Comparison

Essential CU vs MyPelican

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Essential CU

Manage your credit union accounts conveniently from your mobile device. Access account information, transfer funds, pay bills, and deposit checks on the go. Easily locate ATMs and branches with this secure and user-friendly application.

Highlights
  • Check account balances
  • View transaction history
  • Transfer funds
  • Pay bills
  • Send money to contacts
  • Deposit checks
  • Find ATMs and branches
Read full description

The Essential Credit Union Mobile App allows you the power to access your account information on your mobile device at any time and from anywhere! Once you download the Essential mobile app, you simply login using the same credentials you have for Online Banking. The Essential app gives you the ability to: • Check balances • View your transaction history • Transfer funds • Pay bills • Pay or transfer money to friends and family in your device contacts • Deposit checks • Find ATMs and branches quickly and easily Download the convenient Essential Mobile App today!

About

MyPelican

Manage your finances with this comprehensive banking app. View accounts, loans, and credit cards, deposit checks, and transfer money. Features include budgeting tools, bill pay, and card management.

Highlights
  • View accounts, loans, and credit cards
  • Mobile check deposit
  • Send and receive money with Zelle
  • Budgeting and net worth analysis
  • Apply for new accounts and loans
  • Bill pay and money transfers
  • Card management (on/off, reorder)
Features
Read full description

The PelicanMobile app is feature-packed to make managing your finances easier than ever! Pelican State Credit Union's app is created with members in mind, allowing you to view your accounts, loans, credit cards, and more at the tap of a finger. The friendly and colorful design makes it easy to see your balances, analyze transactions, apply for loans, deposit checks using your phone's camera, reset your online and mobile app password, and so much more. Our app features and benefits let you: View your Pelican State CU accounts and loans Send and receive money in a tap with Zelle Analyze your budget or assess and build net worth using MyFinances Apply for accounts, loans, and credit cards Deposit checks Chat with a Pelican team member Organize your accounts by adding tags, notes, and photos of receipts and checks Manage and pay your bills all in one place Transfer money between your accounts, another Pelican member, or outside financial institutions Reorder or turn a debit or credit card off and on View and save your monthly statements Locate the nearest Pelican branch, ATM, or CO-OP Shared Branch Set up account alerts

Screenshots

Essential CU4 screens
MyPelican4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: MyPelican at none against Essential CU's shown. MyPelican also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Essential CU's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 61%). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Essential CU against 4.9 for MyPelican. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.2K and 10K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Essential CU's written reviews are positive against 61% of MyPelican's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Essential CU ships an update every 3 months, MyPelican monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Essential CU versus MyPelican: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEssential CUMyPelican
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4.2K ratings)4.9 (10K ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.4% of reviews — better61.2% of reviews
Number of ratings4.2K10K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB172 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperEssential Credit UnionPelican Credit Union

Customer experience

Essential CU

All ratings3,926 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative15.3%

MyPelican

All ratings10,423 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive61.2%
Neutral6.0%
Negative32.8%

User reviews

Essential CU

From 4.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and easy to use
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 💡 Useful features like check deposit
  • 🔒 Secure with Touch ID login

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and technical issues
  • ⚠️ Unreliable account access and information
  • 💤 Outdated and frustrating interface
  • 🤯 Poor customer support

MyPelican

From 10K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent service and commitment
  • 👍 Family culture and local vibes
  • 🚀 Fast transactions
  • 👍 User-friendly mobile app
  • 👍 Great customer service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and login issues
  • 🐛 Errors with account balance updates
  • 🐛 Zelle function not available
  • 🐛 ATM issues
  • 👎 Confusing account management

Bugs and requests

Essential CU

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Account information not displaying correctly
  • Deposit issues and delays
  • Compatibility problems with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to lock debit card
  • Faster credit card payment updates
  • More account management features
  • Apple Pay integration

MyPelican

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices
  • App crashes on update
  • Account data loss

Requested features

3 requests
  • Checking account default option
  • Dark mode
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

None

Essential CU

No in-app purchases

None

MyPelican

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Essential CU free?
Essential CU is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MyPelican free?
MyPelican is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Essential CU or MyPelican?
MyPelican is rated higher. Essential CU averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while MyPelican averages 4.9 from 10K ratings.
Do Essential CU or MyPelican have ads?
Essential CU shows ads; MyPelican does not.
Which is updated more often, Essential CU or MyPelican?
Essential CU ships an update every 3 months, and MyPelican monthly. Most recently, Essential CU was updated on September 26, 2026 and MyPelican on September 27, 2026.

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