Meridian Credit Union Reviews 

Meridian started off very strong in my community a few years back. From that point onward and in most recent months, they have gone downhill. The customer service is horrible. I would highly advise staying away from them. Just today I was informed that my credit card dispute needed to be faxed to their head office, in which I don’t have access to a fax machine (who does anymore) or I have to drop everything off at the branch (super inconvenient in todays digital age), not to mention the individual on the phone was extremely rude.

I have been loyal to MCU for a long time & set up my business account with them 5 years ago. I haven’t had any real issues other than exceptional holds (10 days) even with cheques from other members.

Here’s the BUT, they have one of the worst credit cards on the market. They charge an international exchange fee for every transaction! That means if you purchase something online from a U.S. company, you are charged a separate fee of $ 4 - $ 8 on top of the exchange rate.

I purchased a $280 item, which I ended up returning & they charged me $14 in fees! I will not be using this card again and if the fees are reimbursed, I’ll be moving all my business. I wouldn’t have expected nickel and diming, hidden fees from Ontario largest credit union. Another beloved brand appears to be headed towards biting the dusk.

I applied for mortgage online and submitted all required documents. A few days later, I received an email from the mortgage advisor and he asked myself and my wife to open chequing account with Meridian. Both, myself and my wife opened chequing account. After we opened the account, there was absolutely no reply from the mortgage advisor. I sent numerous emails to him, but no reply at all.

After 3 months, I received a letter from Meridian that I owe $14.90 overdraft on the account I have opened.

I have to follow up on it to figure out why was I charged and the reason given to me was highly ridiculous.

Overall, I had very bad experience from Meridian.

Mortgage was renewed, Had to babysit that process, they forgot to take out our mortgage twice! Single handedly ruined our vacation with the Meridian Visa. I called to put travel advisory on it. It would not work at 90% of the places. We would use it and it would ask for our pin and it would say its wrong, I called them, they told me it was my fault, I should have put travel advisory on and should remember my pin. that was laughable because I would use the same pin as always, it would work at one store but not the next, I had to guess when my card would work. ON VACATION this was a stressful trip, it was the only CC I had (i learned to have a second card now not with meridian). Lots of this has been my fault of course don't ask me how. Now after my holiday I return to a message saying they forgot to add my property tax to my Mortgage, since June, its now November. $1700. We have had our mortgage there for 11 + years always had property tax on it. ALWAYS. But again somehow our fault, then they sent me an email saying I would have to sign something for them that would indicate that I don't want the property tax coming off. That seemed sketchy so I think a lawyer can check that out for me. I am so angry over these errors and incompetence. Please learn from this!! I should have gone with my gut at renewal and switched banks.

I recently obtained a mortgage with Meridian Credit Union. Everything seemed fine until my first payment did not go through. After I contacted them, they blamed everyone except themselves, but assured me that the next payment would go through. Guess what - it did not, and then they tried to blame TD Canada Trust and told me I should call them. After it occurred a third time, an employee at the Barrhaven Branch - Aristotle Barboutsis - said he would "fix it for me" which he did. Then when I tried to contribute an additional amount, once again it did not go through. They stated it was not their fault and tried to blame TD again. That transfer has still not gone through, so I would suggest you avoid this Credit Union. The only reason I gave them 1 star was due to the work that Aristotle did for me - why can't the rest of them be like Aristotle?

Came in with a welcome offer, transferred all my accounts here. Received a notification that my accounts will be closed within a month for absolutely no reason. Avoid the headache. Avoid this bank

I used to love Meridian, more so when it was Niagara but the last couple of years has destroyed that love! Now they are holding the money from a cheque that I deposited online for 8 days, even though it cleared the bank it was written on after only 3 days. And what is up with the eTransfer rebate? This has got to cost more than just giving us so many free eTransfers in a month. Go to a real bank!

This bank is a scam. Once they see that you have come additional amount that can count towards the closing cost, they will lure you and make you put that as down payment. Otherwise they tell that the application will be rejected.

