Randolph-Brooks

Author: Kaitlyn Short

Originally chartered in 1952 to serve personnel at Randolph Air Force Base, Randolph-Brooks has expanded to include employees and associates at more than 2,500 select groups and eight underserved communities in the San Antonio and Austin areas. There are over 30,000 Randolph Brooks ATM’s that are surcharge-free. Randolph Brooks headquarters is located in Universal City, Texas.

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The Good

• Savings account
• Savings certificate
• Credit cards

As a not-for-profit organization and chartered under provisions of the Federal Credit Union Act, Randolph-Brooks has three primary objectives:

• To provide a safe facility for regular savings by its members.
• To make loans at a low cost and for good purposes to its members.
• To help the members use buying power to their advantage.

You can get an eligibility decision in less than 10 minutes when you apply online, all you need to do is answer a few quick questions and a decision is made instantly. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union offers products that will make your life easier. From a free checking account with cash back to credit cards and even mortgage loans, they also offer financial products and services that can help you secure a healthy financial future.

Savings Account

Their savings accounts have an abundance of benefits when you become a member. A credit union savings account with Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union gives you automatic membership to a strong and secure financial community. A member of RBCFU will also have no monthly service fees, no transaction fees, and only need $1 minimum balance to open a savings account.

Savings Certificate

Randolph-Brooks Savings Certificates are meant to be held until maturity, and then the money can be withdrawn along with the interest or compounded to generate additional dividends in the future. When you put your money into a Savings Certificate with Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, you are investing in your future. The longer the term, the higher your certificate dividend can be. Certificates from RBCFU require a minimum deposit of $1,000 and their terms range from 6 to 84 months.

Credit Cards

Randolph-Brooks Credit Union offers two credit card options, to their customers. There is a premier rate card and a cash back rewards card.

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The Bad

• Eligibility
• Lack of details

Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union is vague in who they are. There is an extensive timeline available to view of all of their accomplishments, but they fail to mention who they really are and what sets them apart from other credit unions in their area.

Eligibility

They are also vague about what specific requirements make you eligible. There is over 2000 ways to join or be eligible but they seem picky about membership and it seems difficult to become a member. They do not tell you their eligibility requirements when you sign up, you just input your information into their system and then a decision is generated of being eligible or not. They do have the ability to check if you are eligible online, but it looks like a customer would get a more accurate decision if they went into the branch and signed up in person, considering everything needs to be verified anyways.

Lack of Details

They don't always provide an abundance of details about their accounts; you must obtain the information by inquiring at a local branch. They don't have a ton of options for the customers, starting with the number of branches and ATMs available. They only offer two kinds of cards and there isn't much information about their standard checking accounts and what the benefit of having one with them might be. The only information they give is the rate of a standard free checking account. Lastly, compared to most other credit unions they require a higher minimum starting balance for their savings certificates, this isn't totally a bad thing, but hard to do if you want to start one and can't come up with $1000 to lock away for a long period of time.

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The Bottom Line

Even with the small number of ATMs and branches available, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union would be an okay credit union to be a member of if you can qualify. They have comparable rates and many of the same benefits that other credit unions offer. Even if you don't do a checking account with them, their basic savings account APY makes it worthwhile.