Keesler Federal Credit Union

Finance
21

This is an interesting observation. I think you’re right for the typical Fragile Dealer - we all have a bunch of bank accounts for various reasons to eek out as much value as possible. I have my paycheck going to one bank that offers a 3% rate on a percentage of it, my wife’s going to another, Alliant is my hub, and I have a CMA with Fidelity that pairs with my brokerage account. I get cash and pay bills out of Alliant and Fidelity. Most of my liquid funds sit in Alliant’s .55%. And then of course, I have a bunch of old accounts that I would probably be better off just closing.

The typical consumer, on the other hand, does not likely have a complicated account situation.

4 Likes
22

I glanced at the responses and agree. I joined Keesler for their excellent (at the time) step up cds. Since then, I’ve added funds with their excellent (currently) HIMMA+ accounts. I have no experience with their checking, bill pay, loans, or cc accounts.

My limited experience(es) lead me to check my balance every day. I have no confidence in their security, training, personnel, or practices. It’s not that they are wicked … I just think they may be incompetent.

2 Likes
23

Keesler website is down so far this morning.

ETA

Was down for several hours. Back up now . . . . finally.

1 Like
24

This is on background only and is not intended to be actionable. This information was accurate one year ago. If there have been changes since then I am unaware:

Keesler delegates the servicing of their entire credit card operation to a cooperative called Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU). PSCU provides these same services for some 1500 credit unions all across the USA. In house, Keesler has a card services manager. One of that person’s primary duties is to interface with PSCU. So if you have a Keesler credit card, your interactions with it are being managed and overseen by a third party (again, PSCU).

I can tell you I have noticed some anomalies with my own Keesler credit card . . . nothing major or unbearable. But they do take some getting used to; over time you learn the workarounds.

Also noteworthy, since PSCU is involved with so many credit unions, if you have other credit union credit cards chances are PSCU could be involved, working quietly in the background. Here is a link:

Link to PSCU card services

25

A surprising Keesler outcome for me this morning. But this might not surprise you if you’re an old Keesler hand:

I went to the Keesler website a couple days ago and linked up my external Ally account. They sent the trial deposits to Ally which I verified this morning, activating the link.

I then sought to use the Keesler transfer function, at their website, to pull funds out of Ally via ACH for deposit into my Keesler account. Keesler at that point told me those funds would be credited to my Keesler account today! Never having performed this maneuver prior at Keesler, I was quite surprised. Now here is the downside:

First, regardless what it says, I have no inkling whether or not Keesler will actually deliver same day ACH service.

Second I don’t know, even if the funds materialize today, whether or not they will be available and if not when they will become available.

Finally third, and this is the bigee:

Keesler is not allowing me to transfer funds, coming from Ally, directly into my HIMMA Plus account. My only transfer option is into savings. Presumably I would have to telephone Keesler to request movement of those funds into HIMMA Plus, which is a nuisance. The funds would certainly be “new money” . . . but still a nuisance.

I am currently waiting for Keesler to open so I can telephone them and, with luck, obtain answers to several questions raised by the above.

ETA

Just off the telephone with Keesler. Am gonna try this. The Keesler rep confirmed impossibility of pulling funds directly into my HIMMA Plus, from Ally, when the ACH is initiated at Keesler. :slightly_frowning_face:

However, she said that if I call in once the money is in savings that it can be moved straightaway into HIMMA Plus by a rep. She said there is no hold.

We shall see.

26

I’ve got a solution.

Go to your Keesler HIMMA Plus account and make an external Ally account. The trial deposits arrive, you verify. Thence you can bypass deposits to savings and also talking to agent.

Works for me. Just straight ACH transfer funds to your HIMMA Plus account.

1 Like
27

Uh, that’s what I did . . . . . I think. I logged into my Keesler account, went to their transfer page, and created there a link to Ally. The trial deposits appeared in my Ally account a couple of days later. I went back into my Keesler account, verified the trial deposit amounts, and the link was created.

But, initiating the ACH at Keesler, I’m unable to move funds from Ally directly into my Keesler HIMMA Plus.

You are our Keesler HIMMA Plus doyenne, pattyb53. You are a high roller where that account is concerned, certainly as compared with myself. Maybe they are granting you privileges because of that which are not given to us average folks.

28

You know, there is never a dull moment! I just received a telephone call from Keesler relating to my requested ACH transfer. This never happened to me before with ACH. Wired funds? Sure. All the time. But never before with ACH.

The Keesler rep said she was calling because of the size of my ACH transfer. Guys, we are talking considerably less than five grand here. I do small transfers like this constantly as I tend to and service my side hustle.

Anyway, I was polite and the rep was very nice and I liked her southern accent a lot. Everything was confirmed just as if I had been moving a quarter million.

29

Ok, we are not coming together. Could be my instructions.

Go to the Keesler page. I actually think it’s here that I proceeded to HIMMA Plus. Go to details, exact HIMMA account number.

Back at Ally open a new external account for the HIMMA account. So the trial deposits only go the HIMMA account, not the Savings.

Try this way. It’s going to work…

Today I actually made another ACH transfer to my HIMMA Plus account. I will see the money in HIMMA tomorrow. lol

1 Like
30

That is correct, pattyb53. I am talking about ACH transfers initiated at Keesler.

Heck, I can do ACH transfers all day long, directly into my HIMMA Plus account. It’s not a big deal at all. But those transfers are initiated external to Keesler. Typically for me they have, in the past, been initiated at Alliant. But if I do that at Ally I encounter a three day delay.

So I’m working to initiate the transfers at Keesler in hope I can speed things up. We shall see if this works. I have one going now, but it is not yet complete.

