stay away from this bank . they are a scam. They keep adding extra charges with out any explanation

Great customer service!!! When you call the representatives are very knowledgeable and friendly!

DFCU in Needham is a first rate banking institution. Amazingly ALL of the associates conduct business efficiently, thoroughly and in a friendly manner. Juan specifically took an extended time to help me with an issue that I could have done online. He did so in a friendly and patient way. I can't say enough good things about all of the associates, and I highly recommend them for your personal and business needs read more

The rates and promotions are exceptional and the customer service is on point . I left a major bank and have no regrets

Worse bank ever!! Watch out for auto loans, they add mysterious charges during your loan. That's not legal, and won't remove it. This bank does all kind of illegal things, and need to be reported. You have been warned, do not use this bank, they are not trust worthy and it's impossible to get a hold of people. read more

You'd be better off burying your money in the woods and trying to find it later. I know it would be faster than actually trying to get your funds out of this bank! It's 24 hours before you can even speak to someone who can help you with what you need. Oh, and my favorite part is that t to make it easier for you.....someone will randomly call you whenever they get to it. So just wait by your phone for about the next 24 hours for them to call. Someone send them a telegram and let them know about the internet! read more

This bank sucks hide your money from this terrible place, if you ever have any mistakes on transferring money they take away your ability to transfer money at all without any warning now I cant pay bills. Hope you guys go bankrupt read more

My mom passed away in November 2023. She had been a customer of Direct Federal CU since 1971 when it was Polaroid CU. She continued as a customer even after moving to FL. We had to go through probate here in FL and long story short Direct Federal made a claim on mom's estate for a $900 Visa bill. Not only did you make a claim on the balance, but you sent the request in after the 90-day waiting period had expired, further delaying the Probate Completion. She was a loyal customer who got several loans and paid the CU plenty of interest. I am not going to get into the horrible customer service in just closing her accounts and sending proceeds to the Probate Depository. You have to do better, especially when dealing with someone who just lost a loved one. read more

I'm never disappointed when I reach out to DCU. There's nothing like the friendly, local, efficient service I always receive.

Thank you Direct for providing exceptional customer service. The Team at Direct is friendly, knowledgeable and very welcoming. It is a pleasure doing business with Direct. read more

Direct Federal Credit Union - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Needham, Massachusetts

Greg Ryan was amazing to work with for a commercial closing. Would recommend to anyone!

Direct Federal has provided great customer service for all of our needs overs the past 20 years. Thank you!

They recently outsourced their customer service overseas and it's so bad, my business dropped them as our financial institution. The one advantage they previously held was that it took seconds to get a real person at the bank on the phone when you called - something that does carry value. My last call kept me waiting 25 minutes and I was rewarded by speaking with someone from a call center that couldn't help me and asked me to call back later. I'm not quite sure why someone would now choose this bank over any other. read more

If I could give less than one star I would happily do so. This USED TO BE a great little credit union. I know it's hard to believe but now they are worse than Bank of America. I know that is a strong statement since BoA is the standard of awfulness against which all banks are judged but DFCU has gone completely to the dogs. Recently they changed their online banking system from a nifty, convenient, fast and easy tool to an absolutely unusable piece of crap that is non-intutiive, unhelpful, featureless and actually discourages you from using online banking, which during a pandemic, is astounding. I cannot stress enough how poorly designed this application is - I have to repeat the word "unusable". It is an enormous effort to change banks these days but I have no choice. I have to go someplace that has online banking that actually makes sense. read more

Have been a member for 25 + years. They recently "upgraded" their customer service and it's horrendous. Wait times via phone are about 1/2 hour. They also updated their "systems" whenever I go to sign in I have to wait for a verification email ( every time I'm on my personal PC). Then I can't even tell which account is which. The numbers are highlighted no names. So transferring money to my spouse was an ordeal and it's going to be into the future. Looking for another bank and taking 8 accounts with me. Oh and the service manager never even called me back. What a shame. read more