My mortgage forces me to pay 90% to interest ($24000) this last year. It would take me 200 years to pay off my principal. Meridian Credit Union offers us poor service and little or harmful advice. Does the government nor the banks not care about making their citizens poor? Answer: They don't care.

Twice in a row a Government check has been returned due to the fact my account has been closed!! I have been a member for 60 years and never had a problem. So why do your many of Your associates say that the account number is different than my check!! What the hell is going on!! Had to open up a new account with a different bank and my checks are going through fine!!
We have talked to many of your associates and they say we will phone you back up. But none of them do!! So pissed off!! Get your stuff together because two months in a row I have not been able to pay my rent on time!!!

Today, I went to take a Letter of Employment, so I called my manager & she provided me with a letter with the information for a preapproval for a mortgage at Meridian Clarkson. Jasper called it fraud, how can that be fraud, if I provided the letter from my manager? Not only is Jasper insulting, he's condacending, ignorant & unreasonable. Instead of trying work with me, he told me NEVER to go back again. He also told me to buy a Condo, I never asked him what to buy & I never knew they offered Real Estate advice. Jasper is very unrofessional as well as very rude & ignorant, who wants to go to Meridian anyway! They obviously don't care about customer service!

There is NO customer service with the Meridian Visa credit card company. I reported a lost/stolen visa that i use to run my business and not only did they not expedite the card out RUSH delivery, they didn't send me a new one at all after i specifically requested it be sent to the branch. No card. They resend another one after i follow up 2 weeks later (bc thats how long it takes to get a new one!!!). I wait 2 weeks, again no card. I call to speak to a manager, all the while not getting the benefits on a cash back card that i use for business. Thousands of dollars a week, no cash back, the call hangs up on me. I call back manager does nothing gives me another number to call 18552190567. I call the man says that it's unfortunate i lost the card and one is on the way. So its been fixed. Ummmm... no it's not. Why wasnt a card sent out rush in the first place? How is 10 business days excusable? How is a business suppose to run?

Like i said there is no accountability, no care at all, "they'll listen tho", the gentlemen had no empathy at all, no power to do anything and just blamed me for losing the card.

I've never been treated so horribly. There is no customer service at all. I work in service and would do whatever it takes to make people feel whole again if it's in my power and not to my demise, obviously.

A credit of even $20 on my Visa would have been everything square. I'm shocked. Just totally stunned.

After 4 different days of calls. Multiple trips to the branch and my mailbox. The time on the phone re-explaining and re-confirming my cc number... all this time they're getting paid and i'm net negative. I'll say the men were far more callus then the women. The women seemed to actually care and try to fix the issues by contacting management. Sadly all the "managers" happened to be men. Not sure if that's relevant but... maybe flip the ratio to more women in management then men and see what happens with your customers experience. Just an idea out there who knows.

Have been having problems with interbank transfer with Meridian and two other institutions. Each time, Meridian charged me a fee. I had explained at length to Meridian that this is the only institution i had this problem with for these two institutions. When I called most recently, they had turned off the Money Movement feature without actually solving the problem, and of course, they didn't tell me. Also spoke to the supervisor. There is a system technical problem with Meridian. And I paid the price for trying to do business with them.

Dusk branch makes too many mistakes and don't send me info that I ask for.

Not worth the time. Everytime you want to etransfer fund from one account to your other or even to someone else you lose 1.50$. Already looking for a new bank because I am losing money.

Worst bank . They allow unauthorized transactions on their end and by other businesses. I've had money that I transfered, transfered back without my knowledge or approval which is scary and happen more than once.

There's just too many incidents to put . I would not bank with meridian at all if you want to loose control of your money then go ahead.

Worse Bank out there , Zero customer service , won’t answer your complaints and will just take your money like a robbery in day light

Terrible customer service, just keep transferring you and don't care at all about you.

