I was interested in transferring funds for a CD from another credit union with a sliding financial rating. To its credit, First South has a strong rating. The problem was opening an account online. My first application couldn't be completed because their bot couldn't read my Real ID barcode. A second attempt was no better. I was told by half a dozen different gatekeepers (receptionists) that James was the only one who could help me with my application. Unfortunately, James was always busy and when I was able to connect with him, he complained about being swamped and said he would get with me later. Somewhere in the second hand connections with James there was further confusion about which credit bureau they use. My three credit reports stay locked because of past identity theft, so it proved too tricky to unlock the correct one for James to check. Ultimately, the three days of wrangling proved too burdensome and I gave up on the application process. If they put up this many hurdles to someone making a substantial deposit, I would hate to be applying for a loan! My advice to senior management is to hire some people to help James who is obviously in over his head. They claim the process is easier when you go in person to one of their branches. Since I reside in another state, that proved not to be a practical solution for me. read more

First South lies about your opening deposit, it's not a deposit because THEY TAKE IT! THATS A FEE, NOT A DEPOSIT. They also do a hard credit pull to open a simple bank account. No other ba k does this. Stay away from them read more

A great credit union with wonderful, caring employees. Very professional and efficient! I would highly recommend First South Financial to anyone looking for a friendly credit union with a great reputation! read more

Again, called the place and no answer. I bet those employees don't even know how to read

Great staff! Great service with super convenient hours and locations. Highly recommend!

This place is fine as long as you can wait at LEAST 10 minutes to get through the drive thru (and that's not even when it's actually busy). I can't really tell if it's just that they need more employees or if the ones they have just don't want to work. Either way, the wait is ridiculous. I kept hoping it would get better, but this has been going on for MONTHS. I'll change my review if they get their act together, but that seems unlikely. read more

This email is being submitted in regards to the loan servicing have been receiving from Karen Ehrett and Lydia Smith. I have been a member of First South for almost 15 years and would have expected to be respected as such. What I have gotten has been emails that were neither clear nor concise in regards to funds needed to be approved by the underwriter. In the emails( which are also attached) Karen emphasized that I needed $2200 by todays date to be approved. Current there are funds to cover the what was asked. I emailed and had the teller at the Winchester branch fax proof of those funds. I even show them the email sent by Karen and they also came to the understanding that all was needed was $2200. I then spoke with the bank tellers to call Karen due to the fact that she rarely returns phone calls and rarely available during business hours to meet face to face. Karen and Lydia Smith then called me and stated that funds were not in my account and that I was was $2200 short. When I asked both of them to exlpain they stated the same thing that was in the email. And I explained to the both of them that due to Karen emphasizing the $2200 I was short that those moneys would be in the account by today. She then stated that I needed another $6000 for closing cost even though I qualify and completed the requirements for the City of Memphis Down Payment Assistance Program. A program, mind you, Karen stated she had never heard of in our initial meeting to apply. When I asked for a break down as to how funds would be distributed, per her email on 7/10/18, Karen stated I needed $12700 to close. The City's DPA would cover $10000 and I would have to cover $2700. This would be the only breakdown I received. The method Karen and Lydia Smith used to attempt to convey the need for an amount of funds other than what was always in red was neither clear and concise. As a result of they lack of clear comunication skills I have been forced to start over. This situation could have been easily avoided have they communicated with me better. In another incident I was requested to get a Home insurance quote, which I did, only to have Karen advise on the back end that it needed to be less than the amount quoted. This change, which she should have informed me of prior to my requesting the quote, created another delay. I even requested to speak with both Karen and Lydia today but both refused to make any time for me. Lydia stated she had a meeting she wanted to attend, which leads me to believe her attendance was optional and not require. I feel that after banking with here for 15 years, I should have earned some level of courtesy, respect, and professionalism during this venture into homeownership. Instead i have gotten information that was either unclear or completely unexplained even after requesting it to be. I cant even get courtesy of speaking face to face or even a phone call to have all involved parties on the same page. All I get are emails emphasizing one dollar specific dollar amount and no explanation as to how im still short the same amount with more than enough in my accounts. This enitre ordeal has left me feeling that I am not valued as member of this credit union due to the laxed services I've received. This level of treatment is unacceptable and distressing due to the time effort and money placed into to this only to have it poorly handled and treated with the bare minimum of regard. read more

First I wanted to speak on the poor customer service from this lending institution. I applied for a line of credit from here and the loan officer denied the loan for debt to income. I have a student loan payment that this person was "guesstimating" and the amount was income. I verified to them what the "correct" amount is. She then comes back with a $10k approval. In my past life I was a level 2 loan officer and so I know how lending guidelines work. A lending institution cant just pull numbers out to the air. So after I challenged the $10k waste of time she offered. She know all of a sudden decided to call my job and verify my income. Despite making over $10k monthly her excuse is well most of your income is frm commission and bonuses. Irregardless I make the money and if my income was needing to be verified he would have done so before I changed their so-called approval. I havent mentioned that when I went into a branch and asked what the quailifications were I had a uninspired teller tell me the credit score requirements is 630 on mulitple occasions. She only told me the income and other requirments once so it was as if she looked at me and determined I had less than 630. I am an 818 credit score and I earn $120k yearly yet the best they decided to do after declining me was $10k. This company NEVER tried to approve me and now I know the true reason as to why they scan your drivers license when you apply. This gives them the ability to redline. I am a person that is so sick and tired of race relations in the country let alone my own city but its difficult to atribute it to anything else when I am an accomplished individual. There was a time in my life where I wouldnt drive past a bank and thinik about applying for a loan. Those days are long gone and I am accomplished with great job, great career and integrity. I cant give out advice to my fellow white American but I can give advice to my fellow black Americans apply for a loan or line of credit somewhere else. From the first time I stepped foot in their branch it was an issue I should have not returned to apply. I applied through Penfed (who is not seeing color) and was approved for $25k (which I was seeking) without ANY proof of anything. It is based on the fact that I honor my commitments aka pay my bills and I am blessed by God to have a fantastic job. read more