Is NFCU via NLSD abusive?

[wasCB14]

Good to know about the NLSD affiliation history.

Maybe I was wrong about the number of bad apples going for the flavor of the month (no military affiliation at all, just wanting giant CLs, and so forth)...

...or maybe they just aren't participating in this (rather judgmental) thread. It's not clear to me where the truth lies. I do know I've seen several people (maybe a small share of the total) ask how quickly they can drop their NLSD affiliation once they are in with NFCU. When a few people ask the same question aloud, it's often the case that several more are silently wondering the same thing. Still, I guess even a one-time donation is good.

I guess one fundamental issue, on which opinions will differ, is how large the community should be vs. how strong the military culture should be. If it includes relatives of people who have been honorably discharged (and, in turn, their relatives), that's an enormous share of the population. I mean, how many people aren't related to at least one person who served in WW2/Vietnam/Korea?* It seems a very likely way to lose the culture I've heard others praise.

I am not an NFCU member, though I'd qualify as the relative of a retiree. That said, I don't even feel like we're still a military family. I think honorably discharged veterans would be more deserving than me, so I'd glad that they have a low-hassle way to join.

I guess the powers at NFCU have decided that growth is good, and that's where they are going. I wasn't aware that NFCU management was wanting to bring in non-retired veterans.

*I mention those conflicts because they involved a lot of people and were far enough in the past that their kids/grandkids might have easily lost the close cultural association with the military.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Good to know about the NLSD affiliation history.

Maybe I was wrong about the number of bad apples going for the flavor of the month (no military affiliation at all, just wanting giant CLs, and so forth)...

...or maybe they just aren't participating in this (rather judgmental) thread. It's not clear to me where the truth lies. I do know I've seen several people (maybe a small share of the total) ask how quickly they can drop their NLSD affiliation once they are in with NFCU. When a few people ask the same question aloud, it's often the case that several more are silently wondering the same thing. Still, I guess even a one-time donation is good.

I guess one fundamental issue, on which opinions will differ, is how large the community should be vs. how strong the military culture should be. If it includes relatives of people who have been honorably discharged (and, in turn, their relatives), that's an enormous share of the population. I mean, how many people aren't related to at least one person who served in WW2/Vietnam/Korea?* It seems a very likely way to lose the culture I've heard others praise.

I am not an NFCU member, though I'd qualify as the relative of a retiree. That said, I don't even feel like we're still a military family. I think honorably discharged veterans would be more deserving than me, so I'd glad that they have a low-hassle way to join.

I guess the powers at NFCU have decided that growth is good, and that's where they are going. I wasn't aware that NFCU management was wanting to bring in non-retired veterans.

*I mention those conflicts because they involved a lot of people and were far enough in the past that their kids/grandkids might have easily lost the close cultural association with the military.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but a relative wouldn't be immediate family and that wouldn't qualify you? My cousin is currently on active duty and banks with NFCU. Since he's not an immediate family member of mines, I was not able to sign up under his access number. Since that didn't work and as a vet, I had to use the Navy League method to get in.

I remember reading a facebook post on the verified NFCU account. The NFCU rep said they will only market their FOM(Field of Membership) that was chartered for them. They will not openly market USA Federals charter, but will honor all of USA Federals FOM.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Good to know about the NLSD affiliation history.

Maybe I was wrong about the number of bad apples going for the flavor of the month (no military affiliation at all, just wanting giant CLs, and so forth)...

...or maybe they just aren't participating in this (rather judgmental) thread. It's not clear to me where the truth lies. I do know I've seen several people (maybe a small share of the total) ask how quickly they can drop their NLSD affiliation once they are in with NFCU. When a few people ask the same question aloud, it's often the case that several more are silently wondering the same thing. Still, I guess even a one-time donation is good.

I guess one fundamental issue, on which opinions will differ, is how large the community should be vs. how strong the military culture should be. If it includes relatives of people who have been honorably discharged (and, in turn, their relatives), that's an enormous share of the population. I mean, how many people aren't related to at least one person who served in WW2/Vietnam/Korea?* It seems a very likely way to lose the culture I've heard others praise.

I am not an NFCU member, though I'd qualify as the relative of a retiree. That said, I don't even feel like we're still a military family. I think honorably discharged veterans would be more deserving than me, so I'd glad that they have a low-hassle way to join.

I guess the powers at NFCU have decided that growth is good, and that's where they are going. I wasn't aware that NFCU management was wanting to bring in non-retired veterans.

*I mention those conflicts because they involved a lot of people and were far enough in the past that their kids/grandkids might have easily lost the close cultural association with the military.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but a relative wouldn't be immediate family and that wouldn't qualify you? My cousin is currently on active duty and banks with NFCU. Since he's not an immediate family member of mines, I was not able to sign up under his access number. Since that didn't work and as a vet, I had to use the Navy League method to get in.

I remember reading a facebook post on the verified NFCU account. The NFCU rep said they will only market their FOM(Field of Membership) that was chartered for them. They will not openly market USA Federals charter, but will honor all of USA Federals FOM.