First off, I am Dan C. Somerville, Massachusetts not Dan C. S.F. as D.C.U. has me listed. I joined the D.F.C.U. when it was Polaroid C.U. probably 50 years ago. Loved it until about 3-5 years ago. Always raved that they still had reps answering the phones that could take care of 95% of questions and problems. Then they changed their website. I actually talked with a "Service" manager 2 years ago and asked her is they had inadvertently hired a competitor's webmaster to redesign their site. It is the worst, most complicated and user unfriendly site I have ever encountered in my life. It's no better now than when the phony "Service" Manager told me it would get better. I have moved all my business out of D.F.C.U. but am co-mingled with another member who won't move so I have to endure D.F.C.U.'s incompetence. read more

I have an auto loan with these clowns. For the first few months, everything was fine. They mailed the bill, I paid it. Simple as that. That's how it's supposed to work. And so it did, until these clowns stopped mailing out my bill. Then I had to call and wait forty minutes to talk to a fellow who admitted that NO ONE received a bill in March. He said if I paid right away I wouldn't receive a penalty. What a joke! A penalty for a bill I never received? Two months later, SSDD. This place stinks. Take your business and money and look elsewhere. read more

Banking problems? Not here! After being a customer at DFCU for about 15 years, they have been so unremarkable (which is a good thing for a financial institution) that I haven't even thinking about writing a review. Over the years I have had car loans, mortgages, and usual bank accounts with DFCU. Even international wire transfers work as fast (or faster) than with the usual big name banks. There are actually no ATM fees on SUM labeled dispensers. Unfortunately, deposits only work on a few ATMs around the area. I usually use one at Century Bank. But even better is their bank by mail service. You can drop checks in a special envelop in any USPS box. Credits usually show up the next day early in the afternoon. During four years in the Washington, DC area I continued banking with DFCU as the Maryland and DC banks were really terrible. To be come a member, you have to live, work or worship in Needham. To open an account, you can always worship in Needham for a day... read more

They were really good for a car loan but are installing a new computer system and website and everything is terrible. Customer service can't answer questions related to your account, you now need a specialist who will call you in 1 to 3 days. All I needed was a confirmation on my account number! I went to another bank and got a lower rate and refinanced. Never again...stay away! read more

This company does shady Things like charging direct deposit 2 times in on month. This was going on for several months before I caught on. after days of trying to get in contact with someone to fix this issue, I had a manger fix it and gave me her word this would never happen again. Well for a few months everything went well and was only charged on the 30th of each mont. this month I was charged the 7th and 30th of the same month. There was notes on my account that this would never happen again and everything was fixed. Well I am now a day later and I get no response, no apologies. I would like to close this auto loan out and I now see reviews that they don't like to send the titles out. I don't recommend this bank to anyon. read more

This bank recently updated their systems and the transition to their new platform was not implemented correctly at all. They have outsourced their member services team to a group of people that are limited in what they can assist with over the phone. They submit another ticket to have someone "call you back". Two weeks after their supposed upgrade and multiple phone calls with promises of a callback have yielded zero results. The latest phone call was suggesting a visit to the location to get it sorted out. Terrible, you have elderly customers who shouldn't have to visit an in person bank to get an online account issue sorted out. Next step is filing a complaint with the AG. Your "upgrade" failed. read more

Very poor support for international credit card use. They use a vendor called Visa Secure to verify transactions on foreign websites; the vendor supposedly sends a code to an email address or phone associated with the account. The email address it tried to use was valid, but I never received the code. The phone choices were old numbers, even though I updated them weeks ago. Totally unprofessional. read more

