Our credit union has been exploring ways to improve member engagement through financial education, especially around budgeting, debt management, and long-term financial planning.

The issue is that many vendors seem built for giant enterprise banks with massive implementation budgets. We’re more interested in practical solutions that work well for regional institutions and member-focused organizations.

Would love recommendations from people who’ve actually rolled out financial wellness programs or digital education initiatives at a credit union or regional bank. Bonus points if the provider supports multilingual audiences or digital integration.

What is this new stupid change they are doing to the checking accounts ? Why will there be a monthly fee now??? Wtf. And can we switch to free checking AFTER being in Checking Plus if we don't like it ?

How does your CU handle it when a third-party vendor needs to update something in the core?

I'm researching how credit unions and small banks work with their third-party software vendors — specifically the part where the vendor's product needs to change something in the core (Symitar, DNA, Episys, whatever you're on).

Genuinely curious about the mechanics:

• Does the vendor have direct API write access, or do they hand off to your ops team to make the change?
• If it's manual, how much time does that eat up monthly?
• Has anyone seen a vendor handle this in a way that actually works well?

Trying to understand if this is a quiet pain or something that's mostly been solved. Happy to share what I'm hearing back if useful.

Hello everyone,

So my car recently died and I need an auto loan, my credit score isn’t bad but I’m not going to get the best rate with it. My brother is willing to co-sign with me as he has excellent credit. I applied for navy federal with my brother as the co-signer and was approved with a 7.5% APR. I have learned that several (hopefully not all) credit unions won’t allow co-signers if the primary applicant has credit history. Do any of you know some that allow co-signers? I’m in the KCMO area

I just started a new job at a credit union and the Admin. Assistant is requesting me to share 1-2 sentences about a hobby, interest, and a unique personal experience or a fun fact about myself. I have no idea what to put? I thought about mentioning the fact that I'm left handed, studied Sociology and Anthropology, knows some Spanish, and knows how to play the violin and piano. Is that stupid to put?

I don't normally make long posts about my experiences but I've had many car loans and never had a process like this. I just want to be concise and not drag this on. I decided on PenFed due to the low rates but had no idea their loan process and customer service was so terrible. Not sure what other's experience was but thought I'd share mine.

After my preapproval, I entered vehicle information then they asked for photos and odometer reading. I uploaded twice since the first time they said the weren't clear. Admittingly, the first time I may have downloaded a downsized version but the second time the seller sent me photos taken with a decent smartphone. I made sure they were clear and visible. They asked a 3rd time for photos. Also, it takes them around 4 or 5 hours to respond to any replies due to a firewall scanning documents for viruses. I thought this was kind of strange since many banks and credit unions have the same setup but don't need to have this delay. I called them to try to understand why they keep asking for the same photos, when I pressed the issue a customer service agent complied and said they would accept the ones they have. (Really weird).

Had to go through this same process for a request of a VIN plate. On multiple occasions I had to keep reminding them I was making a purchase from a private seller because they kept asking me for a purchase order. Finally, they sent me a form to complete and told me the seller (who is in a different state) would need to have it notarized and send it back for me to upload it to PenFed. At this point the seller thought I was a scammer (lol) and decided me trying to purchase the car was a waste of time. I really don't blame him.

I ended up finding another car at a dealership and sent a purchase order. They responded with saying it could not be an editable PDF, which I could understand for legal reasons but this interaction took 2 days. By the time I was ready to travel to make the purchase the 2nd vehicle was purchased too. A day later they called to ask if they could help, I told them I have to start looking again. They said your loan will be closed and I'd have to reapply in a week. I asked if they could extend that since there was so much confusion and wasted time. The agent quickly declined and said there's no human interaction that happens and loans are systematically closed out.

TL:DR: You get 2 communications a day with PenFed loan processors. Customer service agents and loan processors are not always on the same page. They also can't speak with them. A very choppy and clunky loan process. They treat you like you are just a number and I felt like they had a "take it or leave it" approach me as a customer.

I genuinely thought refinancing a car loan would involve multiple phone calls, maybe branch visits, sending documents by mail, the whole thing. I kept telling myself I'd get around to it and never did for almost two years.

What finally got me to look was a comment in a thread here about how the whole process is digital now. I went in skeptical. Here is what actually happened.

I entered my basic loan info and vehicle details online. No social security number required at that stage. A soft pull pulled up a set of pre-qualified offers from multiple lenders. I compared them, chose one, submitted the formal application, and signed the documents electronically. The new lender coordinated the payoff with my old one directly.

The part that surprised me most was the timeline. From first check to having a new loan number confirmed was under 48 hours. I genuinely expected it to take weeks. The whole thing was done from my laptop without a single phone call.

