NIH Federal Credit Union

I have been banking with the NIH FCU for some years. My experience has been very average, to below average. maybe that is a reflection of the high employee turn over rate. The rates for loans are very competitive finally, in 2015 and 2016; in previous years I gave up trying to get a loan because the turn-​around time frame was 3 plus weeks– way too long to wait.
I recently has Debit card fraud and the manager at the Rockville Fishers Lane branch was helpful and reversed the charges within 4 days.

Zero stars. Terrible bank practices, inconvenient hours (and parking for their branches is appalling), and the very worst customer service both at the branch and over the phone. A waste of time and money.

Would give zero stars if possible. I was encouraged to open an account here when I began my job a year ago, but I found it inconvenient and never really used the account. The staff at the NIH campus branch where I opened the account failed to tell me that a $ 5 fee would be deducted from the checking account I opened if a balance of over $ 100 was not maintained. The account was opened with a balance under $ 100, so I have unknowingly been charged $ 5 each month on this account. I have only recently become aware that I now have an overdrawn balance due to this fee!
I received several phone calls from an NIH number, but each time I picked up I was hung up on. When I finally realized it was the bank trying to reach me, I tried to reach the bank three times and was put on hold for over 20 minutes each time. No one left a message, or tried an alternate means of contacting me.
I finally reached someone from the 1 – 800 service, who explained the situation to me, but now I have to go in person to close the account.
The automated phone service is possibly the worst that I have encountered. There is no obvious option for setting the PIN required to use the online service, which is an additional annoyance.

I opened an account and received excellent customer service.
I was told I would receive checks shortly after opening my account so I could get my paychecks direct deposited. I waited, and waited and waited, never got a response on where my checks were. I ended up having to go out of town for 2 weeks. You are charged a fee if you don’t set direct deposit up within a certain amount of time, so I called and closed my account because I didn’t want to get charged a fee for not opening direct deposit due to not having received the check within the specified time, plus my going out of town. They charged me a $ 5 early account closing fee… which I thought was annoying since I had closed my account due to an error on their part (either I was told something untrue by the person opening my account… or SOMETHING got hung up with my checks).

I have been banking with the NIH FCU for the past 2 years. I have business loans and mortgages with them. They have been nothing short of spectacular in their customer service and willingness to help. They have been much easier to deal with than the previous banks I have used over the course of 40 years of doing business banking.
Their parking and tellers are not the best at their Rockville Town Center location, but I do most of my banking on line.
I do not use ATMs, so I cannot address their fee structure, but as for their checking accounts, they have much lower fees than any of the other banks I have dealt with in the area.

Do not call the main number (301) 718‑0208!!! Every time I’ve called, I have received absolutely horrible customer service. I let it pass the first time, but every time I’ve called since then, each person I’ve spoken to has been very rude. They try to rush you off the phone if you have questions and talk to you like you’re stupid. I just got off the phone with an operator who was unnecessarily rude (I rushed to Unilocal to complain) and will be closing my account. Don’t waste your time with them. They lure you in with low rates and then treat you like crap.