I have had several car loans and home mortgages with Direct Federal Credit Union in the past. Just last week I paid off my home mortgage and it took forever to get real people to talk to. They now have a call center and it is the most frustrating means to try to talk to a real person at Direct. Every time I have called in the last week, I have been left on hold indefinitely, sometimes as long as a 1/2 hour. If it weren't for the fact that I was paying off my home mortgage, I would have given up on them all together. I finally reached a nice gentleman, David, in Customer Relations and he arranged for someone to call me to give me a payoff figure. I printed what she sent me and I brought it into Direct to pay off my mortgage last week. The woman at the front desk explained that they no longer have tellers. She and the other 2 guys were "the tellers" now, sitting behind desks. I gave her the printout of the payoff and she seemed totally baffled. I asked her if there was a problem and she said the computer didn't match up with the payoff amount. She told me she didn't need the payoff sheet provided by another Direct rep, but apparently she did. I just checked my account and it shows I owe more money on my mortgage pay off. I tried 3 times to reach a real person at Direct today with lengthy hold times. I finally reached a real person 10 minutes before closing time but she couldn't find David in Customer Relations so he's going to call me back. The funny thing is that David asked me last week to consider investing savings in Direct so that they can extend loans to other people. There is NO WAY I would ever give them my savings because it's too difficult to get ahold of anyone at Direct. I will be taking my money to a local bank, such as Needham Bank, who has real people answering the phone, knowledgeable tellers who have been there for years and a very responsive on line support staff. I don't know when Direct Federal Credit Union became too big for their britches, but I've had it with them! They have lost their personal service and lost me as a customer. read more

This has to be the WORST credit union, I used to have ally and it was so convenient. with direct federal you sit on hold for hours just for people to hang up on you or transfer you for simplest tasks. The new online banking system is TERRIBLE and if I miss a payment it goes directly to next months so you're forced to call in, what's the point of the online system?! I find myself having to call more than using the "effortless online system" like they encourage. Ive also had somebody take my late payment over the phone for the next months payment so that months was never paid which Brought my credit down significantly. they need to bring back the old banking system and figure out there customer service because this company is trash. read more

I have been a member for a number of years, and had great service early on, but in the past year the service has been deplorable. I have to stay on hold forever, and then when I actually get to speak to someone, they can't perform the simplest of tasks. On three occasions I was told that my transaction would be handled, and absolutely nothing was done. I feel bad that this credit union has slipped in its service. I would absolutely switch my home equity line if it weren't such a pain to open a new one elsewhere. read more

For me buying a car is a pretty stressful ordeal. I am happy to report that financing my vehicle through Direct Federal has been such a delight, I would highly recommend anyone in need of an auto loan to check them out first. For starters, the rate offered for a used vehicle was 3% less than the rate being offered by the dealership and saving money is wonderful a wonderful thing. The process of obtaining the loan was very simple, I just filled out the application on their website and was notified via email within 20 mins that my loan had been approved. I realized after speaking with Paula Herendeen, the bank representative, that I would actually need $3000 more than I initially requested she graciously assisted me to secure the additional funds. Not only was she extremely accommodating but she personally followed up on the request with the finance department to obtain a response the same day. She was courteous and kind and her professionalism saved me a big hassle. I am delighted to have found Direct Federal Credit Union for my auto loan. I hope the rest of my car buying process follows the same positivity. read more

I've had a horrible experience getting online access to my account, despite multiple calls, talking to management, (David Leberge), and promises that "someone will call" to help me. And then I got a letter last month saying that there was a security breach, and my data was stolen. Great! I'm pretty frustrated with them, and unless you live locally and can go in person to straighten out issues, steer clear of them because their customer service is terrible. I've spent about 2 hours over the past 1 1/2 months on the phone so far. read more

They gave me auto loan with reasonable interest rate while other banks declined me Evan my Bank of America, Direct Federal Credit Union is the best I don't have any issue so far read more

Hard to love a bank. Actually, love is a strong word, but I've had considerably fewer problems with this credit union than any other financial institution I've used, and there have been a few. Free checking with online bill pay, quick response to problems, nice folks behind the counter. They're even smiling and helpful at 10 minutes to closing on a Friday afternoon. The only catch is that you have to pay those ATM fees, since you won't find a Direct ATM (not to be confused with ING Direct), and you have to live or work in Needham to be a member. read more

