Community Trust Credit Union

The management stinks. These people are clueless. Save yourself some time and avoid.

Why can’t I give them zero stars??? This place is the biggest pain in my ass. I’ve never dealt with such bullsh** ever!!. I will not EVER get an account there ever again. The people are rude. And just horrible policies

Friendly and helpful! Didn’t take long to set up my account with them. Nice facility too.

Community Trust Credit Union is a welcome change of pace to the larger banks in the area. I go to the branch in Grayslake (Lake Street & Rt. 45) since it’s closest to home. I refinanced my Harley loan with them for an interest rate that was a fraction (75% lower) of what I was paying through original dealer financing. The service I received from my financing officer, Julia York, was as good, if not better, than what I get when I go to my regular bank (Chase).
Since they’ve saved me tons of cash every month on my loan, my girlfriend, her sister, her son, and my son, have all opened checking and savings accounts with them. Also, we recently bought a car; and did all the financing through Community Trust with an interest rate that was better than the dealer’s.
I’ll still keep my Chase accounts for daily use and investing; but I am very happy with the service I’m getting on my loans — so happy, in fact, that I would recommend using CTCU for your financing options.

I’ve been a long time member and the service there is top notch. The chain banks have employees that work at their locations. Community Trust has your friends working with them. If service is important to you, do your banking there.

I have always been a fan of Community Trust. Everyone I’ve encountered is helpful, friendly, and will do way more (in terms of service) than the big banks will do.

Community Trust sucks. Besides the fact that they’re local and only have like two branches, those branches have horrible hours and are never open, it seems like. I have no clue why my mom insisted on using this place… as soon as I graduated college and went out on my own I yanked all of my money out of this place and closed my account.
They never really did anything too egregious to me, so I can’t give them 1 star. But I just hated how they were never open and only had the two locations. If you never leave Gurnee, I guess this place would be okay for you. Maybe I just prefer national chains?

I’ve been a CTCU member for 25 years. They’ve changed a LOT over the years, some good and some not good. For instance, at least they have hours on Wednesdays now.
However, CTCU has a number of banking practices that are counter to the credit union ethos. Namely, they outsource their credit cards, home loans, and automatic bill payment — all things they used to keep in house. The problems? Customer service and accountability. I have often asked the bank a question about my credit card or automatic bill pay only to be told I have to ask the credit card company or bill pay service. I will then ask the credit card company or bill pay service (which refuses to divulge its company name) only to be told they can’t answer that question and I have to contact the bank. Also, no one at the bank and no one who handles the credit cards or bill service has any names of people at the other end who are in a position to be of help.
For my home loan, CTCU originated it but sold it to Well Fargo. Back in the day, when CTCU serviced their own loans, I could have set up automatic payments from my savings account directly to my home loan — without a third-​party.
CTCU has a simple website with lots of functionality. However, it does not work well with Firefox (some areas of the website are inaccessible to Firefox users due to «unknown error“s.) CTCU has, again, outsourced their online bill payments. Here’s how it works: I pay my rent, for instance, and the bill pay service takes the money out on the 20^th. On the 23^rd or 25^th, depending on how slow they are that month, the billpay service mails the check to my landlord. Why are they sitting on my money for up to five days before it’s mailed? Also, the month they double-​billed me (out of the blue), CTCU applied a bounced check fee (though no check was written or issued) and couldn’t refund the fee because ‘the bill pay service instructed them to issue the fee and lock my account.’ What kind of bank is THAT beholden to a third party?
Also, CTCU has adopted a number of questionable banking practices. For instance, they offer people the ability to defer two months of car loan payment a year. Great, right? It costs $ 45 and the loan continues to accrue interest. So, for me, who had to do this one month three years into my car loan, that one-​month deferment will actually cost me a bit over $ 70 in fees, interest, etc.
Also, CTCU now has periodic drawings, prizes, and so forth. Their marketing strategy makes them seem more like a «gimmick» bank than a «hometown» bank. CTCU seems to be suffering from an identity crisis — what kind of bank do they really want to be? One which provides a useful, reliable community service, or one that is really interested in helping the bank’s managers become wealthy.
However, CTCU still has interest rates, loan origination fees, and service costs that absolutely cannot be beat by any non-​credit union. ALEC can probably beat CTCU, but even some other credit unions (let alone standard banks) can’t match CTCU’s offerings in terms of cost.
In all, if you’re eligible for CTCU banking, and don’t want to do anything that requires actual interaction with the bank, they are a good option an can provide reasonable services at a decent rate.