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The Credit Union Screws Things Up

I have written previously in this space about my fondness for the Metro Credit Union’s web-based banking system. I have been an enthusiatic user of the service from the first day it was available, it it is now my primary point of contact to the Credit Union, which is where we do most of our banking.

My fondness for the web-based system was largely due to its simple, elegant design and speedy operation.

I am sad to report that they have “upgraded” the system to something flashier, and in doing so have almost completely stripped out the elegance, and replaced it a slow-loading, JavaScript-drenched piece of ugliness.

Sad.

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 11:08am

Comments

Isaac's picture
Isaac on November 1, 2002
Yes its flashier. Yes its slower loading. But not better? You must be on crack. The old system wasn’t much faster, ugly, and a pain in the ass to use. My vote for best online bank is still TD Canada Trust.
LubbockLawLibrarian's picture
LubbockLawLibrarian on November 1, 2002
just out of curiousity - are the people in the pictures, are the places in the pictures even on PEI? personally, i think credit unions all buy their software from the discount bin at Wal-mart so there’s not really much point debating it one way or the other.
Andrew's picture
Andrew on November 2, 2002
TD Canada Trust does have a nice online banking site. I’m now with President’s Choice, their online banking is nice and simple but is missing a few of the options I loved about TD’s online banking.
Stephen's picture
Stephen on November 2, 2002
I wasn’t happy when I got my Credit Union online banking setup because they wrote down the username, password etc on a sheet of paper, gave it to my mom to take home. If I lost that sheet anybody could have gained access to my account. I have never used TD (have seen President’s Choice) but I’m using the Bank of Montreal and security was much tighter then the Credit Union. I lost my password for that and it locked me out after trying 3 times. I had to call them to unlock it and they asked me my life story before they would reset my login.
Alan's picture
Alan on November 2, 2002
I like the Royal Bank’s site especially as it allows me to manage a tiny self directed RRSP account that allows me to pretend I am the master of my own destiny. [Buy more beer stocks, I said to myself in late 2001 - jeese, missed that crash…] The RBC site avoids much of the crappy web glitz and language that could slow down my pentium 75 1995 computer even more (hey, I paid 3000 bucks and I am getting every cent’s worth). It has a depth of information in any subject I want and I feel like it is well tied to both ATM and human-to-human branch service. It does not try to make me feel valued - it provides me with value. And of course those are not pictures from PEI as - once again lets say it out loud - PEI is not big enough to sustain its own…(add today’s focus here)… Credit Union’s web system - likely it is run through League Data in Halifax, a Co-operative of all the Credit Unions of Atlantic Canada. You will notice the CBC PEI web presence has become more obviously what it really is in the last few weeks - a part of CBC Maritimes.
Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on November 3, 2002
Alan, I would happily take a look at the Royal Bank’s setup, and would consider switching based on your comments, but cannot bring myself to patronize a bank that took an elegant name like “The Royal Bank” and renamed itself “RBC Financial Group”. It seems like the Bank of Montreal has followed their lead and gone all “BMO Financial Group” too (presumably the fact that Montreal gets abbreviated as “MO” instead of “M” comes from possible unfortunate “our bank is shit” problems if the O was left out). With the Toronto Dominion Bank going as “TD Canada Trust”, the Bank of Nova Scotia known popularly as “ScotiaBank”, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce calling itself “CIBC,” there are, it would seem, no banks honest enough to call themselves banks any longer.
Alan's picture
Alan on November 3, 2002
You are right Peter. Having a bank is like having an old friend who drinks too much. You see them a lot but you get embarassed a lot too. After the extension of services they could offer and their bids for mergers and the havoc of the branding consultants, all I want is a place to deposit and withdraw my cash and borrow a bit here and there. My insurance is elsewhere, most of my RRSP’s are elsewhere (withering) - what else do they claim to do. I got so sick of their deah by a thousand fees, I went for a set monthly fee. On another point, I thought I was a bit mean to old spud island above but this morning over my toast I paused - do we even eat bread from here or is it all trucked over the bridge? Surely there isn’t another jurisdiction in the world that doesn’t bake most of its own bread.
art's picture
art on November 4, 2002
One thing that is very distressing about the entity formerly know as the Royal Bank is that you cannot phone your local branch anymore, at least in Ontario. Everything is routed through the Toronto office, and you have the joy of arguing with the rep on the other end of the line that you really do need to talk to someone from the branch that is in your own community. Though I give the banks credit for keeping Canada Post in operation, I don’t what would be left of physical mail if it weren’t for the endless stream of materials coming from the banks.
chris baehr's picture
chris baehr on March 8, 2004
i have applied through the mail to go online to get my savings balance about a week ago and it is saying invalid login please try again.i know its the right account # and the right pin #. i shouldn’t have to have a problem.this is not the first time ive had a problem with this bank. can you help me login?

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