Update: as of July 2014 customers can get free banking if they have direct deposit and e-statements. I had this all along, so not sure why the change back to no fee. Plus get 10 cents refunded to you per debit transaction. I received $2.40 this month; almost half of what I used to pay in fees. Happy with the "new" fee schedule and always happy with the loan rates so 5 stars for that. Bummer is that I cannot increase my HELOC. Removing two stars, not because they will not give me more money - that is their prerogative - but for having a policy that does not make customers feel appreciated for years of loyalty and prompt payments and instead puts a negative spin on their achievements. The decision to deny the application was based only one metric - employment of less than two years at current employer. Come on! People change positions. I was feeling great about the new job until I applied for the HELOC increase. I am in the same industry and have never missed or been late in the thirteen years I have banked here. (Over this time I have had two mortgages, two HELOCs, two auto loans now everything is paid off but one mortgage and one HELOC.) It is time to update the crummy particle board kitchen before it disintegrates and causes leaks and damage to the house. This is both for aesthetics and to protect my investment (in a neighborhood that maintained and grew home values). They should appreciate that, especially as the first leinholder for this property. Turn me down for bad ratios or bad credit, but not for making a positive change in career growth within the same industry when all other metrics are met. Don't most lenders base credit decisions off of years of employment within an industry? That was always the question I was asked when filling out applications. I guess I will find out, because they are pushing me to search elsewhere. read more

I don't call the DCU often, once or twice a year at the most, but I am always amazed at the rudeness of the people who answer the phones. There seems to be no management in this department, no courtesy for Union members. Apparently a call bothers them. When I called them last week - my sole 2012 cal l- I was put on hold for about 15 minutes. Seemed longer but when I was finally connected, I mentioned this to the short-tempered female who came on the phone. I didn't know if the wait was caused by a shortage of employees, a flood of calls, or whatever. She informed me in an outraged tone that "many people call". Then she hung up. I am thinking that this is it. I'm switching to Digital Credit Union. Good luck to you. read more

If you want serious, reliable and trustworthy banking to do, I highly recommend you bring your banking to other institutions beside this one. This credit union is one of the worst one of all banks and credit unions. Here are the reasons: 1. Apply for a Visa credit card, got approved. They send you the card and tell you to call to activate like all other credit cards. Start using it and they just blocked you without notification so you just continue to use it because there are still available credits. The stores or restaurant just tell you that your card was declined. When you call to ask them why, their hours of operation were off so you have to wait until they get back to work. They don't have a 24 hours service for your Visa card and they blocked you whenever they think they see a fraud without notice. When you try to go online to check your account you have to call them again to get a PIN number to get access. And when you think that PIN can also be use for cash advance, you're dead wrong. They blocked you whatever you do wrong. 2. Secondly I also applied for an used auto loan, got approved. They mailed you their so called auto check with the things they wanted you to download, print and send it to them. Other banks, they just mail all that and the check the seller can have it and do whatever they want to. Well, here's what happen, I made their auto check to the seller and she gave me the title, that's how it would work. The seller think she got her check so she put it in the bank, 2 days later the check bounced back and her bank made her paid for the returned check fees and the amount that she thought was good to go. She got super pissed and came running to me to asked for the title. We were in a big mess with this. 3. You have to joined their union in order to get going with your loans. So you send them your documents to have an account open and a check or money order to start the account. Usually professional institutions would send you your account information with the account number, balance, loans, your bank card and later on a PIN number for your account. Nope, that never happen in this institution. I am telling you, this credit union not only tell you to do the works to get yourself going or you will never know what is going on. After that auto loan check bounced back, they just email you telling you that they are reviewing your loan. WOW, really, that's one f.... good service. I don't know where they find those people to write good reviews for them. But don't bother or waste your time here. It's really not worth doing business with them. read more

