People's Choice Credit Union

Your bank blocked a credit transaction for holiday accommodation yesterday. My first holiday in 15 years and now I can't book accommodation in a market where it is being heaviy booked and I may well lose it. Since yesterday I have been kept on hold for over two hours only to be told that your fraud team is too busy to answer any calls and now I… Read more

have to wait a further undisclosed amount of time for a call back while my accommodation is slowly slipping away. I find this level of service abysmal and quite reprehensible. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Over 9 weeks with no outcome – delays and repeated document requests I applied for a construction loan with People First Bank in early February 2026. As of 14 April 2026, I still had no formal outcome on the application (over 9 weeks), despite being initially advised that approvals would take around 10 business days. A major issue was the way… Read more

document requests were handled. The same documents were requested multiple times, and requests were often made incrementally rather than upfront. Each time a document was submitted, the application appeared to be placed back into a queue, with a stated turnaround of around 5 days — which in practice was consistently longer.

For context, this was a relatively low-risk application: approximately 35% LVR, land owned outright, and stable long-term public servant employment.

This cycle repeated several times and significantly extended the overall timeframe.

There also seemed to be little consideration for the fact that this was a construction loan with active time pressures. Construction had already commenced and bank stage payments were getting close, but the delays continued without any apparent urgency.

Communication was inconsistent, and it was often unclear where the application stood unless I followed up.

In contrast, I applied with another lender and received formal approval within 3 days — while still waiting for any outcome from People First Bank.

Summary:

Application lodged 9 February 2026, no outcome after 9+ weeks Same documents requested multiple times Each request reset the queue (nominally 5 days, often longer) No urgency despite construction already underway Poor visibility and inconsistent communication

Based on this experience, I would not recommend using People First Bank for any sort of loan or anything that requires an ounce of customer service.

Today I attended the Elizabeth People's Choice Branch with my elderly and infirmed mother (91 years old). It is very difficult for my mother to leave the house as she has health issues but she had agreed to lend my brother some money to pay off a… Read more

debt (not something I would Have done but it is her money). We spoke to (a child,) [Name Removed], who clearly has no understanding of the elderly and how to deal with them. Mum also wanted to make me a signatory to her account given the fact that she can no longer get to the bank. [Name Removed] managed to confuse her totally by talking about other products that might be more suitable for her rather than focusing on what she wanted to do . My mother is not senile but can get confused if someone jumps from one topic to another. They made my mother feel like an imb#cile and me like someone who was trying to take advantage of her. After about an hour and constantly consulting with his supervisor, the supervisor came across. They eventually agreed to transfer my mothers money to my brother as requested.. They would not admit me as a signitory so now I am force to take out a Power of Attorney which will mean that I will have to drag my mother out again so she can sign in front of a JP when actually she can make her own decisions with some help )and when I do I will close her and my accounts. It is her money. She has a right to do with it as she wants. She is 91 years old, doesn't have a mobile phone, or the internet or internet banking and can't walk or drive. Thanks so much for such a lack of compassion and understanding and making us both feel terrible.

Applied for home loan and was demanded to provide excesive amount of documents. Than new requirements to provide more documents. Canceled the aplication. not recommended. Show details

Simply brilliant. Been with them effectively for around 30 years (Territory Mutual) Always helpful and easy to get hold of, talk to & courteous. When my Wife passed away the Bereavement Team reached out and sorted everything. If you want service, forget the big banks. Show details

We have been with them for some time. They are helpful and solve our issues when they arrive. Online is easy to use and the business banking side works good too. Show details

Great customer service, attractive rates, app needs work though – We recently signed a mortgage with Peoples Choice after they beat all other rate offered by a decent margin of 0.25%, which in todays market is reasonably good. They also got our loan organized very quickly after a fairly average broker left us with no viable mortgage option despite having a great deposit and finance (clearly just searching to… Read more

sell us a high commission loan).

They were also the only bank to offer no LMI on my mortgage due to my secure government work and excellent overtime earning capacity, which most larger banks will not. This, combined with an interest rate lower than lots of people with a much better LVR than mine, makes them an easy choice.

Our case was handled by Lewis Johnston completely online whom was excellent to deal with, so for any emergency services worker, or health worker, i would strongly recommend him and Peoples Choice as they definitely understand our work security and varied earning capacities and provide us with a good deal accordingly. I have since settling had a couple of calls to check in, he clearly lets his work speak for him as he isnt pushy with sales and clearly isnt chasing KPIs.

