teller

call center representative

customer service representative

finance officer

receptionist

Ascend Federal Credit Union

I worked as a PASSport rep. I'll start by explaining what the job is since the description wasn't very clear when I got hired. You are basically a teller interacting with members through video chat and interactive teller machines (ITM's), which are like ATMs with a button to connect to a live teller. It's a call center like environment. 
Ascend is an interesting company. In some ways they treat you really well with lots of perks- the PASSport department has a quarterly bonus program, the department recently moved to a new building that is equipped with sit down or stand up desks, nice company picnic in the summer, and honeybaked hams given out to employees at Christmas. However, the more important aspects of the job are less than impressive. Pay starts at $12 an hour for full time or $14 per hour for pt.It's odd that part timers get paid more, but I believe its because PT is not eligible for benefits. So full time employees are essentially getting charged $2 per hour for the "100% company paid insurance", but then the copays are high because it's "free" to the employee. It's also really expensive to add dependents. 
PASSport is open 7am-7pm Mon-Sat and nobody has a set schedule. The schedules are sometimes made a couple weeks ahead of time, but often you will not know your schedule more than a week ahead of time. This makes it incredibly difficult to plan things in your personal life. They will work around school schedules. 
Ascend is very strict about attendance. If you don't have a doctor's note you had better be at work or else. My manager was not understanding at all during the very few times I had to miss. You have to be about 5 minutes early everyday to have time to get signed in before your start time. If your signed in even a minute late you will get talked to by management. 
Overall, I think it would be a decent fit for a young person with no family responsibilities looking to gain experience. It's not a very good fit for someone needing flexibility.

I am a single parent with a young child. There is a 90 day initial employment period. During my second week of employment there was significant snow and ice in middle Tennessee, and my daughters daycare was closed all week.  Then I was right at the end of my 90 days when my daughter tested positive for Covid. I was let go during the first week of quarantine. They have a very strict tardy, attendance, and cell phone use policy. I actually missed my daughters daycare trying to contact me the day she started showing signs of Covid because I was asked to put my phone out of view of members. I was always professionally courteous and put the member first. Over all I am disappointed in this company, only because I let them know up front I was a single parent. I understand for the position the hired me for they needed someone who would not have to miss work. Unfortunately I could not predict or control the reasons I had to miss, and offered to provide doctors notes for each absence. I do feel the way they discarded me as an employee was wrong. What I enjoyed most about my job is interacting with the members with whom I had good rapport. I will miss them and some of my caring co-workers.  I'm ready to move on now. 





I worked in the Passport center and simply put it was awful, everything wrong that happens is your fault no matter the circumstances, and especially if a manager is to blame then it is DEFINEATLY your fault, the training for the position focuses more on the history of the company than your actual duties in the position, the Interactive Teller Machines are extremely faulty and once again when the machines have issues, whatever happens, is somehow your fault, and the "members" or customers are the most disrespectful and rude individuals you will ever encounter, like seriously be prepared to be berated a couple of times a day. overall this is a very poorly structured and managed branch of Ascend and needs a complete re-working, don't do yourself the disservice of working here, the benefits are admittedly good; however, once you begin your job you will quickly realize that the pay while appearing to be fairly good, does not compensate for the amount of work/knowledge which will be expected of you.                          If you are interested in a position with this company do not go to the PassPort center.

Yes, you are technically given PTO and sick time, but the culture is toxic. My boss asks inappropriate questions about your illness because he feels it's his right to determine whether you are sick enough to call out/ go home. I am treated like a child, you are not given sufficient vacation time and they fight you on scheduling it. We are constantly understaffed so I am made to feel guilty if I need to go home because we don't have adequate coverage- because so many people call out, because no one wants to be here. There are never any morale boosting activities and you aren't incentivized to do a good job for our members- just to cross sell and make money. They continue to open branches that they can't staff, then expect employees at other branches to travel to cover there because they literally cannot retain employees. You are a throw-away commodity as an employee here. You get a 30 minute lunch, which is truly not long enough, and if you are back even 2 minutes late you can be written up. You are supposed to be allotted a 15 minute break, but good luck trying to get away to take it! My pay is decent, but I can say with all honestly I would take a pay cut to go somewhere that treated me like an important human being where I could be happy.

