Hilo Credit Unions

[1voyager1]

Moved down here in 2013.
I'd had my account with Denali Alaskan for over 30 years, now almost 40.
I got fed up with credit cards and opened a debit card with DA.
It has since Been taken over by New Vision FCU out of Cal.
Then, the problems began.
The new big outfit, New Vision, has turned getting things worked out into a quagmire.

I'm now giving serious consideration to moving the contents of my DA account to a local, FCU.
I do have an account with CU Hawaii, opened just to have cash available locally, but am not happy with their operation compared to DA.

Any suggestions as to the better local [Pahoa to Hilo] FCUs to transfer my accounts to?

[ChunksterK]

I used to be a customer of CUHawaii, but got fed up with them when (for the third or fourth time) they made me wait 10 minutes for a supervisor to approve a deposit over $5000. The last time, I insisted on speaking to the super and told her that all they had to do was tell me that the funds would not be available for the customary time frame so I could go on my way. She seemed irritated that I would question this and tersely said, "That's our policy." So bye-bye.

I moved to HFS and have been very happy. They are the biggest credit union on the island, but their customer service is very friendly and common sense.

[AaronM]

I also dumped CU for HFS. I've been very happy with that decision. CU just couldn't get their online banking together.

[macuu222]

I moved down here from Alaska 25 years ago and kept my Alaska USA credit union account. Been the best thing I ever did. Even financed a new car down here with them. And checks (even out of state) can be uploaded with remote deposit and "credited" by end of day. Credit unions here hold out of state checks for up to 5 days.

I saw somewhere on TV that they have a Matanuska Valley credit union somewhere in the islands.

[1voyager1]

Well, I seem to only find 5 possible FCU's: Hawaii Community fcu; Big Island fcu; HFS fcu; CU Hawaii fcu; and Hawaii USA in a miserable last place.
Throwing out the last 2 only leaves 3 possible choices: Hawaii Community fcu; Big Island fcu; and HFS fcu.

[Punaperson]

I've been with Big Island FCU for years, both for personal and business checking, saving, etc. , and have not had any problems. The one in Hilo is often busy, but the one in Shipman Industrial seems to have lots of drive-thrus, so at least one of the inside tellers are usually available. I don't do much of any $ stuff on line, so I can't comment of that aspect.

[randomq]

Anyone offering a real interest rate? Not even sure why most people use a local bank anymore. Better to put your money into a brokerage, you'll earn more interest on your cash balance.

[1voyager1]

What  I may do is continue to split my savings between 2 FCUs with both being local.
I'll decide on the second one soon.

I spent almost all my life operating on a cash basis.
I even operated a business on a 30 day cash basis for 15 years, working contracts up to $500k.
I finally established credit so that I could open a mortgage with my galfriend to buy our home here.
I continued to use credit when she talked me into getting a credit card.
I did find it convenient for making online purchases.
Then, the CC company began getting pretty uppity, acting as if they could dictate my life to me.
Getting a debit card was a good move, just like going back to cash, cut the CC up without a qualm.

My only concern is to have my cash available when I want it.
To me, an FCU is only a safe, convenient place to store it, rather than under the mattress or buried in a jar in the back yard.
But, I want it as convenient to get to as if that's where it were.

I am not driven to get more like most people.
Money will not be the culmination of my life.
Never has been, never will be.
I have access to all I need.
My needs are relatively modest.

I still make deposits into savings.
I still do not pay the cost of using credit to finance things, other than my home even though it, in effect, at least doubles the cost of it. 
That galls me, but is made necessary because of the price of a home, and my galfriend's personal finances.
But, making the mortgage and associated payments is still cheaper than paying rent.
Plus, we're not subject to the vagaries, of a landlord's whims.

Anyway, back to figuring out what FCU to move my AK account to.
An office in both Hilo and Pahoa would be convenient.

[Thehrooster]

We have banked (business/personal) at Hawaii Community FCU for 15 years. There have been zero problems. They are part of the CO-OP shared banking system in which I can go to a different CU for deposits and withdrawals if I can't get to a local branch-this was helpful when they had no eastside location, but is less important now that they are in Hilo, also.

I do almost everything online and rarely need a "physical" site.

[kalakoa]

Watch out for the limits on any CU account in Hawaii: no billpay over $5K, no co-op transfer over $5K, no direct inbound wire transfers (funds get sent to some kind of mainland "clearinghouse" which then "forwards" the money to Hawaii). No problems with regular ACH transactions though.

It's possible to work around the $5K limit, but my clients couldn't figure out how to pay me with an "indirect" wire transfer, so my primary banking still happens on the mainland, with a local "convenience" account for the occasional in-person transaction.

(Yes, wire transfers are obsolete, but they're still used by some companies with retro accounting departments.)