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"Family members include grandparents, parents, spouses, siblings, grandchildren, children and household members."

Any NFCU member can add their eligible family members. Your cousin could add your mutual grandparents. Then your grandparents could add you.

Or you could go cousin, aunt/uncle, mother/father, you.

I'm not sure if it would be allowed if someone in the extended chain was deceased.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Good to know about the NLSD affiliation history.

Maybe I was wrong about the number of bad apples going for the flavor of the month (no military affiliation at all, just wanting giant CLs, and so forth)...

...or maybe they just aren't participating in this (rather judgmental) thread. It's not clear to me where the truth lies. I do know I've seen several people (maybe a small share of the total) ask how quickly they can drop their NLSD affiliation once they are in with NFCU. When a few people ask the same question aloud, it's often the case that several more are silently wondering the same thing. Still, I guess even a one-time donation is good.

I guess one fundamental issue, on which opinions will differ, is how large the community should be vs. how strong the military culture should be. If it includes relatives of people who have been honorably discharged (and, in turn, their relatives), that's an enormous share of the population. I mean, how many people aren't related to at least one person who served in WW2/Vietnam/Korea?* It seems a very likely way to lose the culture I've heard others praise.

I am not an NFCU member, though I'd qualify as the relative of a retiree. That said, I don't even feel like we're still a military family. I think honorably discharged veterans would be more deserving than me, so I'd glad that they have a low-hassle way to join.

I guess the powers at NFCU have decided that growth is good, and that's where they are going. I wasn't aware that NFCU management was wanting to bring in non-retired veterans.

*I mention those conflicts because they involved a lot of people and were far enough in the past that their kids/grandkids might have easily lost the close cultural association with the military.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but a relative wouldn't be immediate family and that wouldn't qualify you? My cousin is currently on active duty and banks with NFCU. Since he's not an immediate family member of mines, I was not able to sign up under his access number. Since that didn't work and as a vet, I had to use the Navy League method to get in.

I remember reading a facebook post on the verified NFCU account. The NFCU rep said they will only market their FOM(Field of Membership) that was chartered for them. They will not openly market USA Federals charter, but will honor all of USA Federals FOM.

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"Family members include grandparents, parents, spouses, siblings, grandchildren, children and household members."

Any NFCU member can add their eligible family members. Your cousin could add your mutual grandparents. Then your grandparents could add you.

Or you could go cousin, aunt/uncle, mother/father, you.

I'm not sure if it would be allowed if someone in the extended chain was deceased.

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Yea, if that's what you meant by your eligibility, then you are correct. It's more of like an extended eligibility which requires a lot of moving parts like you listed above. I know I could of went through my cousin, aunt, and then my parents, but I'm not going to put them through that hassle to do that. I thought you meant using your relatives access number straight up for your own, so thats why I said you wouldnt' be eligible.

[Royalbacon]

No it's not abusive and OldFatJarhead summed it up perfectly.

@OldFatJarhead wrote:

NFCU didn't form a relationship with NLSD. They inheritted the relationship when they merged with USA Federal Credit union, which meant accepting the terms of USA Federal's charter. Believe me, every aspect of the merger was gone over and analyzed by some very intelligent people. They knew exactly what they were getting into and felt that overall, it would be a win for them.

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This article also explains it nicely

https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/2016/12/littleknown-qualify-navy-federal-credit-union-membershi...

Why is Navy Fed making it so hard for anyone to join? Backdoor methods to gain credit union membership have long been controversial. Bankers have been fighting to end the credit union tax exemptions, and bankers have been using this membership issue as a reason why the tax exemption should end. This NY Times article has an insightful overview of this controversy. The bankers complaints may have had an impact on the NCUA. In 2013 the NCUA began cracking down on federal credit unions that were advertising that they were open to all.

As the largest credit union in the nation, Navy Fed probably doesn’t see the need to aggressively pursue new members. There’s little to gain with promoting a backdoor to membership, and there’s a lot of potential bad publicity if the backdoor makes news.

And a previous article that site wrote, "Anonymous" commented in the comment section this on December 9, 2016.

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/navy-fcu/offers/

Only one aspect of this entire matter remains unclear to this day, and that is NCUA involvement.  It is not known whether the NCUA allowed NFCU to maintain the Navy League doorway, or whether instead the NCUA demanded NFCU maintain the Navy League doorway.  Regardless which, the doorway has existed for a while, though it went largely unnoticed until last year, and still remains rather unpublicized even now

[Anonymous]

I just used this method to join NFCU. Just went into the branch and opened my accounts today actually. My father is a veteran and my fiancé is active duty in the Navy. We were planning to add me to his membership/accounts once we are married. But I found this method to join a bit sooner and have been very greatful for it. I have pretty bad credit thanks to allowing my ex to make a lot of decisions in my life, and I don't feel it is fair to bring that burden to my new husband once we marry. So having the opportunity to work on fixing it beforehand through a great financial institution is a blessing. I wouldn't say it is abuse at all and the staff at the branch made it clear that they were very happy to have me.