Unfortunately their online banking app isnt the greatest, and their credit card rates leave much to be desired, but this clearly isnt their core product line. They were also very upfront and honest, and Lewis advised that if we were intending to utilise credit cards for points as we do, to work with another bank and simply pay the mortgage from there, rather than try and sell us an inferior product.

Myself and a number of fellow emergency workers have had excellent experiences with Peoples Choice, particularly Lewis, and would reccomend him to anyone else looking for a home loan.

Faulty ATM machine, swallowed a deposit with no credit to the account. Had to attend the local branch and they agreed to credit the monies. A follow up was received stating the matter will be investigated with fees and charges possibly applicable. Very insulated as a copy of the atm slip stating it was technical error was supplied to the branch. Despite several follows by phone and branch attendance, no one has bothered to return the call.

After setting up a new account I rang to activate my internet banking. But the lady couldn’t verify me so was going to send a letter out that I had to get my license sighted by a JP( a certified copy ) great waste of time. But eventually after pointing out some common sense. He finally got it and verified me. But then she tells me to wait while… Read more

she speaks to her manager and comes back saying they don’t activate new accounts on a Sunday ! What a total waste of time and frustration. Why bit state this at the start of the conversation when I said I want to activate my new account ?? Anyway after a total stuff up of lack of knowledge and common sense. It tells me to try another bank before more disappointment, dismay and dissatisfaction

One of the nastiest banks in history Wouldn't discharge a house loan on refinance for weeks so they could keep getting interest Secondly held money transferred for "fraud reason" so they could keep playing the stock market and cashing in Bunch of absolute scum Show details

Despite reading poor reviews, I have had a different experience with People Choice. I applied for a personal loan to refinance my loan from one of the big 4 banks for People choice. Dee from Elizabeth Branch helped and guided me through the process and she made it sooooo easy and less stressfull for me. She communicated and explained everything throughly and my loan was approved and transferred to people choice within 2 days. Thank you again Dee Show details

The woman who served me at Elizabeth Branch today around 330pm 19/2/26 she definetly needs to take a course on her communication skills telling me my cheque is a scam is incorrect copy and paste link washttps://www.subscriptionmembershipsettlement.com/case-documents.aspx Also you can look it up online she shouldnt comment on things she doesnt 100 percent know Show details

Had to hang up I was waiting that long on hold to increase my limit, if you aren't going to let customers do it themselves on the app at least be available, I was standing in a car yard on hold for over 36mins. Show details

Applied for home loan and waited 6 weeks. I was asked to resupply application data as it was older than one month. I then received a request for a significant amount of new information at which point I gave in. There are other lenders who can do this work in a reasonable timeframe.

Horrifically understaffed. To increase one's transfer limit one has to call. It took 20 mins waiting for my call to be answered, then a further 38 mins to establish that they will have to get someone to call back to verify my identity via a Teams video call whilst I hold up photo evidence. That call came 2 hours later because there was no one… Read more

immediately available to do the Teams call. I am now on hold again, 27 minutes and counting, to verify my identity. The most basic of functions of a bank and I still cant transfer my money out of this lousy bank.

Had enough of the constant issues, unable to access my card or use it, unable to login. Getting beyond a joke!!! I would recommend another bank as these guys are absolutely ridiculous!!

Oh wow, substandard staff working in Term Deposits. I have been in the branch 3 times and still had to ring to try to sort out what they said they were going to do and didnt. Yet to be seen if resolved. While they were at it they cancelled my totally unrelatable savings card by accident. Admitted human error and couldnt even express the new card to me. What is going on Peoples Choice, sort your staff out. Show details

They are worst Financial Organisations I have seem in 40 years of investment life in bloody Australia. Must be managed by old retired financial id*ots of Australia or Clive Palmer or Albo Nazi type prime minister's friend. These bunch of id*ots asked me to wait for 4 weeks and said due to risk policy refinance is not possible. Totally… Read more

unprofessional and third grade bank. I do not recommend them for any business, they are totally low risk non-sense.