Ascend is a good foot-in-the-door and stepping stone for the financial industry. There are good locations and departments to work in. However, there is substantial toxicity, drama, and clique presence through Ascend. You have to be a certain type of person to really fit in and advance. If not, you’re pretty well stuck where you are and good luck moving up in the company. Management is just as inconsistent as the atmosphere from branch/department to branch/department. Some management is understanding of work/life balance and supportive of employees. Other management couldn’t care less and would rather see you walk out the door than to try to understand and help with the work/life balance. And be cautious voicing opinions or any thought that doesn’t agree with upper management. It’ll come back to bite you if you ever seek promotion or a position change. There is also favoritism and buddy-buddy in the internal advancement process. Lots of room for improvement in Ascend.

Ascend highly disregards college degrees and favors those with minimum knowledge. The intention is to hire those who know nothing and develop them just enough to be decent at sales. Ascend offers very few growth opportunities for Financial Services Officers and all front line staff. Most growth opportunities are offered as lateral moves and do not directly increase your pay. 

You will have a ever increasing workload requirement as they desire you to do more things. You won't however get a raise. They lean heavily on their incentive bonuses for accounts and loans. This incentive is capped however and you won't be able to earn over a certain limit. 

Management is also very critical and utilizes semi-annual evaluations that are specifically designed to place everyone in the middle of the bunch. They do this because they want pay to be flat no matter tenure or performance. They will give you the same performance review as someone who does half your work or just started. They also nitpick minor things to average your score. 

To summerize if you work for Ascend long enough, you will be underpaid, overutilized, micromanaged and stuck in a job that has no developed career path. 

If you are looking for a company to grow with, Ascend isn’t it. The growth is very limited unless you are of a certain race, or live in a certain area. Many overly qualified people have been turned down for positions several times. They say they want to promote from within, but that cannot be further from the truth. They have a “small town mentality” that doesn’t benefit anyone except the higher ups. This is the reason they don’t acknowledge Juneteenth, which is a federal holiday! 
There are several loop holes that the company has to keep them from benefiting you. For instance, having ways to not pay you out of a bonus or vacation time once you leave the company, even if you work out a 2 week notice. They do not believe in paying their employees a decent salary. The “annual increase” doesn’t even constitute how much work you put into your job. If you have the ability to learn new tasks and complete them efficiently, they will throw as much at you as they can but without an increase in pay. Also the PTO plan is not fair at all. Lastly, there is very little POC. 

We spend most of the day taking calls, but managers are almost always available to take questions in real-time so that we can provide solutions to our members. I have done call center work for most of my life and this is by far the most polite group of customers I have ever worked with. We got lots of training when hired, but we also have refresher training and new training. There is always something new to learn and the company invests a lot of time in us. This gives me a sense of job security. The downside are a short lunch breaks and the need to meet metrics that do not always correspond with work flow, in my opinion. However, when we do meet certain quality metrics, did I mention that we get a quarterly bonus for every call we handle? The company is always thanking us for our hard work and giving us treats like popcorn and chocolates. The managers hosted an appreciation lunch and each of them cooked a different kind of homemade soup for us. 




Working at ASNED Federal Credit Union feels more like being part of a superficial system than a meaningful workplace. A typical day involves repetitive tasks with little variation, and FSOs are constantly complaining, which adds unnecessary stress to an already monotonous environment.

There are minimal opportunities for growth, especially for front-line employees, and the company seems more focused on appearances than providing genuine value to its employees or fostering their development. The pay is mediocre at best and doesn’t reflect the effort required to manage both member needs and internal frustrations.

The hardest part of the job is staying engaged and motivated in a culture that lacks authenticity and rewards. The most enjoyable moments come from helping appreciative members, but these moments are overshadowed by the overall lack of support and substance.



Great folks to work with...the best.  Supervisor is by the book but really nice, always complimentary of her team, encouraging and helpful.  The training is fast and furious.  There should really be a a two week training period and even then...it takes a while before you feel confident..  Slow learners will have a tough time catching up.  There is ALOT to learn.  Helpful team members though who will help.  Vacation time is generous as well as sick time.  Paid holidays.  Hours are long, 8 to 6.  30 minute lunch break and 15 minute afternoon break when possible.  You will work many Saturday's but only till 1:15 and you get an extra day off during the week. The pay is decent, starting at $15.00 per hour.  Paid insurance.  If you are working in a branch, you're not going to make a fortune but it is better compensation than other companies in the area.  Overall, would recommend working here.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teller 23 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Call center representative 2 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Customer service representative 11 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Finance officer 3 salaries reported	$21.23 per hour
Receptionist 5 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour

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