If you've been avoiding this because the process sounds like a hassle, it's worth knowing that the experience is a lot more streamlined than it used to be.

Just curious, I have not had luck with these 3rd party loan places. I tried setting up a payment account, linked my bank accounts and absolutely cannot find a way to pay. Other banks, you link the account, click on the loan and you are able to pay off your loan. I click on this loan and there is no option to pay. I tried adding the bank manually, seemed to work, went to pay and no account was added. I tried again and got an error. Any advice?

Looking for a new CU I’ve been trying with PenFed for about a year and haven’t get anywhere. Can’t get a cc with my 720 and they don’t do secured cards so it’s a dead end for me. I primarily use navy federal built a tight bond with them, I just want to expend my financial power

I get early pay. I live pay check to pay check. Normally I get paid Mondays because pay day is Wednesday. My direct deposit has been pending to post all day now. I've been paid on federal holidays before which of course monday is memorial Day, but I've been known to get paid Fridays even if holidays are on Mondays depending upon when payroll is submitted. Even when pay day is not on a federal holiday when I see my direct deposit amount that's pending to post it usually posts immediately or shortly after but I'm concerned because it's been pending to post all day. It shows how much I'm being paid so why won't it post? Why can't they just give me the money since I have early pay?

Hey y'all! I moved recently and am trying to figure out all the logistics with changing over my address. I'm trying to figure out what the standard is with credit unions for someone in my current situation.

I lived in County A and have recently moved to County B. The credit union I got my auto loan from determined I was eligible for membership because I was a resident of County A.

Now that I have moved to County B, I need to update my license and vehicle registration. I'll also need to give my credit union my new address in County B. Once I give them that address, will they terminate my membership? Or will I be able to keep my membership and loan with them? I have a really good interest rate and don't want to lose it just because I had to move.

If there are any subprime auto lenders here what is your take on the future of this market. Where do you think this ends? By this I mean subprime auto lending how lenders are tightening requirements and consumers cannot afford to buy vehicles and dealerships cannot get loans to subprime customers? Additionally some Credit unions are completely exiting the Subprime lending sector.

My local credit union has rapidly gone downhill over the past year, and I'm possibly not even staying in the state anymore, anyway, so I've been searching for national/online credit unions in the meantime, and I was wondering what the general consensus was on these three: PenFed, CCU, and Alliant.

Things that are super important to me: shared branching, i.e., can I walk into a credit union in my area, hand them cash, and say "can you please deposit this into my [xyz credit union] account?", also fee-free atms. Things that are not that important to me: credit cards. I already have a credit card I like, and I'm not really interested in getting one from a credit union right now.

Ty in advance :)

EDIT: Is this post still true, that you can deposit cash into PenFed at a Walmart or Walgreens customer service desk?

Hello!!

I am looking to refinance an appartment in the Miami area, d

Can anyone recommend a CU that refinances condos? The ones i've call do not work with condos.

THANK YOU!

Do credit unions normally require you to call them to approve large purchases (~$1500) and small transfers (~$50)? I’ve never had Capital One do this to me in 18ish years… joined a credit union a little over a year ago and recently been having a lot of trouble moving money around. Won’t even let me make a transfer to or from my own Capital One account without calling them to confirm it’s me. I asked if there was any way around this and the dude took me in circles.

Wondering if it's time to try a different credit union or if I should expect the same elsewhere. I did find one that offers better rates on checking.

Just noticed a branch not too far from my job and thinking about opening an account with them. How are they with direct deposits?

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I got a new job and js joined a credit union, and my account number looks different from how it is on my checkings account. I logged in from the official website so, idk if this is normal. The digits are less on the pdf's side. Is that okay? Idk if its different since its a credit union.

I currently have my car financed through JP Morgan at .99% purchased earlier this year.

I would like to transfer the loan to one of the credit unions I belong to, DCU or NFCU for loan coverage benefits.

Will they, or anywhere, match rates this low?

I’ve been exposed to a decent number of card processors over the years, but with all of the consolidation my understanding is a bit outdated.

Does anyone love their current card setup? Please include the network (Visa/Mastercard), processor and core banking system. Any details on why you like the current setup would be much appreciated.

We view digital issuance and the digital card experience (via APIs and not SDKs) to be the most important criteria. That takes Fiserv (SDK only) out of the picture as far as we know.

Does anyone know where I can get an unsecured credit card or a secure credit card that a credit union would issue to someone that is only 18 with no credit? I have applied to 2 here where I live and they only want to do a secure shared loan not a credit card. In Texas by the way

I’m going to make an account with wescom and would like to use a referral code if anyone is willing to share.

I'm trying to find out which Credit Unions offer pay differential for bilingual employees, which isn't the easiest thing to search online so I'm hoping some of you might know of any I can add to my list.

Thanks!