Like most other banks and CUs, they’re almost certainly using a third party bill payment service for this. I’ve had this happen at other banks where it just automatically told me that the first payment would be snail mail even if it wasn’t.
I frequently have problems adding a biller to my Discover bill pay – I find the biller on their list, input the account number, and get an error that something is wrong, like wrong account number! I then end up inputting all of the information “manually”. After that it not only accepts the info with that same account number I tried before, it also knows exactly where to send the money electronically (usually).
Yup. Agreed. But you never know for certain on the very first go-round. I’m wise to their ways, but when they plainly state it’s gonna be a paper check, I’m forced to take them at their (lying) word.
So I ran the test, just ten bucks well in advance of a much larger payment I will need to make in future . . . which must arrive timely.
I suspect they will update (what they are telling me about) this account to “electronic payment” at some point, when they eventually get around to it.
Many of the posters here seem to keep a lot of funds with Alliant. I realize that some of that gets transferred in and out of Alliant over time. Is this not profitable or at least useful to Alliant?
Again, maybe I am naive or misinformed but I thought banks & CU’s wanted cash on deposit.
I think they do want cash on deposit but want it long term. A lot of us use Alliant as a hub to quickly move money without keeping a lot there long term. Some like me have multiple savings accounts to allow for more than 6 transfers. I’m sure the “hub” activity is not profitable and probably carries some risk to the credit union as well.
I’m surprised I haven’t been kicked out yet. I mainly use Alliant for the 2.5% Visa card. I regularly hit the $250 monthly cashback limit. I don’t use them as a “hub” account though; I use Ally for that. Not much other activity on my checking/savings accounts except to cash out the Visa cashback, then transfer it elsewhere.
I think our other posters have nailed it. Sure, they want cash on deposit at a very low rate of interest. I move those funds to Keesler, instead.
I do keep a thousand bucks on deposit at Alliant in my savings at all times, and a hundred bucks in checking. But compared with the amount of money I’m constantly moving in and out, eleven hundred dollars does not amount to much; small potatoes.
I don’t have an Alliant CD and I hit my 2.5% Alliant Visa Signature card hard. So most of my Alliant activity, bottom line, is related to my use of my membership as a hub. I’m not generating a lot of profit for the new president. One thing, however:
I own only a single Alliant account. Never went the multiple account route. So I’m respectful of the horrid $25k ACH limitation. Not at all certain that’ll be enough to save me, though, next time the guillotine comes crashing down!!
Do you have any history of warnings, about anything, going back as far as a decade? A lot of this seems to center on previous warnings, not current activity. Patty was an exception, but she was also booted on a different timeline than most - hers could’ve been the result of a random compliance audit, which would indicate they’ve stopped giving warnings when they find undesirable account usage.
There is some data elsewhere to indicate that Alliant took some time to boot some of those that got the notice. My guess is Patty was one of those people.
I’ve been an 11 year member, and there were times when I had consecutive daily $25k transfers after they reduced the outgoing ACH limit, somehow I haven’t had any blowback, I keep a semi-healthy amount in the savings account though, so maybe that’s why? usually $10k-$20k at any given time.
I’m kind of worried they could one day just decide to cut me off though. I have 20 external accounts linked there, it would be a pain to duplicate that somewhere else, and that’s after I purged the inactive ones. It would be very cumbersome if they cut off access to my transaction history with no warning. Maybe I should start saving monthly statements.
I had to another go around with a new Supervisor yesterday. The 2 accounts they closed, I have no record. Called to find out a bit more information. My husbands acct was closed 4/20 & I was told a check for balance was in the mail. Nothing has arrived! Was told wait for 10 days before complaining, 10 working days. IDK…
So my personal acct was closed 4/26 & check mailed. Nothing arrived yet. I know they don’t want to hear from me again. I asked the Supervisor, “what if checks don’t arrive?” She said, complain to the Post Office.
I know there is a mix up on Alliant CU’s side between my residential address & mailing address. They will not talk about that issue. They don’t make mistakes. I also have a feeling the address issue is why I never received the original expulsion notice.
Any ideas of what I do now? No one higher than a Supervisor (so bug off).
Similar to @shinobi, I keep around 1k+ at Alliant all the time. So that brings up an interesting question - are they looking for a minimum amount kept on deposit regardless of activity? @pattyb53, how much did you regularly keep in your Alliant accounts?
I’d be curious to know if assets play a role. I hit my 10-year Alliant anniversary later this year and I’ve kept liquid savings there despite moving the bulk of my everyday deposits/withdrawals to Fidelity. This has led to an increase in ACH activity for me. That said we keep substantial (> 100k) liquid assets there so maybe they just don’t care given they profit off of us?
If I had to guess, it’d be more from letting each deposit season a bit before withdrawing it. Alliant is a go-to hub because they do not hold incoming deposits. But if you are immediately withdrawing funds as soon as they’re deposited, Alliant is exposed to the risk of a deposit being reversed. Carrying a $100k balance means you are able to cover multiple reversed deposits before Alliant risks footing the bill.
Who knows if it is even a part of the consideration, but comparing your average daily balance with total withdrawals would say a lot about the risk your activity poses to the credit union.
You are correct, of course. I surely do not know. Nobody here or anywhere else outside the Alliant boardroom knows. And that is what is so frustrating.
I routinely move money in and out, on the same day, and in amounts far greater than the lousy grand I keep on deposit at all times. That said, however:
I never move out any incoming ACH money at Alliant before checking the sending account to be certain the money has departed there, with the ACH attributed to an Alliant withdrawal. In other words, I never take for granted that the funds reached Alliant in the first place.
I have my paycheck DD go into Navy Federal, which I then transfer to Alliant, I pay all of my credit card and other bills out of Alliant. I had one times where there was a big overdraft because I didn’t know Interactive Brokers had a long holding period before you could withdraw funds. I saw $$ in my Alliant account and transferred it out same day, but then the funds Alliant received were reversed. This happened fairly recently, but i didn’t try to fight the overdraft fee. Thank goodness the other CU I transferred it to was able to reverse a CD deposit or it would have been a mess.