I simply give 3 stars for the manager, Jeff Shapiro. Let me explain. I got a loan for a car a few years ago, and that was hard in itself because I am self employed. Direct Federal accepted me, at a fair rate since I have good credit. I never missed a payment, was never late, never even had to deal with them at all since I had automatic payments. Not until I tried selling my car. The first of many rude women I dealt with (not sure if they were different people, or the same) was on the phone when I told them I was selling, and the buyers banker was going to contact them. I got a call ffrom the shocked buyer, who described the rude encounter she'd had on the phone, as well as what her banker had dealt with! I got the name of the person they'd spoken with (I don't recall a name now as this was a year ago) and called back. She was rude to ME as well. She also informed me that the document I needed for the sale had to be picked up IN PERSON by me. I was living in NH (bought my car in Mass) and this bank's in Needham! So a day later I drove hours only to deal with yet another few rude employees. All of whom seemed to think that every question I had was annoying and the answer obvious. Of course I have never had to go through such lengths just to obtain a simple document (just a copy actually- which with any other company I could've faxed a signed disclosure form to have them send it to me ). Needless to say I didn't sell my car then, and something tells me this ordeal had something to do with it. So fast forward to a month ago-I'm finally selling my car. I sell it to a dealership (South Shore Chrysler-Glen Smith Is The MAN, buy your car from him!) and they contact Direct Federal and everything it good to go, I'm told I have nothing more to do, sign, anything! Thank God! Of course this isn't true. The car was sold the 27th, the automatic payment goes through on the 1st. PROBLEM! My account goes into the negative, and I didn't even know until my primary bank sent me an overdraft fee notice of hundreds of dollars! So not only had they taken money that they shouldn't have (technically it was the fault of whoever was on the phone with the dealership, who forgot to cancel or maybe canceled my account too late and the auto payment went through as usual) but I have every transaction that had gone through since get an overdraft fee. I called and spoke with, yes, ANOTHER RUDE WOMAN. Who said she could do nothing. I asked to speak with the manager, Jeff Shapiro, who when he answered seemed like he was already informed of my angry state, and was a little defensive. We agreed to speak rationally, and come to find out-yes it was their mistake and -yes, he would fix the problem. He had me fax a signed letter asking to close the account and refund the money plus fees, and he overnight Fed-Ex'd the check! Unfortunately my primary bank, Citizens, had also misinformed me, and their were more pending overdraft penalty fees! A fee for having too many fees!! (BANKS!!! GAAAH!) So Jeff Shapiro sent out another check. He was 100% a gentleman, and exuded the attitude, customer service, and problem solving a good businessman should posses! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Jeff, for working with me for nearly 2 weeks to clean up this mess! read more

I've also been a customer of Direct Federal for years. They've been quite good; easy to bank-by-mail. They don't have particularly good investment instruments, but that's OK. People are friendly. But I recently opened a small business, and turns out they don't take checks made out to a business. When I inquired why, they could only tell me it was against their policies. When I wanted to know what such a policy was based on, I couldn't get any information -- when I asked if the restriction was in their charter, and asked if there was a way to read said charter, it was clear that NO one had ever asked such a question before. So I've gone to great lengths to find out, since I am a supporter of the concept of credit unions. But it's a pain to do all the work for information that it seems to me they should be able to readily share -- say, point me to an online version of their policies. Maybe that is still asking a lot of a small place. So if anyone knows about, say, whether Mass. law doesn't allow it, or if it's just a choice made by Direct Federal's management, or if they really allow it but not one has ever questioned it before, whatever -- I'd love to know. And if anyone from Direct Federal reads this, please let me know. Thanks! read more