If I could put zero stars I would . Rang as my apps not working . So dismissive and was told go into a branch , very unfriendly and didn’t even try to help me properly , what’s the point of being open for 24hours if you don’t even want to help people that call !!!!! Show details

Most discusting union it has turned to be, do not be short$1.00, on your cgu insurance or they will charge you $5.00 they like ripping there 35 year members ,don't get [Content Removed] for being a long term customer

Possibly the worst bank I've dealt with. From taking forever to approve a new mortgage to taking equally as long to discharge it 12 months later (due to poor customer service), I cannot wait to cancel all my accounts and move away from this bunch of amateurs. I initially changed to a credit union because I thought they would offer better customer service from the major banks, how wrong I was. Show details

After being with peoples choice for years, I’m actually going to be moving my banking elsewhere. Their cyber protection is non existent. I have had to get several new cards this year after I was the one to find suspect transactions on my statement. After stopping payment I have to actually put in paperwork to get my money back and to top it off, they charge $10 each time for a replacement card! Show details

Honestly very disappointed. I applied online for a unsecured personal loan on 20/11/2025, initially everything was great, I got a call that day and we finalised the application, that staff member was excellent and he spent over an hour talking me through all the options and making sure all the details were correct. I was told I was conditionally… Read more

approved and the team would be in touch to verify my details.

I informed him that I had an approval on the table from my bank but due to their offer I was happy to proceed with them however I needed to have this wrapped up in a week or so as I have renovations booked.

Long story short I initially wasn't going to use a loan, I was going to use my savings for the renovations ($60k) however my investments had done really well in the last 12 months so I figured it was a better move to take the loan, pay the interest for a year and put my $60k savings into my portfolio and I would still come out a few percent ahead overall. So I didn't leave heaps of time however I figured two weeks is easily enough time to get a personal loan.

For reference not going to get personal but I make good money, have one credit card with perfect paid in full every month history and recently cleared my home loan so I'm certainly not a risky borrower.

Anyways I hadn't heard anything and they hadn't asked me for any documents so a few days later I ring them and they tell me 24-48 hrs and I'll get the email asking me to provide the documents. I said no issue, four days past I call them again, 24-48, another few days past still nothing.

Eventually I gave up and started looking at alternatives, this morning while at work I came across Great Southern who are having a promotion with no establishment fee, I was hesitant based on this experience but thought I'll give it a go and if not just pay cash.

I submitted the Great Southern application, within seconds I got an SMS and email saying conditionally approved please provide payslips, driver's licence and Medicare. I sent those off at 10:17am and by 11:50 I had the full approval, at 1:15pm I got a call from the team and they sent me the loan contracts and went through everything with me again, I signed them digitally and funds are now being put into the account overnight. I understand every lender has different policies however there is no reasonable explanation as to why one bank would approve and fund me for $60k in less than 12 hours and the other hasn't even requested the documents needed for $45k in weeks.

I should have read the other reviews and saved the credit enquiry however I was sucked in by the good rates. I wouldn't recommend them unfortunately.

Long time member. People's choice have gone from clearing a cheque in three days to a very long wait of 7-10 days whether it be personal or a Bank cheque!!! I have a cheque just sitting in my account waiting to be cleared, talk about wasting everyone's time! Most other banks still only take three days.

Poor experience trying to obtain a home loan. The number of documents requested are excessive, repetitive, and piecemeal. The questions are forensic, random and again piecemeal without an end in sight. I’ve already this amount in loans with big4 lender, excellent credit score and 15years record in servicing loans and was hoping to finance for more… Read more

competitive rate but at this rate I will be defaulting at settlement waiting for them to approve - or worst not approve. We will be withdrawing and go with another lender. Never again Peoples Choice. I regret wasting time choosing you.

Don’t bother applying for a loan. I’m a sole trader earning just under $100k a year and still got knocked back for a $45k business vehicle loan. The first operator didn’t even understand the difference between a sole trader and an employee. When I called back for details, they said it was because I live with two immediate family members and we… Read more

split the bills three ways but they counted all the living expenses as mine only. Apparently, if I lived with friends it’d be different. How does that make sense? I’ve lived with the same family members in the same house for 10 years that’s far more stable than sharing with mates or randoms.

They de-banked me for buying Crypto and depositing cash. This is one of the most woke businesses going. I joined them over 40 years ago but they have changed. First they tried to discourage teller transactions by reducing tellers and counter space. This then progressed to limits on cash transactions even though cash is legal tender. The final… Read more

straw was phone calls questioning my spending habits and Bitcoin purchases. This is not even a bank. They have no business telling customers what they can and cannot do with their own money. It is a woke intrusive organistion under the control of big brother. Stay away. I would have given 0 stars but that is not an option.