Corporations
NIAGARA CREDIT UNION LIMITED (148845)
ST CATHARINES, Ontario, Canada
Status Refer to Ministry of Finance
Previously known as
NIAGARA TOWNSHIP CREDIT UNION LIMITED
Incorporation/Amalgamation Date December 11, 1944 December 11 1944 as in September 11th, 1944
Business Type Credit Union
Ignorant and rude staff and it is always the ones who use their employer to back up their ignorant loud mouth, Your a joke and have lousy customer service.
Scott Street Branch, St. Catharine's - take a look in the mirror your ugly and outside your a loser mouse. Today's date September 8, 2022 (date of experience September 8, 2022 is the most current harassment) and this site keeps changing the date. Human Rights Violations and Personal Harassment.
Head on down to Grape & Wine Montebello Park
September 16 - September 18, 2022 & September 23, 2022 - September 25, 2022. Celebrates the fall grape harvest. First Niagara Grape Festival parade 1952. STCM S1952.61.1.39 Putting Niagara’s Wine’s “on the Map”

It is my opinion that Meridian Credit, Ontario’s largest Credit Union had and still has a responsibility to inform their Members and the Marketplace of an undisclosed back-office system challenge.
The system issue went undetected for 9 years and upon recognizing the system issue mistakes, Meridian chose not to inform their Membership.
It is my opinion that Meridian Credit Union had and still has a corporate responsibility to inform their Membership of the following;
The facts behind a 9-year back-office system challenge.
What they found and what they tried to fix.
And the potential impacts of those mistakes on their members financial well being and Account Information and Tax information.
I also believe that Meridian Credit Union has an obligation to inform their members that Meridian was investigated by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the newly formed Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and is currently under investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. (OPC)
As per the case file information obtain from the Freedom of Information Office, when FSCO approached Meridian regarding incorrect Account Holder Statement information, Meridian’s Executive response was;
“In addition, we advise that we have sought external legal counsel in this matter. Our solicitor advises that it is a well-established principle in banking law that statements of account are not conclusive evidence of the facts set out in them.”
After further investigation FSCO discovered that not only did Meridian not disclose that the mistakes created incorrect Account Holder statement information, the mistakes also produced incorrect Revenue Canada T5 tax return information for a 9-year period.
After an exhaustive three-year investigation, the Meridian Board and Executive Leadership team finally reluctantly admitted to the Executive Vice President of Legal and Enforcement of the FSRA that they did not inform their members of the 9-year system challenge and disclosed the following details of the mistakes.
“technical limitations in our computer banking system at that time meant that products held under joint accounts had to be manually updated with a ‘joint’ benefit code at the time of opening. Because this step was “manual”, there was an obvious risk of human error. If the banking system was not updated to “joint” at the product level in any given case, the system code would be inconsistent with the legal reality that the member had specifically expressed an intention that the new product be held jointly with another person or other persons. At year end, when the T5s were issued, the automated process drew the necessary database information from the product code rather than the Member account. Therefore, if in a given case the manual product code update was not done at the opening stage, our banking system would have issued the T5 in the primary account holder’s name only. This explains why, in some cases, the Box 23 would include a 1 rather than a 2 for Recipient Type.”
The above Meridian Executive statement came three years later and was a significantly different acknowledgement then their original statement to the Regulator.
Currently the OPC is investigating Meridian under the PPEDA Principle 4.9.5, which states, when an individual successfully demonstrates the inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information, the organization shall amend the information as required. Depending upon the nature of the information challenged, amendment involves the correction, deletion, or addition of information.
What is even more disturbing is that the Meridian Executive has hired Fasken Martineau and DuMoulin to representative them in the OPC case investigation.
I find it difficult to accept and understand that the Meridian Membership is not only unaware of the system mistake errors and the possible consequences of those mistakes, they are also unaware that their money is being spent on a law firm to represent Meridian in the case filed against them by the OPC.
This issue needs to become an important Consumer Alert story to give the Meridian Members and their families the benefit of the doubt on whether they were affected or not affected by these errors.