Great, until you need a large amount withdrawn in a pinch
I switched to Alliant a little less than a year ago, after deciding to move away from big banks and go to a CU instead.
Opening up my checking and savings accounts went smoothly – it was really easy to use the app to deposit the checks I wrote out to myself, in order to transfer funds to my new accounts from the old bank. Since then, it has been fuss-free regular banking, with the knowledge that I’m also earning relatively high interest on both my savings and checking. The app and website are user friendly, I’m able to use any ATM and if there are fees, Alliant will instantly reimburse them up to $25 each month, and customer service reps have generally been easily reachable and helpful.
However, I just needed to sign a lease to a new apartment and I’ve had significant frustration in getting the money that I needed for the security/1st month/broker fee when I needed it. To the point that I am thinking of switching to another institution. Alliant doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar or partnering institution anywhere near me, so I wasn’t able to get a certified bank check. They told me they could send a bank check to me, but it would take time to process and mail… and they only mail via regular first class. With my time constraint to get the payment for lease signing, this was not an option. So I needed to go the money order route. Unfortunately, Alliant has pretty low limits on how much money you can withdraw or debit each day ($1000 for each per day), so I was only able to partially get the payment that I needed. And I am now having to spread out my withdrawals and debit charges over a 3 day period. Instead of one trip and one transaction… I’m having to do 3 withdrawals and 3 debits, with 3 days of trips to the post office. This has been an absolutely ridiculous and time-consuming experience, on top of all of the other stress that comes along with moving.
I realize that this situation is an exception for me, since I don’t usually need to withdraw so much at once. But it does make me nervous about what might happen in an emergency, and if I need to go through getting a new apartment again or another large payment. I have more than enough money in my account, and I really don’t appreciate a bank telling me that I can’t access my funds when I need them and for however much I need.
This alone has made me question staying with Alliant.
