Best Minnesota Credit Union: We Pick a Winner (Plus Our Top 5)

Best Minnesota Credit Union Executive Summary

• Affinity Plus takes home our top prize as they are very strong across all categories
• Several other Minnesota-focused credit unions are nipping at their heels though and could be a threat to take the top place soon
• Minnesotans have several strong options for basic personal and small business banking products and services. For more complicated and/or special situations, though, they may need to look to larger, nationwide institutions

#1 Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union is our overall #1 pick

We’re excited to select Affinity Plus as our top choice for credit unions in Minnesota. Their customer service, product offering, rates, and technology made them a clear choice.

Most people who are tied to the Minnesota community through work, school, or residency will be eligible. For those who aren’t, a simple one-time $25 donation to Affinities charity will gain your membership eligibility.

Breadth and depth of products and services offered

They offer just about every basic banking product an individual or family might need. What we really liked here was that most products had several variations and options to choose from. Often, with local or state credit unions, who usually may at best only have one version of each product. For example, Affinity offers a couple of different credit card options.

On the lending side too, there’s a full suite of options available, from personal loans to mortgages to boat loans (and more).

They offer basic small business services as well, like business checking and a business credit card.

One thing to note, like most credit unions, they don’t offer investment and/or brokerage services. Although their website sort of makes it looks like they do. What’s going on here is that Affinity retains investment professionals, who can help you with your investing and insurance needs, but the actual products are offered through a partnership with LPL Financial (this is a common setup).

Quality and competitiveness of products and services offered (e.g., functionality, rates, fees)

A survey of rates across lending products saw that most rates were either at or below the current market averages. In particular, their credit cards offered notably below-market APRs.

On the deposit side, we were a little disappointed, the savings accounts and money market account rates were noticeably below the best in market rates available. Although to be fair, it was not as egregious as we often see.

Customer satisfaction and reviews

One of the top reasons we selected Affinity as our top overall pick was that it had the strongest overall customer reviews across platforms.

They are rated at A+ by the Better Business Bureau. It’s also worth noting that after conducting a 25K consumer survey, Forbes ranked them as one of their top Minnesota credit unions as well.

Technology stack (e.g., online banking, mobile app)

Affinities tech stack looks modern and was easy and intuitive to interact with at all times.

Furthermore, their mobile app has maintained an impressive 4.8 rating across over 50K reviews.

Size and safety of the institution

At $4B in assets and 250K+ customers, Affinity Plus has a strong base to operate and grow from. It’s NCUA-insured and NCUA rated as well-capitalized.

#2 Spire Credit Union comes in second, propelled by strong customer reviews

Spire slips into our second spot with a large base of 200K+ members, 20+ branches in Minnesota, and strong customer reviews.

Breadth and depth of products and services offered

Spire offers an extensive suite of personal banking and small business services. There are multiple types of savings and checking accounts, as well as a couple of credit card, offers to choose from. They also offer small business products like payment processing and investment property loans.

For the vast majority of people, these are all the products and services they will need.

Similar to other small credit unions, while they offer financial advisors and advice, they don’t actually offer any investment products, instead extending LPL financial’s products to their members through a partnership.

Like many similarly sized credit unions, they offer free access to a nationwide network of about 30K ATMs through a co-op program.

Quality and competitiveness of products and services offered (e.g., functionality, rates, fees)

The rates, fees, and functionality were roughly in-line with other credit unions of their size, maybe a little bit high, actually. Unfortunately, this typically means slightly better lending rates than what you can get from most banks, at the cost of exceptionally low-interest rates on deposit products like savings accounts and money market accounts.

One disappointing find here was their credit card rates, which were roughly in line with the larger credit card companies’ APRs. Oftentimes, you can find excellent credit card APRs offered by these smaller credit unions, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.

Customer satisfaction and reviews

Spire recently topped a Forbes consumer poll of credit unions in Minnesota and also maintained fair ratings across other platforms. Many of the complaints we saw seemed to involve fake fraudulently opened accounts, rather than ongoing customer service.

They have an A+ accreditation with the BBB.

Technology stack (e.g., online banking, mobile app)

Their website and online banking systems were modern and easy to use, albeit a little less well-organized and intuitive compared to their best-in-class competitors. Overall very strong here.

We also noted that their mobile app has maintained a very strong 4.8 rating across 10K reviews – very impressive when stacked against some of the other credit union apps we see in this size range.

Size and safety of the institution

With over $2B in assets and maintaining NCUA insurance for individual accounts, we are comfortable with Spire for the time being.

#3 TruStone Financial makes our top 3 as a solid choice

With 100K members, $4B in assets, and 20+ branch locations in Minneapolis, TruStone is one of Minnesota’s largest credit unions.

Most Minnesotans will be eligible for membership, either through residency, employment, or educational institution.

Breadth and depth of products and services offered

TruStone offers all the usual personal and small business banking services you would expect for an institution this size. That typically mean just about everything, short of investment products, that most individuals will need, along with basic small business financial products.

While most of their products were fairly standard, we did like their checking accounts, which offered not only a reasonably good interest rate (if you maintain a minimum balance of $2K, up to $20K), but also the ability to earn points on the associated debit card. That’s not something we’ve seen elsewhere. Of course, the rewards rate was pretty low, so it probably makes sense for most people in most situations to run their spending through a high rewards rate credit card.

