Intro – Top Rated Credit union
Patelco Credit Union was recently ranked and reviewed by AdvisoryHQ as a top rated credit union.
Firms on our top rated lists were selected after they successfully passed AdvisoryHQ’s ground-breaking four-step banks and credit unions selection methodology.
Click here for a step-by-step breakdown of our methodology process and selection process: AdvisoryHQ’s Methodology for Selecting Top Banks and Credit Unions.
Below we have provided a detailed review of Patelco Credit Union, including the specific factors we used in our decision-making process.
Patelco Credit Union Review
Patelco Credit Union is based in California and is one of the largest top credit unions throughout the entire state. Patelco was founded in 1936 by employees of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. Since that time, it has grown and now has assets of $5 billion, with 300,000 members across the nation.
Image source Patelco CREDIT UNION
This not-for-profit, full-service credit union includes employees of more than 1,000 small and large businesses around the U.S.
Key Factors That Enabled This Credit Union to Rank as a Top Credit Union
Cited below are some of the factors weighing heavily in the decision to rank Patelco as one of the best credit unions.
Accessibility
Patelco strives to ensure banking and accounts are completely accessible to members. Some of the ways they remain available include the management of 37 branches, as well as options for online banking, mobile banking, and telephone services.
Patelco also has more than 30,000 CO-OP ATMs that are available to members, and members can use more than 6,000 Credit Union Shared Service Center branches.
The result is that members gain the benefits of a community credit union, plus they’re never without access to their money, their accounts, and their general financial information.
Great Rates
As a not-for-profit credit union, the earnings at Patelco don’t go to investors. They’re instead invested into members in the form of lower rates on loans and account fees, and higher rates on savings and investment.
Currently, some of the rates available through Patelco include auto loans as low as 2.24%, credit cards as low as 6.45%, and 30-year fixed mortgages as low as 3.651%. Also, on a 12-month IRA certificate, current rates are 0.25%.
UChoose Reward Points
The UChoose Rewards Points program offers members of Patelco the opportunity to earn points and then redeem them for cash, travel, or gifts.
When you participate in the program, every signature-based transaction gives you a point for each dollar spent on a Visa Gold credit card. You earn a point for every two dollars spent on a debit card. At 2500 points, users can start redeeming them for cash or other rewards.
You can also take advantage of special offers, which let participants get more with fewer points.
Points have a three-year lifespan.
Some of the travel rewards include round trip airfare to anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States or hotel nights at hotels such as the Sheraton and Ritz-Carlton.
InvestDaily
InvestDaily is a service offering from Patelco that lets participants invest in mutual funds directly from their Patelco checking account or health savings account.
The service is offered at one low monthly fee, so users can invest as much as they’d like while paying the same fee. The first month is free, and it’s available on the Online Banking platform, so trading and management are easy.
You can also choose how you invest or set up recurring investments, all using InvestDaily.
Click any of the links below to browse exclusive reviews of all top rated banking firms:
AdvisoryHQ (AHQ) Disclaimer:
Reasonable efforts have been made by AdvisoryHQ to present accurate information, however all info is presented without warranty. Review AdvisoryHQ’s Terms for details. Also review each firm’s site for the most updated data, rates and info.
Note: Firms and products, including the one(s) reviewed above, may be AdvisoryHQ's affiliates. Click to view AdvisoryHQ's advertiser disclosures.