NFCU help=

[Sunshinebiz]

Is there really no sort of backdoor to membership with NFCU? There seems to be with almost any other CU in the nation. I have seen members on these boards who say they are not eligible for NFCU membership, but then a few month later bam, they have NFCU cards and are members. I would like to join that club :-)    Please if anybody has any insight respond here or PM me if that would be preferable. 

Thank you so much for the help and insight. These forums are invaluable. 

[theBeardedNerd]

I don't think there is a backdoor way of getting in. I was approved for account yesterday and this morning I received a call from the NFCU Credit Card Dept and they need to verify my sponsor. My grandfather is retired from the military, so that makes me eligible for membership. I just had to get my grandfather to bring his military id to the branch. It has to have retired indefinitely (or something to that affect). My brother in law is in the reserves, but that doesn't make me eligible. My sister being a member makes me eligible. I also had to bring my birth certificate as well, because me and my grandfather have different last names.

[simi_go]

The only way to get in is to join the military, and join NFCU while you are active.  Have a family member currently in the military or a member of NFCU.  Have a family member working for the DOD, or be an employee of the DOD yourself.  Have a retired military family member.  Join the military or have a family member join under the Delayed Entry Program. Or have a "household member" that meet any of the above criteria.  

[RemyWinchester]

OP, 

Honest question: Why are you looking for a backdoor way into a financial institution that clearly is designed to support and benefit military members and their families if you're not eligible? 

If it's because of their lending patterns there are other providers of high CLs available to the public. 

[vanilla_]

It really depends on how you are eligible. I thought I could join since my grandpa served but he had to have retired. Luckily my in law had served 20 years and retired, plus he is a member too

I had my account on hold shortly after joining and had to go into a branch to verify a few things. So just in case, make sure you have proof of eligibility.

[RemyWinchester]

I beleive OP is looking for "backdoor" ways into NFCU... meaning OP is not directly eligible as it is. 

I'm going to withhold judgement on this one. I've had enough NFCU soapbox moments lately. My only advice is beware of the security department! 

[Sunshinebiz]

Well I'm certainly not looking to be fraudulent or pull one over on the security department or anything to that effect. It just seems that it's a great institution to be a part of for personal banking reasons as well as supporting our armed services. Other somewhat similar
Credit unions (ie penfed, dcu, etc) seem to have partner organizations and other means of joining and they're pretty upfront and open about them. Was just trying to see if NFCU had any similar options. Thanks for the replies

[silverzgirl]

NFCU is very strict on its membership, probably more so than any other CU. I firmly believe this is why it offers such great deals to its members.

I belong to other places who opened membership from solely military to every Tom, Dick and Harry. My other CU was only for Navy members and families who were in a certain geographical area. They were pretty generous with lines of credit, auto CLIs long ago.

Now, not so much. They opened their doors to the entire state of Florida.  Now they are pretty stingy with credit lines and not so great with service because the more members, the less strict the membership, the more likelihood of defaults. (USAA also comes to mind. Though to give USAA credit, their insurance rates canot be beaten by anyone I have researched so far.)

[RemyWinchester]

I suggest American Express for your credit needs. They are excellent in terms of customer service and providing great products. They will grow with you and you can have a very large credit line reasonably quickly. 

You can also get quality banking services from local banks and credit unions. If I didn't use NFCU from my service days and the fact they have a branch in both of the citiies I live in, I would use a local credit union here called Palmetto Federal CU. They offer most of the same products/service/rates as NFCU, aside from their credit products.