While national banks continue to increase punitive fees, many credit unions are lowering them. Nice to get these notices.

I love my credit union so far. But last year I took out a HELOC which entailed a small partial mortgage on my house (which had no mortgage prior). I wanted to use the money to pay for 2 bathroom remodels.

This past week they have been contacting me trying to get me to sign up for "mortgage insurance" in case I die before this HELOC is paid off. It's about 1/50th the value of my house. The conversation then moved to insuring my funeral expenses, and then to trying to make me an appointment with their 'legacy expert' who would change my will into a trust.

This was all pretty high pressure, fast-talking, and no good explanations - just "I can make this happen for you very easily".

Does anyone know how all this is triggered and whether any of it is a good idea? I ended up buying time by saying Call me back next fall.

Score went from 611 to 674 over about 14 months. Paid down utilization, got a couple of negative marks to age off, kept everything current. Pretty proud of the progress honestly.

Now wondering whether that's enough of a jump to make a real difference on an auto loan sitting at 15.8%. Not sure if lenders look at the number in a linear way or if there are threshold bands where the rate actually steps down meaningfully.

How much score improvement tends to translate into actual rate improvement for auto refinancing?

Hi,

I received an email from my CU bank offering a simple way to start investing within my bank ‘s own online system through an investment company named Eko Investments, from the little reading i did it looks like this new service is offered to all banks and CUs and you can start investing within as little as $10?

I have zero experience investing so I wanted to to know if anyone here is familiar with this service and has used it? How “simple” is it , is it easy to learn and if it’s worth it from your personal perspective? Thanks for your responses!

My question is whether it is worth it to become a member at my local credit union and establish a relationship with them in hopes of getting pre-approved, scoring a marginally better interest rate, etc. for a upcoming auto loan.

The context here is that I will not need the loan until April 2027, I have a strong credit score (dipped to about 790 due to a recent CC application), and I won’t lose much APY on my vehicle savings if I chose to move that there for goodwill. I won’t be moving my entire financial picture there, just potentially my vehicle specific savings and a small amount in my checking account for the occasional cash withdrawal (which I currently have no ability to do as I bank with an online bank).

I know approvals these days are 90-95% computers and 5% personal relationship/situation so I just wonder if it really makes sense to go through the hassle this early on.

I wanna get a loan soon and am trying to put an atleast 5-6k down payment on the car and want to go the credit union route but idk who would approve me dispite me NEVER ever missing a payment since i started building credit and my score being a 750 I just have a thin file ik they good give rates when u finance an auto vehicle w them but are they known to lend to first time lenders or someone with a limited credit history?

This question comes up often in threads here and the advice tends to be vague, so trying to get a more concrete answer.

For someone who took a 17-19% subprime auto loan in 2022-2023 with a credit score around 580-600 at the time, what are the realistic paths forward? Credit has probably moved some since then but maybe not dramatically.

The options that seem to exist: refinance if credit improved enough, pay down principal aggressively to improve LTV, or finish the loan and absorb the cost. Are there other paths? And is the 630-650 range actually workable for refinancing out of a subprime rate, or is it still a dead end at that score?

Hello everyone,

I've received a referral promotion code from Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU). If you use my code and sign up with direct deposit, we each get $250!

The code: F7A2V9H

Copy/Paste of the promotion details: Share your unique promo code with your friends, family, and co-workers to earn bonuses for yourself and them when they join as a new member and open a checking (spending) account with a minimum $2,500 monthly payroll or social security direct deposit for three consecutive months.*

Hi everyone,

I will be starting a new chapter in life and I will be a relationship banker for a growing CU.

I’ll try to keep it short, but just for background information…I have 13 years of retail management experience for two of the top fast fashion retailers and am in my early 30s. I’m very good at what I do, but I want to have a better work-Iife balance and a more structured environment. I gave so much to my company and co-workers that I had to take a mental leave due to what it was doing to my health and personal life. I also did a year of being a Notary Signing Agent and I’m actively commissioned in my state.

I am very excited and nervous for this career change. I know there are a lot of different paths you can take in the banking industry and room for growth. That is something the drew me to it.

What are some things I should know as someone who has no experience? I mean terms, tips, expectations, etc. Or even things you wish you knew before you started. I start training next week, but I want to also use some of my free time to study to do the absolute best I can in this role.

I’m searching for a new CU bank. Wescom is around my area. So far I like what I see. Does anyone have a good experience with them?

I’m doing my 2025 taxes and had a question about my Form 1098.

My 1098 shows:

• Mortgage origination date: 06/06/23
• Mortgage acquisition date: 07/01/25

At first I thought that meant this 1098 only covered July–December 2025.

But when I called the lender, they told me it actually covers the full 2025 year. They said the lender used to be called Bethpage and is now FourLeaf, and that it was basically just a name change rather than a true loan transfer.

What makes me suspicious is that when I log into my FourLeaf loan portal, I don’t see any loan statements before July 2025. The portal only shows statements starting in July, which makes it look like they may only be reporting from the point they took over or rebranded.

So now I’m confused:

• Can a 1098 legitimately cover the full 2025 tax year even if Box 11 shows a mortgage acquisition date of 07/01/25?
• Would a name change/internal entity change explain that?
• Or should I be requesting another 1098 for January through June 2025?

I only have this one 1098 so far and I’m trying to avoid filing it wrong.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before?

Are you a fan of your credit union?

Gas prices right now are a bit absurd. The Langley FCU Signature Cash Back Visa softens the landing at the gas pump. The 10% promo for 6 months is amazing.

Trying to understand where the real threshold is for auto refinancing to make sense. Not the minimum score to technically qualify, but the point where the rate improvement is meaningful enough to justify doing it.

The common advice seems to be "wait until your score improves" but nobody ever defines what improved actually means in practice. Is there a meaningful rate difference between 640 and 680? Between 680 and 720? Trying to understand the actual curve rather than just a general direction.

Also wondering whether the original rate matters as much as the score. Does someone at 660 refinancing out of a 17% dealer rate have a different calculus than someone at 660 refinancing out of a 9% rate?

This credit union just merged with a local credit union here in Minnesota where I live called Great River Federal Credit Union and when I go to their website it looks like they have 19 mergers altogether, 7 current ones and 12 past ones. Sheesh, this place must hold some kind of world record for most mergers.

https://www.creditunion1.org/about/mergers/

Is money in credit unions safer than regular banks when it comes to bailins?