co-worker which financial institution they were talking about, and I became a member.

Over 4-1/2 years I saw a lot of debit and credit cards, many from SFFCU. I always asked my customer, “Don’t you Love Them? and they inevitably asked Who? And I would say, The Credit Union!

Everyone was so enthusiastic and said the most complimentary things. . . . All about All of You, about the integrity with which you do business and the great service you provide. I Love All Of You.

Thank you for always being patient, helpful and really, just plain Great!

From Kathryn Alexander