Navy Federal Credit Union

[MamaValley]

Good Morning - I am wondering if anyone else has had issues with Navy Federal Credit Union.  Our sailor is on deployment and before he went we went to a lawyer to have power of attorney paperwork done so that we could help him do things while he was away.

We didn't have any problems until recently.  Our sailor was online and locked himself out of his account (guess he forgot his password) so I tried to go online and reset.  Wasn't able to.  Took our power of attorney paperwork to the closest Navy Federal Credit Union (45 minutes away) in Colorado.  They accepted the paperwork but wouldn't speak to me because my husband was named first.  So... a week later he went out to see them so they could scan his driver's license.  We were able to get a reset code that day and tried to change the password.  Didn't work.  Called again only to find out that because our sailor didn't do the Navy Federal online access form we can't get online.  Frustrated but ok.  We were able to pay his credit card that month.

Today husband called to pay off the credit card again and they now tell us that they can't even talk with us.  We can't pay off the card because we don't personally have an account with Navy Federal.  This is nuts... how are we supposed to help if they deny access even if we have legal paperwork?  We told them they were now going to mess up his credit because the bill wasn't paid... didn't make a difference.  They don't seem to care he is on deployment and can't readily do this banking stuff.  45 minutes on the phone, speaking with a manager, with no results!  Ughhh!

Can't wait for the Sailor to come home so we can leave Navy Federal.  There has to be another bank that we can work with that is better than them. 

So Frustrated at this point!

[Chipmunk]

MamaValley - I understand your frustration - I have now dealt with three estates and POAs don't always give you the authority or action that you think they will. I am not surprised that the bank would not speak to you, since you were not named as primary on the POA. - I don't know if this is an option now, but a better option for dealing with the bank, would have been for you or your husband to have been put on as a joint account owner, so that you could also set up online banking. - I realize this is probably not very helpful, but something to consider if you want to change financial institutions. I don't know that you would be treated much differently, it just depends. 

Unless you were trying to pay for the credit card from your sailor's account, you should be able to send a payment in to the credit card and they post a payment to it.

These things can be very frustrating and lawyers will tell you that all is covered, but it is best to also check with financial institutions, and be prepared to fax or mail copies of the POA in to whomever you are dealing with.

Mostly posting if someone else comes along and searches as well. Joint ownership on an account requires trust, but so does a POA. 

[sambam32]

Good to know, because my recruit wants to join the credit union and it's not very close to where we live at all. We may want to think this through a bit more.

[Chipmunk]

serenity24 - the best thing to do whether your recruit has an account with NFCU or any other is that the best way you can have access to their accounts if they need it is to be a joint owner on the account.

Some perks for NFCU - If you go in and set up their account before they head off for boot camp (I don't recall if yours has or not) they will be given the automatic deposit paper work that they take to boot camp as well. - It may take their first check almost four weeks or more to get deposited but it will. If they have their account listed as active - they turned my son's on the day before, or the day he left for boot camp, the their checks are usually deposited a day earlier than other accounts.

They have an early start savings certificate that you may deposit up to $3,000.00 and earn a higher interest rate - they just have to have a DOD direct deposit go in within 60 days I think, so we did the certificate only about 2 weeks before my recruit left.

They have Navy Federal Branches in most areas where the Navy bases are and on other sites - at least that is what the recruiters told us.

We personally bank at another local federal credit union and when our oldest went off to college in another town, she was able to deposit and cash checks as a shared partnership, but there were other things that were more difficult to do, and other surcharges that still applied. We managed those four years, but it was difficult for her and life would have been a lot easier if she had a bank that was local for her.

I had to contact the customer service regarding my recruit's account and the customer service call center is open 24/7, I think, so even though there is a branch locally, it was easier to make the phone call. I had a different experience though, because I was a joint owner on the account.

If your recruit wants to join Navy Federal Credit Union you or your husband, which ever plans to be joint, just needs to go in and do it all together. It is a lot easier. Also, mine started the application process online and then we still had to go in and that actually caused more confusion than if we had just gone to the branch in the first place.

[Cathie]

Is it possible for my son to put me on his account (joint) once he joins the credit union, like after boot camp when I see him?

[Chipmunk]

Cathie, yes your son can add you to his account as a joint owner there at the NFCU at RTC. Your comment sounds like he hasn't actually joined the credit union though, so if that is the case it will take longer to do and depending on what his schedule is like you may not have much time to deal with it all. You will both need to be there to sign papers, and show ID and get debit cards, etc.

I assume he already has another checking account where his paychecks are going to be directly deposited to. If that is a local account, it would be good for you or your husband to be on that one as well, but that is going to be harder to get joint ownership of since he is not there to sign papers to add you.

[Anti M]

My husband has been with NFCU since 1978, and I have been on his account for some time, plus we opened my own account, for access issues.  Navy Fed is super tough on security.  If you get a POA, be sure you get an individual one JUST for handling that account specifically.  Still, is is simply easier to add a user.  

I only had a problem once, when someone decided I opened a credit card in their name and cancelled mine (same name).  I don't know how she got past the tough security questions, and NCFU didn't know either, but we opened a different card using my full middle name.  Other than that, zero problems in over 30 years.  Truly useful for a sailor, as they have branches everywhere we have bases overseas.  A local bank or CU cannot compare for service on deployment.

[Cathie]

Thank you for the information

[Chipmunk]

I am posting this information here, in case someone does a search and comes across this blog. - I posted this in a more recent discussion that arose, but wanted to put it here as well. For some clarification on how POAs are dealt with at NFCU.

I was at our NFCU branch yesterday and spoke to a supervisor. This is what she shared with me regarding how they deal with POAs or why people have issues with them.

What people need to realize when they go to a local branch with  a POA in hand to the teller line, is that each POA presented to them has to be taken and forwarded on to their legal department. The POA has to be approved (vetted - as my husband stated) by the legal department before it is approved for the bank tellers to act upon it. I have had experience with other long distance companies or banks needing to see the POA, and approve them, but I hadn't really thought about it going through "Legal", with a local bank, until she mentioned this yesterday. The local NFCU branches also do not take care of approving loans, mortgages, etc. and have people coming in expecting a teller to be able to handle those items, and get upset when they can't. All of these are directed to their main central office, which is where the POAs are approved in the legal department.

So, if you take a POA into the local NFCU branch, it will be received by the teller and then it is forwarded onto the legal department, before it can ever be acted upon. Where other issues arise, is that at times there are errors on the POA and so corrections need to be made. But NFCU might try to contact the member and addresses or phone numbers have not been updated, so the POA just sits in a limbo status with Legal, until someone calls or comes back in to check on it. In this case, NO News in not necessarily Good News. She said that if you haven't heard back from them regarding the POA approval, to feel free to contact them. The best way is through their customer service phone number where they can direct you to the correct department. The NFCU member may also check with a teller the next time they are in and I think they are able to verify whether or not the POA has been approved.  She also said that they as tellers have to contact the main office through the customer service phone line, they are their go to support as well.

I realize this isn't the exact scenario that MamaValley was dealing with, but I hope this clarifies things a little more. I know it answered a misunderstanding that I had regarding POAs and banks/ credit unions - where I had a family member who had an issue in the past with a bank, and why I have just gone the route of Joint ownership on an account versus a POA.