Golden 1 Credit Union

The ATMs at 508 2nd Street

Location

508 2nd Street #101

Hours

Mon-Thu 9:00AM - 5:30PM

Fri 9:00AM - 6:00PM

Sat 9:00AM - 2:00PM

Phone

1-877-GOLDEN 1

Website

http://www.golden1.com

Golden 1 Credit Union is a Sacramento-based Credit Union. They have two ATMs on campus (one at the MU and one at the Silo) and an office downtown in the Regency Square with two ATMs at Second St and D St.; another in the Nugget Market on Covell and another in the Nugget Market on Mace Blvd.

It used to be that only government employees, students and family could get accounts at Golden 1 Credit Union, but in the last 5 years they have loosened the qualifications and near anyone can join.

Golden 1 is a member of the Co-Op Network, so one can use Co-Op Network ATMs without paying a fee. This includes ATM's of YFCU, USE, Patelco, First US Community Credit Union, and others.

They won't handle checks drawn on Canadian banks, even if it's a USD account, nor can they exchange foreign currency.

You must have a credit history in order to get a debit card/bank card. If you don't have a credit history, you may get an ATM card, which can be used to withdraw cash from an ATM machine but can't be used in stores or restaurants.

Comments:

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2005-09-19 01:55:53   A good option if you prefer to have your money with a non-profit cooperative over paying fees at a traditional bank. —SteveLambert

2005-12-28 01:48:50   I've used Golden 1 for my personal banking since Wells Fargo screwed me over in 1995. They're not perfect, but I've always been much happier with Golden 1 than any other bank or credit union I've used. —GrahamFreeman

2006-02-27 15:40:28   I heard something a while ago about Golden 1 pulling out of the Co-Op network (which didn't go over well with other credit unions, from what I gather). —JulieEickhof

2007-03-21 17:29:33   Well, they're still in it, so all is good. I think Golden 1 is the best "bank" I've ever used, and their fees are lower and their employees are extremely good. —JaimeRaba

2007-10-10 23:12:03   I just had a horrible experience at Golden 1 Credit Union today. When I signed up for an account they told me that any checks I deposited would be frozen for two weeks, which I think is is a needlessly inconvenient policy. I am in the process of transferring accounts to Golden1 from Bank of America and I decided to hold off for a month until this stupid "30 day hold on new accounts" process panned itself out. I went into to cash a deposit refund check from the University Village which had three names on it: my room mate, my co-signer and myself and they told me that I would need to have photo identification of each of the parties involved, no small accomplishment seeing as my co-signer had moved out to Pennsylvania. I managed to get all the signatures and IDs for the check and when I went into to cash the check, the teller told me he needed to go talk to his manager to see if there was anything else he needed to do to put it in my (needlessly frozen) account. I told him to do what he needed to do and five minutes later, there is a line out the door and he is talking with 4 co-workers about how to cash a check. The line was getting restless and so was I... Five minutes to do a simple check deposit?! Also, the clerk said my account would be on hold for two weeks since signing up, and since I signed up 3 weeks ago I thought that I finally hit a bit of good luck. With another teller behind him, I repeated what he said and he angrily told me that he didn't say anything about two weeks, but rather 30 days. After asking why he had just lied to me (I was rather irate at this point) he blatantly told me that he didn't say anything about two weeks, either though his co-worker agreed with me.

When all was said and done my checks (one of them for a mere $7.00) are frozen for two weeks simply because I am a new member. To top off the whole ordeal, they did not tell me thank you or any other customary closing courtesy. I told them that if they are in the business of trying to attract members (shareholders) that they were not doing a very good job. —BrandonMinow

2007-10-11 10:29:25   Brandon, as a former bank employee, I must say that these are precautions that every financial institution must take and are pretty standard. Not saying that you are committing fraud but there are a lot of people who do, and holding an item for 2 weeks is the best thing to do for the bank to be able to catch it, as they deal with losses on a daily basis. I know it's an inconvenience to you, but the longer your account is open and the more deposits you make, the more "cred" you will build with the bank and this 2-week hold time will go away. Check your fee schedule for more information. —CalamityJanie

2008-08-11 12:38:00   When I signed up for an account here a few weeks ago, my address was somehow entered wrong into the database (misspelled or something similar), so they just didn't send me any mail, and I was never notified or asked to update my address (they did have my phone number and could've called me). If I hadn't gone in person to ask when my debit card was going to come in, it wouldn't have gotten fixed. Then, they sent me an ATM card instead. I went in to ask for a debit card and they said I don't qualify for one since I don't have much of a credit history (no bad credit, just not enough good credit). When I signed up they didn't say that I'd need to qualify for a debit card, and made it sound like I'd just get one. After these two serious examples of bad communication, I'm closing my account and looking for another credit union.

Edit (10-03-2008): So, over a month ago I went to the Davis branch in person to close my account, and they gave me the balance in cash and told me it was all done. Today I learned that the account was never closed. I'm glad I'm not putting them in charge of my money any more if they can't even do that.

—DanaSullivan

2008-08-12 15:34:15   This is a pretty standard bank as far as I'm concerned. I've been with Golden Credit since 1995 (although that was with the Clovis, CA branch). I started using the one in Davis when I moved here in 2001 and have rarely had problems. Most of the time things go fine and thats as much as I could ask for a bank that I have a student account through (I originally opened the account in grade school and never changed it). —SunjeetBaadkar

2009-02-10 12:26:34   I've never had a bad experience with Golden 1, and beyond that I'd say I've had worse experiences with Wells Fargo than the ones listed here. Even if I have a bad experience with Golden 1, I will stay because Wells Fargo has some inane policy regarding their "Free" checking accounts wherin they transfer money from one account to another once a month... Every month. I use my bank primarily as savings, and also for making large purchases, so I would often have little or no cash in the account they were transfering out of. Golden 1 has no such policy. —MasonMurray