Empower Federal Credit Union – Customer Review – Syracuse NY

TL;DR: Empower Federal Credit Union, my bank of nearly 30 years, deactivated my business debit card without notice or explanation. Zero communication. Major disruption. Completely unacceptable.

For nearly 30 years, I’ve trusted Empower Federal Credit Union (formerly Empire Federal Credit Union) with my business banking. I opened my first account with them in 1994 and incorporated my business — a web design, hosting, and consulting firm — in 1997. I’ve been loyal ever since, and I’ve referred countless friends, family, and business owners to Empower over the years.

That loyalty apparently doesn’t go both ways.

Without warning, Empower decided to report my active business debit card as “lost or stolen” — and never told me. No phone call. No email. No letter. Nothing. I found out only when a supplier tried to process a transaction and said, “Sorry, your financial institution reported your card as lost or stolen.”

Imagine the shock. One day my business card works fine. The next, my access to my own company’s funds is cut off. Now I have to reissue payment information for every supplier, rebuild my vendor connections, and scramble to restore normal operations — all because of a decision made without a single notification.

For a financial institution that promotes “Empowerment,” this experience has done the opposite. It’s been disruptive, frustrating, and frankly unacceptable.

After nearly three decades of loyalty, I expected better communication, better systems, and basic respect for a long-standing customer relationship. Small businesses depend on stability and trust from their financial partners. Empower has failed on both counts.

And the icing on the cake? When I went in to close the account — which held a significant balance — the representative, Sean, didn’t even ask why. I volunteered the reason, explaining exactly what happened, and he still didn’t seem to care. If I were a financial institution watching a 30+ year account holder walk away with over $30K in business deposits, I’d think it would be worth 30 seconds to ask “Why?” But apparently not.

That’s fine. The account was closed in about 30 seconds — and I look forward to the next 30 years with Bank of America.