Similar to most credit unions, they don’t offer investment products directly, but do have financial advisors you can use if desired.

Quality and competitiveness of products and services offered (e.g., functionality, rates, fees)

Most products we checked followed a familiar pattern, very low-interest rates on the deposit side (not good) and a bit better than average rates on the lending side (nice to have). While we don’t use savings accounts, in order to earn a good rate on our working cash, we use money market accounts at large brokerages like Fidelity, which tend to offer about the highest rate you can get on your cash.

Credit card APRs were a bit below the national average, but not as low as some credit unions we’ve seen. One of their credit cards does offer 1.5% cash back, which is pretty good, but not the best in class.

Customer satisfaction and reviews

We saw a bit more of a mixed bag across reviews here, perhaps some room for improvement on this front.

Technology stack (e.g., online banking, mobile app)

Our quick look into their tech stack found a modern, easy-to-use digital banking setup, with all the functionality we’ve come to expect.

Their mobile app looks great as well, maintaining a strong 4.7 out of 5 after 10K reviews on the app store.

Size and safety of the institution

With detailed annual reports, NCUA insurance, 80+ years in business, a new 24/7 dedicated security center, and $4B+ in assets, we’re fairly comfortable on this front.

#4 Wings Financial flies into our fourth slot 

With 350K+ members, $8B in assets, and solid scores throughout our review, Wings Financial remains a solid choice. 

Breadth and depth of products and services offered

Wings Financial has a slightly more limited product and service selection than we saw at some of its larger Minnesotan competitors. Still, it’s a strong offering with most of what most individuals will need most of the time. We also noticed that most products only had one option, whereas some other credit unions offered several options. 

Quality and competitiveness of products and services offered (e.g., functionality, rates, fees)

As we checked the rates across products we were constantly hit with the same thought – yep, that’s about average. It was tough to find any product where you couldn’t get the same rate – whether on the deposit side or the lending side – at just about any credit union or even large national bank competitor. 

One potential exception was their “high-yield” checking account, which offered a dividend on the first $25K. While we still think you could get a better rate by using money market products at a major brokerage for similar functionality, the rate offered here was at least in the ballpark.

We also noticed that their HELOC product offered some nice intro rates, before coming back into line with averages. Which could be nice if used properly for a relatively short-duration need.  

They also offer aircraft loans, which is not offered by every credit union or bank. 

Customer satisfaction and reviews

Wings Financial struggled a bit more than some of its peers here, part of the reason it only made it to the #4 spot. A consistent thread seemed to be some occasional frustration with the helpfulness of customer service reps reached. 

Although it’s worth noting they have won some recent awards from reliable financial news organizations in this category, so this problem could be overstated in certain reviews. 

One small miss here is that it lacks BBB accreditation. Not a deal breaker, but a typically easy thing to maintain that we like to see. 

Technology stack (e.g., online banking, mobile app)

Their tech stack appears to be modern, fast, and reliable. Their mobile app is quite strong, maintaining a rock sold 4.8 out of 5 rating after 40K reviews. 

Size and safety of the institution

At over $8B in assets, it’s Minnesota’s largest credit union. Of course, it also maintains NCUA deposit insurance. 

#5 Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union rounds out our Top 5 picks

With less than a billion in assets and only 60K members, Mid Minnesota Federal is one of Minnesota’s up-and-coming credit unions. Its focus is on the parts of Minnesota outside of Minneapolis. 

Membership is a bit more strict and limited here, ostensibly to maintain their local and neighborly feel. You’ll need to either live or work in one of the roughly 10 rural counties that Mid Minnesota serves. Noticeably excluded from the eligibility list is Hennepin County, where Minneapolis resides. 

Breadth and depth of products and services offered

As you might expect from a smaller up-and-comer, the product and service offering is a bit more basic and limited that the other Best Minnesota Credit Unions on our list. Still, you will have access to basic banking products like savings and checking accounts, small business banking and lending products like mortgages and credit cards, and auto loans. Variations on these products are a bit more limited than larger institutions offer. 

Like the other credit unions on our list, insurance, and investment products are offered through partnerships, not by Mid Minnesota itself. 

Quality and competitiveness of products and services offered (e.g., functionality, rates, fees)

Rates, fees, and functionality looked to be right in line with their larger competitors, which we appreciated since sometimes smaller institutions can struggle to compete here since they tend to be less efficient. 

We weren’t able to find one outstanding rate or product to get excited about, though, unfortunately, it was mostly things you can easily find just about everywhere else. Their credit cards might be worth checking out, as they appeared to offer low APRs, though they’re marked “as low as,” so it would be important to find out what APR they would offer you specifically based on your creditworthiness. 

Customer satisfaction and reviews

Since Mid Minnesota is small and does not appear to be looking to grow rapidly, we were only able to find limited data here. However, the information we did find was very encouraging with strong ratings everywhere we looked.

Perhaps they are doing a solid job of maintaining their neighborly feel, a core part of their stated mission. 

Technology stack (e.g., online banking, mobile app)

Leading the way with a 4.8 out of 5 app rating (but only based on 500 reviews so far), Mid Minnesota has an appealing and modern tech stack. 

Size and safety of the institution

Our review did not turn up any red flags here. But, we do get a bit nervous with very small institutions like this one with less than $1B in assets. We’ll mark this one down as one to keep an eye on as they grow. 

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