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Credit Union of Southern California

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Anonymous
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Credit Union of Southern California

We recently joined Credit Union of Southern California and they pulled Experian to open the account.  They have a Visa Platinum credit card with very weak rewards however, maybe we could get a decent credit limit unsecured credit card and start moving on with our credit journey.  The Experian pull is good for 30 days. 

 

What do you think? 

Message 1 of 21
20 REPLIES 20
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

Heh, I've never heard of them and I live in LA and work in OC.

 

If they've already done the pull though, and you need another revolving credit line and it doesn't cost another inquiry, there's really no reason not to ask.  It may only report to Experian though (which isn't necessarily a bad thing here in Cali) but it's something to be aware of.

 

Edit: philosophy on local CU's anyway: if you're going to use them for other things as well, then I'd suggest the card may have additional benefits in terms of relationship building over the long run.  

 




        
Message 2 of 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

We had never heard of them either until I was searching on Google for credit union credit cards and this CU popped up.  What we would like to do is get an unsecured credit card from a credit union, with a half-way decent credit limit, then--get the money back from our secured Cap One account so that we can put it in with the money we have saved to buy a car.  We originally were thinking of trying to make it through this whole year before buying a car but, I am SO sick and tired of trying to depend on the bus to go everywhere.  According to what the CU customer service representative told us, this CU is a shared network branch CU which means we can go to ANY other CU within the network and act like we are walking in the door of our own CU.  Maybe all CUs offer this, I don't know.   I'm going to look further into exactly what that means. 

 

Also, like you said, the inquiry has already been burned to open the membership and, its good for 30 days, so--we may as well go on and try for their credit card.

Message 3 of 21
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

CU of So Cal seems like a great place to do business just from checking out their website Smiley Happy

 

Congrats and good job on finding them!

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 4 of 21
frogfan12
Established Contributor

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

I'd say go for it. You may get a nice CL and be able to get the ball rolling on the new car deal. 


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Message 5 of 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

Well, I don't know if this CU is so great after all.  The Chief Loan Officer (who is the supervisor in charge of all credit card decisions), told us that the hard pull inquiry done to open membership is good for 30 days ONLY with regards to opening membership -- NOT for anything else.  Should we want to apply for a credit card, auto loan, etc. everything is a separate hard pull from Experian.  I am not impressed with that! 

Message 6 of 21
HoldingOntoHope
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

Personally I would think being able to talk to the Big Cheese of credit decisions in person would be a great deal. Did you consider giving him an outline of your credit picture or maybe a report you pulled yourself and asking about chances for approval on a credit product? I'm sure he's going to tell you his answer is not a guarantee, however he may be able to tell you that you would not be immediately disqualified or likely to be approved.

Best financial advice I ever got: "Just imagine what an adult would do and do that."

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Message 7 of 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Union of Southern California


@HoldingOntoHope wrote:

Personally I would think being able to talk to the Big Cheese of credit decisions in person would be a great deal. Did you consider giving him an outline of your credit picture or maybe a report you pulled yourself and asking about chances for approval on a credit product? I'm sure he's going to tell you his answer is not a guarantee, however he may be able to tell you that you would not be immediately disqualified or likely to be approved.



We gave her a photocopy of our Equifax and Transunion FICO® reports that we had printed out last Saturday morning when we went to see her on Saturday to sign the final paperwork for opening our membership.  We also brought photocopies of pay stubs from my husband's job as well as a photocopy of his W-2.  I brought everything to her in a file folder and showed her all the paperwork.  She did not pay any attention to any of it, she set the file to one side and proceeded with the paperwork she wanted us to fill out to order checks (which cost $20--they are not free). She went on with her welcome new member speech telling us that they are a shared branch networked credit union, and she bragged that if you sign up for online banking, they will cover $1,500 in non-sufficient fund checks every week, she was very intent on explaining their checking and savings but, steered us away from any talk about credit cards or auto loans.

 

We thought she was just a customer service representative until my husband called in to find out more about the hard pull they'd done on Experian.  He found out his Experian FICO, and that the hard pull, good for 30 days, only meant you had 30 days to come in and fill out all their additional paperwork to complete membership. If you let it go 31 days, they would do another hard pull again.  In the course of his conversation, the gal said: "I'm the one who opened your account last Saturday, I'm the Chief Loan Officer here."  Then, she went on to tell him that every transaction, like getting a credit card, or an auto loan, etc., would each be a separate hard pull. 

 

Now, we are wondering if we should continue our search for yet "another" local credit union.  Because of the eligibility requirements, it makes it hard to find a credit union here in our area.  

Message 8 of 21
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit Union of Southern California

I took a look at their website, Webhopper makes an excellent point: it's far better than many other CU's I've seen, even well known and even praised ones such as Penfed and DCU.  That is a point in their favor, a good website doean't always mean a company that cares, but a poor website, well, you have to ask the question why, and it's never a good answer these days.

 

I don't remember your details for tradelines, but if you need an unsecured one for whatever reason, and it's a local CU (there's a lot to be said for that, and it's an extremely smart idea their partnering with other local CU's here in So Cal with the way we're spread out all over the three major counties from where we work vs live, most aren't that forward thinking), I'd take the bet personally and I'm far more conservative than most people on this forum when it comes to credit building.

 

If you're talking to the head dude, just ask him straight up if he thinks you'll get approved and what their typical CL might be.  It's no guaruntee to be sure, but you have a clearly thought out rationale for this, see if they can work with what you want.  It's going to cost you another inquiry anyway anywhere else you go for another unsecured credit card, and honestly, what you're looking to do is something I'd happily spend an inquiry on in your situation. 

 




        
Message 9 of 21
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit Union of Southern California


@Revelate wrote:

I took a look at their website, Webhopper makes an excellent point: it's far better than many other CU's I've seen, even well known and even praised ones such as Penfed and DCU.  That is a point in their favor, a good website doean't always mean a company that cares, but a poor website, well, you have to ask the question why, and it's never a good answer these days.

 

I don't remember your details for tradelines, but if you need an unsecured one for whatever reason, and it's a local CU (there's a lot to be said for that, and it's an extremely smart idea their partnering with other local CU's here in So Cal with the way we're spread out all over the three major counties from where we work vs live, most aren't that forward thinking), I'd take the bet personally and I'm far more conservative than most people on this forum when it comes to credit building.

 

If you're talking to the head dude, just ask him straight up if he thinks you'll get approved and what their typical CL might be.  It's no guaruntee to be sure, but you have a clearly thought out rationale for this, see if they can work with what you want.  It's going to cost you another inquiry anyway anywhere else you go for another unsecured credit card, and honestly, what you're looking to do is something I'd happily spend an inquiry on in your situation. 

 


Its a nicer looking website than the regional bank we use.... their website is very blah    .....

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 10 of 21
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