Amplify Federal Credit Union

Disclaimer: This review is based off of my experience as a small business and my complaints effect 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!!!

I have been banking with this branch since it opened by with this cu for over 24 years.
I want to thank the staff for letting us count coins that we collected to fund vocational training scholarships for Austin metro area students.
We collected loads of coins and they were very helpful to see that we were able to count.
Thank you, Staff of Amplify FCU at Pond Springs road!

I can’t tell you how much I love this bank. They always take really good care of you. I’ve done around five or six cars with them, a home improvement loan and a credit card. Their rates are excellent and the service is amazing. Special shout out to Betty and Lorie for helping me out again today!

(1^st email)
Ms. Andrews,
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the high level of customer service quality received from Rebekka. On yesterday, I was made aware that I still had a savings account opened with your credit union and that $ 25/​month had been being deposited since September 2011. This stunned me because I recall my account being closed due to a negative balance that hadn’t been paid. I had a ton of questions and she was patient to answer and research every last one of them without hesitation and/​or frustration. After being on the phone for exactly one hour, it left a great impact on me and exceeded my expectations of customer service. I look forward to more positive interactions in the future.
(2^nd email)
Also sent to Ms. Andrews stating that even though I was grateful for the outcome something else still didn’t settle well with me and I wanted her to look into it more. Her reply and customer service was just as awesome! Even though her day had ended, she researched my account diligently and I was impressed by her eagerness to rectify the situation. I am so blessed to have worked with Rebekka and Angela! #ImOneHappyCamper #ExcellentCustomerService

Amplify CU is amazing! They have been nothing but helpful and polite. I have moved my accounts to them and will definitely recommend Amplify to others for an awesome banking experience.

Pretty bad experience so far…
Opened an account about 3 weeks ago because they offered me $ 150 and I’ve been meaning to leave big, bad thieving Chase Manhattan.
Upon opening my account, they asked what I would like my PIN for my ATM card to be. I told them and assumed I would get a card in the mail.
Nope. It’s been 3 weeks and nothing came. Talked to them today and they said a card was never ordered.
OK. Things fall through the cracks sometimes but that’s not all I’ve experienced so far.
They have some ridiculous requirements for their passwords so I can’t use my standard banking password. What the hell??? If the password is good enough for the crooks at AMEX and Chase, it’s certainly good enough for Amplify.
I should not have to remember it’s different and what do older folks with Dementia and Memory issues do? Come on Amplify, have some compassion.
No need to show off and make your password requirements more difficult than the big boys. In this case, follow them. Just don’t steal from us like they do.
Anyway, there have been several other process issues not worth mentioning. For the moment, I’m happy to have made the switch from Chase and I’ll probably switch to another local credit union if they don’t make some changes to their online banking password/​access policies soon.
Oh yeah… And I better get the $ 150 bucks they promised!

Seeing as there is no clear way to submit feedback on Amplify’s website, I hope that they have some social coordinator that reads these.
I joined Amplify because of a guilty conscious having a BOA account. I appreciate the credit union banking philosophy.
I wish the branches had dividers between tellers. It’s a bank, not McDonalds. There is not enough privacy/​confidentiality with a teller counting out a large withdrawal sum to you, accompanied by the eyes of the two patrons next to you.
I’d like to be able to withdraw an amount of money as large as my current balance without having to go inside the branch. However that is not possible. $ 400 dollar limit at an ATM. I also was told that they refund ATM fees, however there is still an ATM fee I accrued that has not been addressed. It’s $ 1.50 so I don’t feel like making noise about it, but isn’t it about the principle?
On the plus side, I love the chat service. This is very convenient. The bank appears more accessible than BOA in many respects.
I’m wary of the feedback left by others relating to a change in Amplify management. The last time I went into a branch (Parmer), the workers didn’t seem concerned about the line building up, seemed a little lost as to what to do in certain situations.