31

Ok… I got you now.

Working with TIAA Bank I have no problem with transfers of large amounts. Tops $250k transfer into TIAA, leaving $50k. Compared to Alliant transfers in $100k and out $25k.

So you were talking about wiring funds into Keesler. Yes I missed your point.

So now we are on the same page!! lol

32

Actually I was talking about moving funds to Keesler using an ACH pull initiated at the Keesler website. I wire funds all the time. But I have never wired funds into or out of Keesler and I have no plans at present to do so.

ACHing of funds and wiring of funds are two separate and distinct ways to move money. One is not the same as the other, and the terms cannot be used interchangeably.

33

Update

Keesler made good on their promise of same day ACH. The funds I ACHed out of Ally this morning, with that ACH being initiated on the Keesler website, are this afternoon resting comfortably in my Keesler HIMMA Plus account.

My head is spinning just a bit. I have no clue how Keesler is doing this. That goes double since those same funds continue to appear in my Ally account at this hour. The money is in two places at once.

I did need to telephone Keesler in order to have the money moved over to HIMMA Plus. Keesler will not allow, on their website, creation of a direct link to HIMMA Plus. They also would not allow me personally, at their website, to transfer the funds once they became available in my savings. I had to telephone Keesler. However, the rep took care of the matter for me very quickly. She even anticipated the reason for my call before I could tell her!

I do not know why Keesler creates the roadblocks they do where HIMMA Plus account connections are concerned. But I certainly can find no fault with same day ACH service initiated at their website, and at the bottom line I’m pretty happy with this whole thing. :slightly_smiling_face:

ETA

Checking back at Ally:

The money was deducted from my Ally account very late in the afternoon. This truly is same day ACH at both ends of the transaction.

1 Like
34

Hi pattyb53

The limits are very modest for ACH transfers initiated at the Keesler website.

$7,500/day

$12,500/week

$50,000/month

This works for me because I’m only moving my side hustle money. If I were moving core funds instead I would either need to use Alliant’s ACH service or else wire the funds rather than ACHing them.

1 Like
35

Thanks shinobi.

I decided to go ahead and set up an external ACH transfer account at Keesler. I started the process today. The small deposits will probably show up Monday.

After you showed the transfer amounts available it will still be something I can use. Once in a while I need extra money in my hometown bank checking account. So good reserve on hand.

36

No problem. But this word of caution:

All I have written here so far concerns Keesler ACH pulls. This means the funds are being pulled into Keesler from another financial institution external to Keesler, with the ACH initiated at Keesler.

I have no experience whatsoever, and I’m unable to comment on, Keesler ACH push transactions of the sort you mention. I have never initiated an ACH push at Keesler, a situation where one would be moving funds out of Keesler to another financial institution.

Generally, when I need money I have at Keesler, I initiate an ACH pull at Alliant and get the money that way. It’s overnight service as you are aware. I certainly can live with overnight ACH. This same day ACH stuff sort of makes my head spin.

37

My situation with ACH transfers has been bothering, particularly this month because of the large CD that matured. Those 6 ACH limits on transfers is an issue.

Now had I wired the funds I would be fine, but I didn’t think of that ahead of time. Thankfully this month is over and hopefully I will be finished with transfers soon. New month, new 6 limits.

I have been working with the 2 credit unions and so far, evading the 6 transfer limits.

Yes awesome problems. :wink:

38

I regret needing to post this but must do so in the interest of full disclosure and because of posts I made up thread which could be misleading.

I posted earlier in glowing terms about Keesler’s same day ACH service.

Not so fast

The earlier posts were truthful, but there is a serious wrinkle in the Keesler service.

On background, I saw hints of this even a while back with ACH transfers I would initiate at Alliant. Several went through on a same day basis, and I wrote about that on the Alliant thread. But here is the wrinkle: I never had one of those Alliant ACH transfers go through same day when it arrived at Keesler on a Friday.

Now fast forward to recent ACH transfers initiated at Keesler itself, as already discussed on this thread. I had two last week go through same day. Then came Friday and I needed once again to ACH money into Keesler. I remembered Alliant but figured an ACH initiated at Keesler itself might be different.

It was not. The money got hung up in “pending” status. I was unable to access it or transfer it into HIMMA Plus until today (Monday).

My takeaway: beware Keesler on Fridays. Do not assume they will provide you the same level of service on Friday that you receive routinely on other weekdays.

1 Like
39

Yes I believe there is a flaw or wrinkles with daily processing at Kessler. But we can make it work as long as the end result is conforming to our liking.

Here’s what happened. I decided to open transfer contact between Keesler and 2 external links, started Friday. My hometown bank F&M showed the 2 small deposits Saturday. At TIAA bank the small deposits were showing up today. Can you figure that one out?

But I think we have a good thing going with Keesler. I’m not complaining…

1 Like
40

Not sure this update is particularly important. But stuff I wrote up thread has turned out to be wrong, so I have to put the record right:

As it turns out there is a problem with the Keesler “same day” ACH service. The problem does not always assert itself and you cannot know in advance how quickly your funds will become available to you. I have experienced mixed outcomes. As best I’m able to glean:

It appears there is a human element to the Keesler ACH funds crediting process. Sometimes the Keesler back office humans complete their work timely and you end up with a favorable outcome. Other times, unpredictably, the Keesler back office humans are either swamped with work, do not show up for work in sufficient numbers, or maybe it is something else. I dunno. But at the bottom line your incoming ACH funds show up as “pending”, a limbo status, and you do not actually have access to them.

So be careful if you use the Keesler ACH service. It’s not as good as I earlier had said it is.