Fortera Federal Credit Union
reviews and complaints

This bank starts charging overdraft fees before you are overdrawn. We had to agree to a fresh start one time in the amount of $1300. Even though I asked to not have overdraft protection twice. I set up alerts but never got them. They also let an account get $1000 before declining your card.

Company not following Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They not give me proof of account and it's showing wrong info on my credit reports. This breaks federal and state laws. They not give me any evidence of the $19,651.00 account. This goes against Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act.

I've called them many times about my issue and every time they can't seem to help. I have the money in my bank account to pay my vehicle loan. I pay online by logging into my bank and using express pay. I choose my checking account, but it gets kicked back every time. I call and they can't give me a valid reason or fix my issue. All they say is, "Oh, we can take a phone payment by debit card, but there's a $10 surcharge." Just take my money so I can pay my loan. I don't understand why the representatives can't help me, especially when I'm gone for a month without my phone. How am I supposed to schedule a payment if they can't even help me add a 3rd party account because I don't bank with them or set up autopay? I'm really frustrated with this whole situation, and I'll be really angry if it affects my credit statement because of employees who won't or don't want to help.

On October 29, Fortera Federal Credit Union had hired a subcontracted repo truck to repossess my 2014 *** from my workplace at *** in ***. The driver was informed that my car was a front-wheel drive, but he still towed it backwards, causing visible damage that was witnessed by employees and even by a nearby *** store, located just half a block away, where the tow truck had parked to have a conversation with a Sheriff officer. As the driver was leaving the store, he pulled onto the road with the front of my car dragging, resulting in sparks flying and almost causing a fire. Everyone present was yelling at him to stop, and he eventually got out of the truck, clearly upset because he knew he had made a mistake with the car.

I have contacted Fortera multiple times and spoken with the same lady, asking her if they have assessed the damage on my car and what actions will be taken to address it. I have been diligent in keeping my bill payments up to date, as I am eager to retrieve my car from repossession. However, they refuse to provide me with any information regarding the steps they will take. All they tell me is that I have a 10-day window to pay for my car, or it will be put up for auction.

Two days ago, I bought my wife lunch at ***. Balance after was $62. In the evening, I went to *** expecting to buy needed groceries. I checked the balance on my Fortera app beforehand. The available balance was $62. The bill at checkout was $77 so I knew there was going to be an overdraft charge, so my balance would be about minus $46. Apparently, Fortera has taken all the pending which were already reflected in the available balance and slapped "courtesy" charges on them to the amount of about $186 dollars. They robbed me of $186.00. Again, the balance should only have been minus $46. I don't mind paying the $31.00 from the *** purchase. I just believe it's highway robbery for me to have to pay that additional $186.00 in overdrafts for items that had already been accounted for in Fortera's available balance. Again. These had already been charges that had been made and accounted for prior to the *** charge made earlier in the day. I want that money returned to my account.

I got charged fees that I shouldn't have. This bank is quick to charge fees and even when they're wrong, they won't give me my money back. I had two direct deposits go into my account. When my second deposit was supposed to go in, they held on to items that had already cleared and then reposted them, which made me have $310 in NSF fees. I had enough money in my account to cover the charges that had already gone through. I talked to a representative who said I shouldn't have gotten so many fees, but she couldn't do anything about it. Then I talked to another rep who said, and I quote, "Yes, you got those fees, but we can't reverse them because they're NSF fees. If they were courtesy pay fees, we could've reversed them." What's the difference? They're the same amount. So they can reverse overdraft fees but not NSF fees because they said it's their system that causes those fees. The way the system works is if items are pending versus if they're posted, they'll charge you all the activity at once and the system will recycle the charges regardless of what came in first, and that's why I got the fees. I've never heard of getting an NSF fee for a card transaction when I had the money in my account. You can't use your card if you don't have money. I've been with this bank for over a decade, and their financial practices only benefit them, not the customers who have accounts. Because of their system, I had to get a recovery loan, which they offered me when the same thing happened before and it made me over $1000 negative even after my deposit. Their only solution was to offer me a loan. A loan to benefit them again and fix my negative balance.

This ain't the first time this happened, but on August 16th & August 18th Fortera charged me NSF fees before my account even went negative. Can you believe it? They've charged me a whopping $4371.00 in NSF fees this year, and it's only August! Ain't that a bit too much? That's like $546.38 every month! Now, I ain't saying all of 'em were wrong, but I can bet most of 'em were 'cause they charge the fee before you even go negative. Fortera has a habit of slappin' a $31.00 NSF fee on your account before it even goes in the red. And guess what? The only reason it goes negative is 'cause of their darn fees! In them two days I mentioned earlier, they hit me with $370.00 in NSF fees, and you know what? It caused one of my checks to bounce. I had deposits goin' in on both them days, but it was pointless 'cause by the time the deposits hit, they had already taken their fees, leavin' my account in the red. They're straight-up stealin' money from folks and gettin' away with it. It's a real shame, especially with COVID-19 and everything gettin' more expensive. They're treatin' people real bad. Now, when this first happened to me, they were nice enough to refund me the NSF fees, but this time? They only gave me back 3 fees, which was a measly $93.00. That's nothin' compared to the $370 they took from me! I tried talkin' to 'em, but they ain't friendly at all. They don't think they gotta do nothin' to help. I'm tellin' ya, don't open a checking account here, and I'm lookin' for a bank that actually cares 'bout their customers and don't try to keep 'em in the negative.

I contacted Fortera about a nsf I acquired due to*** drafted my account without my permission. I talked to a *** and a *** in regards to the matter and explained to them that*** would not provide me with a merchant letter and only said they would credit my cell phone account. I sent in proof that I spoke to*** and they did admit it was their error but Fortera would not accept that and wanted a merchant letter when most companies have policies that they don't give out merchant letters. So after *** declined to reverse the nsf then I asked for a supervisor (***) who also said it was there bank policy but at the same time questioned if it was true by saying it's odd they wouldn't give me a merchant letter even though they were at fault. Which made me feel like she was question the validity of what I was saying. She also recommended me to go to the nearest store to try and get a letter which I have spoken to them and they said they are only a sales and also don't provide merchant letters. I called all 3 stores and they all said the same thing. I called back to*** again and they once again said they could refund my bank account it's fee or email me a merchant letter. I provided Fortera with a SS of proof of a chat that showed proof that*** verified that it was indeed their fault and the rep stated it during the chat the money shouldn't have come out. Fortera could have refunded me my $31 because I did show proof that I wasn't at fault as a courtesy but their representatives for online and over the phone would not hear what I had to say or accept my proof. I tried calling in to speak to a rep to let them hear on a three way call with*** that they wouldn't provide a letter but *** wouldn't talk to me nor hear my side and said she responded back to me during email. I have provided all proof of conversation and emails. I feel the rules of reversal of fees need to be looked at and reevaluated.