Bad, bad, bad. My partner and I just sat in the lobby for an hour and a half waiting to open a joint checking account. I liked Amplify’s offerings and was excited to give my business to a credit union vs a large bank, but I’ve never had to work so hard to give someone my money. We tried to open an account online – it shows joint checking as an option – but after filling out an application received a message that said we would need to go into a branch. I called and they said as long as I have both of our information, they only needed one of us to come in. I went after work and was told I would need to wait for a relationship manager. I waited 20 minutes and when this so called relationship manager (she didn’t say hello, smile, or even look at me; just flatly asked my name and started typing – like being at the DMV) became available, I was told that both parties needed to be present to open the account!
I should have known at that point they weren’t going to be great with the customer service, but not wanting to start over researching financial institutions and also really wanting to stay local, we took time out of our very busy Saturday (remodeling on a budget) to go in to a branch together and open an account. Again we were told we needed to wait for a relationship manager. 90 minutes later, we finally left, defeated and disappointed, without an account.
What kind of bank only trains a small portion of their staff to open new accounts? I have a personal account at a large bank, and while I don’t relish giving my money to a monolith, I have to say, I’ve never been treated like this in my 10 years with them. Please don’t waste your time with Amplify. They look good on paper, but if you actually need them to help you, you’ll be disappointed.

I like Amplify! WAY better than any other «bank» out there! The people are friendly, and extremely helpful! Also, I Just found out What the Braille on the drive-​thru ATM actually says, «Move to the passenger seat»…

Favorite, low-​pressure financial institution. Take a water on your way out (and fresh-​baked cookies if they have’em)! :)

After searching for the «perfect credit union» I decided on Amplify… the Tellers are by nice and welcoming. They also have a free coin counter in their lobby for members. So long Coinstar! I collect old coins (yes I am a dork) and they call me when they get someone interesting… try that at BOA or Wells Fargo! They also have free wifi, freshly brewed coffee, bottles of water and an area for kids to play in (my 6 year old loves it there). Banking with a friendly attitude and customer serviced based environment. You can’t go wrong here!

Everyone there is extremely nice and helpful. I was under a bunch of stress last time I went in and they went the extra mile to make sure I was taken care of. I was too stressed to transfer a credit card issue and they went the extra mile to help me. I strongly believe everyone should go here.

It is refreshing to do business with this organization — they define customer service. Molly and her staff are the best!

Credit unions are infinitely superior to regular banks, but they can be quirky. And they are local only (I tried to do the long distance thing with my other credit union — we broke up).
To be honest, I picked Amplify because they were in a good location. But they are a great bank. I do most of my banking online (love online bill pay!) but my husband cashes his checks in person. A few of them know his name and they are always sweet to our son (he has an account also, so I suppose he’s a customer). They have a free coin machine in the lobby? What else can you say about a bank?

I moved there a while ago from a large mondo bank after they were bought out by a bigger fish. I can say I’ve enjoyed many of the people in this branch that I’ve dealt with and my face to face experiences, though superficial and not really «big banking» have been positive. HOWEVER, I have not enjoyed banking with them or dealings with them for my business or with any of the other departments. It’s easy to ignore people through the online or phone method and the branch doesn’t have any of the meatier banking people. I’m moving banks for my family and business after a year of some frustration. I had high hopes when I signed up. So many that were at this branch moved on (they were great and they are at new branches I think… to grow the business). Not calling back would be a final straw, especially when the loss of my business was pending. The non-​call was a statement of how much you want my business. It’s okay, someone else wants it. I’ll miss the water in the lobby, but have my own at home.

The only place someone should bank. Too many great things to talk about it. If you have not had the experience of a credit union, you need one. Drop whatever bank you use now and switch to Amplify. That is the best advice I can tell you in terms of your finances, banking needs, savings accounts, checking accounts, and overall customer satisfaction.

Alright, this is the best financial institute ever. This location in particular, as I’m writing this review from the free WiFi they offer while drinking the coffee they brew up. My brother’s opening an account here right now after hearing us talk up this place so much. It really is the best.
If this were a 10-​star system, it would be a nine, only because of the simple changes left to make. But, on a 5-​star system, it was time to kick it up to a 5.
Odd factoid: I’ve never before been introduced to new music by a bank before, at least up until this place. They not only throw large lawn parties, but they link back to the bands to follow up with and their taste in music, while appropriately eclectic, is excellent.