Patelco Credit Union

The Bank Manager is sincerely dedicated to providing great service to Castro Valley.

Went in to apply for a loan. Derek informed me that he was going to get in contact with me before the end of the day and that I could go in person the following down to sign other paper work. He never called me at the end of the day nor did he even come to work the following down. Don’t say you are going to take care of things and not call me or even show up yo work! Very unprofessional!

Always get great service from the team, but especially from Derrek and Tawana.
Keep up the good work guys!!!

Great customer service! Josephine very helpful and knowledgeable in setting up our accounts and getting us a car loan.

I have been a Patelco member for several years. The customer service is excellent. They’re always very friendly and personable. I’ve observed the bank associates even remembering several customers name when they walk in the door. I had an issue with my account and Mr. Lowe went above and beyond to resolve my issues even though he had to be on hold with social security for about 30 minutes, he made sure my experience was extremely pleasant. Over all in approximately 40 years of banking institutions he was definitely the most compassionate, kind, thorough and professional banking associate I’ve ever dealt with.

A family member has nearly $ 700k in a Patelco account. They cannot even find her account without the membership number. Not by her name or SS#. Too bad I could not give them a ZERO stars because that’s how much her account is worth right now.

I love this location! And even though there is a Patelco in SL much closer to me, CV has the best customer service ever! They have literally helped me with so much! For exceptional customer service always ask for Derrek or Justine.
Derrek helped me open my daughters first savings account when she was just 3 weeks old. He along with Justine and Jazmin, then helped me get a great deal and APR on my new car. Everything was so easy and I was able to contact Derrek and Justine with silly questions that they were always happy to help me with.
I would definitely recommend going to this branch to take care of importatnt business such as the ones I mentioned above.

I don’t even know why this branch would get less than 5 stars. Especially when you get Derek to assist you. Stellar service all the way!!! Do want to feel like someone important? Do you want to feel like your money is well cared for? Go see Derek.

Great service by the entire staff. They greet you with a genuine smile and know your name when you walk up to the counter. Can’t get that specialized attention at any other institution. I would like to give special recognition to Derek and Josephine for their outstanding and extraordinary service. They are truly an asset to the organization!

Most excellent customer service. I walked into the Credit Union, was immediately helped, greeted with a smile, my concerns were all dealt with, my needs all met and I can say that I have never been treated (as a new customer) better than I had today.
Cheers to the staff at the Castro Valley location.
Special thanks to Derek Lowe.
Coleen

I came here to pay my car loan through another company and the teller told me about their special offer for car loans. So I decided to check it out. Spoke with Josephine and she was WONDERFUL. She was very helpful, taking the time to explain things thoroughly with me while also chit chatting about life. She made me feel like we are close friends. You can put her name under the definition of professional customer service. Everyone else was also very nice. Don’t let the buzzer at the door scare you, it’s just letting you know to open the door. But overall the staff here is very friendly, providing a great atmosphere. They even have snacks available on saturdays! I would recommend coming here, most definitely.

I have been banking with Patelco for a little over a year now. The customer service here is impeccable. Everyone is friendly and ready to assist the customers. A couple months ago I needed to apply for a personal loan. Derek not only spent the time to gather the information that he needed to secure the loan for me, but he also went above and beyond and transferred one of my high interest credit cards to a lower interest card through them. I have been beyond happy with his work ethic and recommend this branch to everyone.

