1st MidAmerica Credit Union in 731 East Bethalto Drive

Customer Reviews about 1st MidAmerica Credit Union:

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  I was charged 1400.00, for insurance on my car covering a time that was already history. For only for 3 months, and this insurance doesn't cover property and bodily damage .I am widowed. I’m not in good health but I do the right thing. My debit card from another bank expired and my car insurance was using that expired card to auto deduct payments. I didn't know this had occurred because I moved to Kentucky the same month. When I tried to rectify it, they told me I could no longer receive coverage from them because I moved to KY. I was much more concerned about getting my medical information transferred. Diabetes can be life or death without insulin. I honestly didn't understand the ramifications. At the beginning of October, I found out the insurance was astronomical because it had lapsed on my car. Wonderful! People who can barely afford insurance get the penalty of paying more if they can’t afford it in the first place. I live on a fixed income. It took me by surprise and I was unprepared for the high prices. I also did not realize that not only would I have to pay an arm and leg for insurance when I got it – but that 1st MidAmerica, had every intention of charging me for the months I did not have coverage. Originally they charged me 3603.00 I failed to memorize the fine print of my car loan contract, apparently. I had an inspection done when I got my insurance renewed. It’s documented. MidAmerica did refund 3 months but not for the 3 months that were not covered. How generous. There is no law that says a car owner must go back and backdate insurance for a car that has not been insured. The law only states that the cars must be insured. If the car is not insured, a fine is assessed to the owner – and while part of paying the fine is also getting insurance, there is NO REQUIREMENT to backdate the insurance to cover the uninsured period. MidAmerica supercharged me for a period of history and there is no law stating that they must do so. I looked up the definition of usury. While this is not the exact same situation where there is an illegal action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest, what did happen here was that MidAmerica used an unreasonable high rate of insurance to add to my already high rate interest loan. I know moral and ethics is on my side. I checked for precedence on this. Mortgage lenders did the same thing to owners in the past. When the owners failed to produce insurance, the banks charged such a heinous amount – that it wound up in court and the courts ruled in favor of the owners. The owners got back the overages charged to them. The courts ruled: “loan provider cannot charge more than what it necessary to insure the house.” No one is going to believe 1400.00 for 3 months of insurance is necessary. My driving record alone justifies a lower amount. There is something unclear to me about why a credit union would purposely go and pick up the most expensive insurance to use against their members. At least until I looked at my interest rate. Then it all became very clear. I really don’t understand amortization, and interest compounded daily. What I do know is that 10+% is rather high for an auto loan. Add the overcharged insurance rate…I recognize that my ignorance about insurance on my car is no excuse for the period I went without insurance, nor is not having the money. I am a member who has paid 2 years on time, and any credit problems on file are due to a death in the family not irresponsible spending and credit cards. If they are going to charge 1400.00 for every 3 months of insurance coverage, I think that kind of money should be clearly stated IN ADVANCE – no surprise parties.
  By Janice Callaway, April 21, 2017
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  We have had a long relationship with Olin Credit Union- and, for the most part, it has been very satisfactory. When the change was made to 1st MidAmerica, there were some subsequent changes as would be expected. To a certain extent, there seems to be some of the bigger institution mindset infiltrating what was once an exceptional customer service experience. As a case in point, 1st MidAmerica offers a VISA card through the credit union. When we had a dispute with unwarranted and fraudulent charges on this card, the credit union offered little in the way of help. Their contention was that everything had to be dealt with through VISA only. I understand their limitations here, but the old credit union would have offered to get on the phone and give VISA a push- after all, 1st is a customer of VISA in this case, just as I am a customer of 1st Mid. Instead, I was told they could do nothing and have a nice day. The level of concern and customer service fails to meet the levels we experienced when we first opened an account here. Will I maintain my accounts here- absolutely. But, I wish there was a manager somewhere that would work to restore true customer service in an environment where there is so little these days. Thank you.
  By Charles Wiegand, March 02, 2017
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  I was unable to buy the latest Google Nexus phone with my card issues by this bank because they block *all* large purchases made from Google. *All of them*. I can't stay with a bank that I need to work around in order to make purchases. There were better ways of allowing this (for example, by allowing purchases from "GOOGLE *DEVICES", etc) but they're too out of touch to care. I've also been asking them for compatibility with online finance services like Mint for years and my requests have fallen on deaf ears. If you care about having nice, newer features in a bank then definitely look elsewhere.
  By Mike Kennedy, January 01, 2017
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  Missed a skip a pay opportunity and there were NO exceptions. I get tons of mail from 1st Mid America regarding life ins I don't want and I've indicated this on several forms. Thinking skip a pay form got mixed up in all of the unwanted correspondence. Could really use a month of no car payment but they won't budge because I have automatic payment which is supposed to be a good thing. Local credit union in Springfield, IL works with customers much better. Annoyed!
  By Lynda Musselman, December 19, 2016

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About 1st MidAmerica Credit Union in Bethalto