“Selected an Excellent Choice Credit Union. Valley CU is a great one branch credit union that has served Salem, Oregon since 1957."
By: Allan R Kirby
We review Credit Unions:
Mysmallbank.com feels compelled to find the best credit unions and community banks to write a small review. These reviews are to help you learn more about community banks, possibly one that's in your area that you might be interested in. In this review we are choosing the following local Credit Union:
Name: Valley Credit Union
Location: Salem
Headquartered: 2096 Mission Street SE Salem, Oregon 97302
Branches: 1
Year Established: 1957
Review:
Valley Credit Union (VCU) is an incredible community-based credit union that provides full-service banking to members in the counties of Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill in the state of Oregon. Our decision to name Valley Credit Union, Excellent Choice Credit Union, was based on our own set of criteria such as; research on reviews, services offered as well as their commitment to their membership and the communities they serve. What we found was a great community credit union that potential members living in the city of Salem and surrounding counties might want to join. We need to also highlight that we loved the incredible rates provide by Valley for example Auto Loans as low as 2.24%, and Mortgage loans starting at 2.5% (APR) and even their MasterCard credit card has rates starting at 7.25%. Love it!
Valley Credit Union currently has close to $82 million in assets, 1 branch, and over 5,000 members. ibanknet. Valley Credit Union first opened its doors back in 1957 and has a long history of providing great service to its members.
"Our Review of Valley Credit Union clearly proves small local credit unions provide a superior customer service while also contributing back to the communities they serve."
First, we need to be clear, Valley credit union does not have a large social presence nor do they have a vast network of branches such as Bank of America, yet after doing some research we found Valley is highly valued by their members. Secondly, it was evident when reading reviews Valley clearly provides superior customer service while also contributing back to the communities they serve. Basically, we could not find any issues with this credit union, in fact, the more we reviewed the more we liked.
A credit union that is leveraging modern technology
Recently we found that Valley Credit Union has wisely made the decision to leverage the Eltropy text messaging platform to better engage their members using messaging apps such as; Text/SMS, iMessage, LINE, WhatsApp, WeChat. The Eltropy platform will allow Valley credit union to continue to provide personalized banking with their members through mediums such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets instead of members physically visiting the branch. This is yet another example of credit unions leveraging the power of fintech to provide a high degree of customer engagement. This is in our view is a competitive edge over major banks.
"Valley is located in Salem, the Capital city of Oregon. A scenic city of 170,000 that includes the Allie Ford Museum of Art and the Bush House Museum."
We will now provide you some highlights of specific products and services Valley Credit Union provides its members as well as their commitment to their community.
Great Ways to Save with Club Accounts
This is a long-forgotten service with large banks but not with Valley, they provide special accounts designed savings to help members work towards a specific goal. With no account minimum, these are easily customizable and flexible ways to help members save money for:
Christmas
Vacations
Taxes
Education
Rainy day fund
Valleys' No-Fee Credit Cards:
When looking at some of Valley Credit Unions services offerings another offering that we liked was their MasterCard credit card offerings which include; the MasterCard Classic, MasterCard Secured, and MasterCard Rewards;
Some of the credit card benefits include:
Low rates
No processing fee
No annual fee
Minimum payment is 3% of the loan balance
No cash advance fees
No balance transfer fees
Commitment to Community:
Valley is very active with the counties they serve, they are very active with local charities and have donated volunteer hours as well as over $500,000 in the last 10 years to local organizations and the community.
Excellent Choice Credit Union:
With high customer satisfaction, great service offerings, the use of modern fintech along with their long-standing commitment to their community it's not hard to see why this is such a great credit union. This is why Mysmallbank.com believes Valley CU is well deserved to receive the designation of Excellent choice, Credit Union [2]. So if you're looking for a great community-based credit union and you live or plan to live in the counties of Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill, Oregon, this could be a great financial institution for you.
Finally, we found that Valley CU is a federally insured credit union through NCUA [1].
Who is Eligible:
As per their website: You are eligible to join Valley Credit Union if you meet one of these requirements:
Membership is open to individuals and businesses who live or work in these 4 Oregon counties:
Linn
Marion
Polk
Yamhill
If you meet the requirements you can become a member!
Apply Now to become a member.
The following provides additional information on Valley CU services, branches as well as hours of operation.
Services Offered:
Full-Service Credit Union: Yes
Valley CU Routing Number: 323276401
Banking:
Checking
Savings
IRAs
Certificates
Credit Union Loans:
Auto
Mortgages
RV, Motorcycle, and Boat
Personal
Home Equity Line of Credit
Credit Card: Master Card
Credit Union Online
Online and Mobile Banking: Yes
Valley CU Branch Location:
2096 Mission Street SE
Salem, Oregon, 97302
Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Mailing Address:
PO Box 12903 Salem, Oregon 97309
Drive-Up Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Phone Numbers:
503-364-7999 (local)
800-273-6962 (toll-free)
Fax:
503-363-4590
About Community Credit Unions:
What are some benefits of using a credit union over a major bank?
There are many great benefits of using a credit union over a major bank, these benefits include;
Better rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposits.
Competitive mortgage and loan rates.
Fees tend to be lower at credit unions.
Local deposits of a credit union are normally used to make loans back to local businesses.
Credit Unions tend to have a more personalized customer service experience and have higher customer satisfaction rates.
Community Credit Unions provide local jobs and support local charities.
Notes:
1. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions. NCUA's standard maximum share insurance amount at $250,000.00.
2. Periodically Mysmallbank.com will name a credit union as a top choice (Top credit union) based on several criteria such as customer and employee reviews, complaints, satisfaction, growth, locations, brand, and social responsibility. We only select the best credit unions, so they must meet minimum standards of excellences (Excellent Choice) to be reviewed by Mysmallbank.com
In Review is a segment of the MySmallBank.com blog written by Allan R Kirby, who writes and produces Personal Finance articles and videos.
Disclosure: mysmallbank.com nor the author received any compensation from the mentioned credit union for this article. The article is our opinion only and is written to help readers learn more about local credit unions.
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