Sadly, I’m now looking for a new credit union/​bank. Recent changes to my local branch seem to serve no purpose other than to isolate me from my money and the people who handle it.
I’ve banked at this branch for a couple of years, and was always pleased with the people here. Granted, I could not get the bank to stop emailing me spam and junk mail on a regular basis, but I was willing to overlook these flaws for a good in-​person experience. I guess being put on their spam list is what I get for creating an online account to transfer funds from a savings account to a checking account.
In recent weeks, though, changes to the actual credit union have made the banking process so impersonal and mentally trying that I feel I must take my money and business elsewhere. First there were small changes, like being difficult when trying to deposit a check from an insurance company that was made out to me and my husband, even though we were both in the bank, both have accounts, and both had endorsed the check.
Next was to separate the tellers from customers by several inches of lucite; it looks more like a 24-​hour check-​cashing facility in a bad neighborhood instead of a local credit union.
The final straw was when I went to the credit union today and was appalled to find that I could no longer just go into the bank to make a deposit. Now, one must ring a cheap battery-​powered doorbell and wait for someone to let you in. I no longer have access to my money that the credit union uses (along with other members’ accounts) to conduct their business. When there are a few people in line and the tellers are busy taking care of their needs, sometimes you can wait for five minutes or more trying to get someone’s attention so you can go in to make a deposit or cash a check. That is, assuming the battery in the doorbell doesn’t run out or the adhesive that sticks the doorbell to the metal doorframe doesn’t lose it’s «stickiness» and get lost.
None of the employees working at this credit union like these changes, if you ask them. The lucite walls between you and the tellers mean that you have to raise your voice to be heard, and so do they. In their little «cage» area, it can get difficult to communicate when there is more than one or two tellers in there. Dealing with loose change is now a chore, also; if you don’t have enough quarters to make a $ 10 roll, you can no longer stack them for the teller in $ 1 stacks for easy counting while the teller takes care of your other needs. Everything must be dumped into a little tray for the teller to awkwardly reach through to access.
I had been willing to overlook the more obvious flaws for a while, since the people working there are — on the whole — customer-​oriented and pleasant to deal with. However, now that the «higher ups» have decided to erect barriers (literally and figuratively) between the credit union and their members/​customers, I have no qualms about giving a negative review to warn others and in taking my patronage to someone who more obviously wants it.

Great experience here. We originally went to get a used car loan, which we got hassle free and extremely quick. Great great and use the CUDL system, which the dealership new all about so they didn’t try to get us to use their financing (one less thing to worry about). Then we consolidated some old credit balances to Patelco, got a great rate and saved $ 100 per month by consolidating with a lower rate! Thanks Derek Lowe!

I am amazed by the great customer service I received. Was helped by Regional team Lead Brittany and I can honestly say I feel relieved coming to this branch and getting my car loan from here.

Great bank, super caring service. Helpful. Will be back for all my banking needs!
The situation
I have a bank account from North Carolina. I have money in an online stock broker (
). On Friday when I moved I initiated a transfer from my stock broker to my NC account for $ 4500. Then I found a Patelco and opened a free checking account. I start work on Thursday and need to get my cash out of my online stock broker account so I could buy a used car (for $ 3000). I needed to get a car asap because work is starting in two days. My cash was held up b/​c it took 2 – 4 business days to transfer between my online stock broker and my NC account. I went into Patelco and Derek was incredibly helpful and we talked through options. We decided that a vacation loan was best. I needed the full $ 3000 and would pay it back by the end of the week when my $ 4500 came through.
Derek’s help
The problem was I could only get approved for $ 1000. Derek was patient, took the time to listen, and pursued every available outlet to him to help me. He called the loan officer. He talked to his manager. He knew that I was able to fully pay back the loan and let me use his computer to access my official documents that showed the transfer was going through from my stock broker. He re-​submitted my loan application with this new information and I was approved! He was professional, kind, and most of all, caring. He really made me feel cared for and went way above and beyond to help me out.
Why I am thankful to be at Patelco
I can’t stand the big banks. I am so thankful to have found Patelco. If I was at any one of the big banks I would have been told «no» and shown the door about 10 minutes in. Derek spent over an hour with me helping me and being my advocate as a customer. He embodies why I chose to bank at Patelco. Trusting, caring, service where I am valued as a person, not as a number to profit from. I am so thankful for Patelco. This is the start of a very good relationship with my bank.

I used to go to the Hayward branch, but after a really bad experience there with a deposit, I came close to leaving Patelco.
Fortunately Aprylle at corporate not only cleared the issue with my deposit, but also directed me to this branch, where Natasha the branch manager got me the auto loan I needed, connected me to their auto buying service which got me a great deal on a 2014 Accord EX, and got it delivered to my doorstep within days.
I’m going to this branch from now on. Excellent customer service all the way.

Because my wife and I have direct deposit we rarely go into the branch, but when we do we get the best service than we would at a mega-​bank. New hours change for this branch as of 10÷1÷13 are: Monday — Thursday: 10:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m.

I love this credit union! Always courteous, and with excellent customer service! Thanks to all of you !

Have only been to this (Castro Valley) branch a few times but the service has been pretty good. The tellers are friendly and efficient and I’ve never had to wait in line.
I believe the machine they use to encode new debit cards needs replacing; I went there last year to get a new debit card and when I tried to use it, there were a few retail places whose card readers couldn’t read the magnetic strip. I went back there for a new card and the same thing happened, so I ended up going to the branch in San Leandro; the card they gave me there worked fine.
The credit union as a whole has been great. Very few fees, and those are much lower than most banks. Now if only they had free money orders…