I've been a happy and loyal member of Direct Federal Credit for decades. Even after I moved out of the Boston area to NYC 15 years ago, I continued to use Direct as my financial institution. A small institution like this should PRIDE themselves on their customer service and do everything they can to KEEP their members. Unfortunately something has changed. Over the last year I have had numerous frustrating issues that have come up and after many phone calls to them trying to solve the issues they've basically told me to take a hike. I don't want to be forced to take all of my money away from them but they're leaving me few options. My first issue began with the blanket limit of $1,000 per day on my debit card. This has led me to being unable to take out cash that I need or to pay for a cab with my card if I had made a large purchase online that day. Why should I be forced to pay for something on credit and pay for interest when I have plenty of money in my debit/checking account? The reason they give me is because there could be POTENTIAL fraud without this limit. Now, yesterday I come to find that my debit card WILL NO LONGER WORK in NYC cabs because the fraud department has changed it so that debit cards will no longer work for transactions unless you can type in your PIN number. This also means I am no longer able to use my debit card at Starbucks for example (which I pretty much do every single day) or any of the numerous other stores and establishments. I just hung up the phone with them trying to solve this issue and they told me that their operations/fraud department will not change this or adjust it for a user. So the bottom line here is that Direct Federal Credit has chosen to put their perceived needs before their customers. To inconvenience me and all of their other members because some internet crook or petty thief MIGHT one day try to use my account fraudulently is outrageous. If there is ever fraud then deal with the fraud when it happens. Or maybe invest in better, stronger infrastructure and back end security to keep this possibility from happening. What you should not be doing however is putting the burden of bank fraud on your customers. Your customer service is now nom-existent. You offered no solution when I basically told you that you're forcing me to remove all my money from your institution. I have a feeling I will not be the only one. It would be great if someone at Direct tried to work on a solution for me and the other members instead of simply saying no. read more

I've been a member of DFCU for 7 years and have had nothing but good experiences with them. They don't have any of their own ATMs, but "SUM" network ATMs are free to use and they are pretty much everywhere (most small banks and CUs are SUM members). you can deposit into "NYCE Share Deposit" ATMS or just mail the checks to the branch. the prior 2 reviews INCORRECTLY state that to be a member you must live, work, or worship in Needham only. This is not true.. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, or worships (or has a family member who lives, works, or worships) in any of the 28 cities and towns of Norfolk County. read more

I have been a member for almost 13 years. Just recently my wife and I switched all of our accounts to Direct. While the service and products Direct offers is great, I wish the online banking was better. It seems to be a bit unstable, I would like to see pending POS transactions as part of the online banking experience, There should be a smartphone app (especially for mobile deposits) and better email alerts (i.e. direct deposit was made). read more

I have been a member for 47 years. in those days it was the Polaroid Credit Union I believe. In all these years, not one problem. Before I retired I always had paychecks direct deposited. Still today have direct deposits. I will say that online baking is not "state of the art", but I give them a pass sice they are not Bank of America with zillions of resources. People you can trust. Personal service. My kind of banking. read more

Update: Received a letter and a check for my $50 from Direct Federal. I appreciate the response and I forgive them. I had an auto loan with Direct Federal Credit Union. When the loan was paid off I had a balance of $173 in savings. I left the money there assuming someday I may need another loan and I would simply modify my account. I was notified that my account would be closed due to inactivity and that I must withdraw my $173. While attempting to do this Direct Federal Credit Union sent my (now) $123 to the State's unclaimed property fund after grabbing $50 for themselves as a fee. It took a bit of effort for me to eventually be reunited with my remaining money through the State. Why did the Credit Union not simply send me a check for the full $173? This is not a user friendly outfit, rather they are predators. I recommend staying away. I hope they enjoy my $50 and my review. read more

I have never ONCE in the ~20 years I have been a customer had anything but an EXCELLENT experience both on line, on phone and in person. EVERY single employee I have dealt with has been outstanding. I also had a situation with an overdraft due to a delayed payment and the bank manager was able to assist me so that there were no issues. When you call the bank during working hours you get a PERSON! Yes a real live person! AND they immediately are able to assist you... none of that "please hold" and waiting on line for assistance. And I also use the email system to help me to transfer funds, request a check, renew CDs etc. NEVER have had an issue and they always get back to me by email confirming that they have done what was requested. I have also had to go in to the bank in person a number of times, have never waited in line and always walked out a happy customer. Finally, we decided that we were so happy with this bank, that we transferred our mortgage over to this bank as well. Rates were competitive but MOST OF ALL, we now know exactly where to go if we have an issue! I can transfer my mortgage payment directly on line from my other accounts. I rarely write reviews, but this bank deserves kudos. I will never switch! read more