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 hired a repo truck to repossess my 2014 vehicle from my workplace. The driver, despite knowing my car was front-wheel drive, towed it incorrectly, causing damage observed by coworkers and a nearby convenience store's staff, located just half a block away. After parking to talk with a Sheriff officer, the driver dragged my car's front on the road, causing sparks and nearly starting a fire, while onlookers urged him to stop. Realizing his error, he exited the truck, visibly upset.

Repeatedly, I've contacted Fortera to inquire about the damage assessment and their remedial actions, as I've kept up with payments to reclaim my car. Yet, they only mention a 10-day payment window before auctioning the car, without providing further details on resolving the issue.

Two days ago, I bought my wife lunch at a local restaurant. Balance after was $62. In the evening, I went to the supermarket 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 supermarket 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 supermarket 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 an NSF fee I incurred due to an unauthorized transaction. I spoke with customer service and management about the issue, explaining that the company involved wouldn't issue a merchant letter but agreed to credit my cell phone account instead. I submitted evidence of my communication with the company, acknowledging their mistake, yet Fortera insisted on a merchant letter, which is against many companies' policies. After the NSF fee wasn't reversed, I escalated the issue to a supervisor who doubted the company's refusal to provide a letter, even though they admitted fault. This made me question the supervisor's trust in my claim. She suggested I visit a store for the letter, but they, being sales-focused, don't issue such letters either. All three stores I contacted confirmed this. Reaching out to the company again, they offered to refund the bank fee or send a merchant letter by email. I showed Fortera a screenshot of a chat where the company's representative confirmed their error and acknowledged the wrongful charge. Despite this proof, Fortera's online and phone representatives dismissed my concerns and refused to refund the $31 NSF fee as a courtesy. I attempted a three-way call with the company to have them explain their position to Fortera, but the supervisor wouldn't engage and only responded via email. I've provided all necessary conversation and email evidence. I believe Fortera's fee reversal policies need to be reconsidered.