topic Re: SDFCU Membership in Personal Finance

SDFCU Membership

SouthJamaica — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:56:51 GMT

Recently applied for, and was approved for, membership with SDFCU. Process took a couple of business days. Just needed drivers license and utility bill. No "Chex inquiry" problem. Does not appear to have been any HP for membership. Online registration and linking of external accounts went smoothly.

Re: SDFCU Membership

Guyatthebeach — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 22:28:30 GMT

SouthJamaica,

Welcome to SDFCU! They are one of my favorite CU's. I think ever since I have joined, I have had one or two HP's the entire time I've been a member. I only had to had to send POI twice. In the event you ever get declined on a credit or loan app, they have a process where members can get recon's.

Personally I think SDFCU is a solid CU with decent rates compared to others. I have 2 credit cards with them and CDs as well. Over the years, I have had personal loans, all pre-approvals.

Two things I want to be honest about is their ACH app is slow but it's free, and be careful when making payments from external accounts. This CU has a known history of losing those payments or applying them late. Personally I keep money in my checking account at SDFCU and just transfer it to pay the Visa's.

After I applied for the first Visa, I started seeing preapprovals a few months later. From my personal experience, SDFCU's preapprovals are extremely solid.

I'm sure you will apply for a Visa soon.

Guyatthebeach

Re: SDFCU Membership

SouthJamaica — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 23:23:27 GMT

@Guyatthebeach wrote:
SouthJamaica,

Welcome to SDFCU! They are one of my favorite CU's. I think ever since I have joined, I have had one or two HP's the entire time I've been a member. I only had to had to send POI twice. In the event you ever get declined on a credit or loan app, they have a process where members can get recon's.

Personally I think SDFCU is a solid CU with decent rates compared to others. I have 2 credit cards with them and CDs as well. Over the years, I have had personal loans, all pre-approvals.

Two things I want to be honest about is their ACH app is slow but it's free, and be careful when making payments from external accounts. This CU has a known history of losing those payments or applying them late. Personally I keep money in my checking account at SDFCU and just transfer it to pay the Visa's.

After I applied for the first Visa, I started seeing preapprovals a few months later. From my personal experience, SDFCU's preapprovals are extremely solid.

I'm sure you will apply for a Visa soon.

Guyatthebeach

Thank you very much @Guyatthebeach That is a ton of helpful information to know.

If I'm lucky enough to get a credit card from them, it will be especially helpful.

I have seen some mixed positive and negative reports about them, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I seem to recall people having 'identification' problems plaguing their membership applications, for no good reason. And I'd seen reports of them doing hard pulls for membership. So I really didn't know what to expect.

So far, no complaints (although I'm sure I'll think of something down the road if given enough time )

Am I correct in thinking that they pull EX for credit cards?

Re: SDFCU Membership

5KRunner — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 01:14:40 GMT

Congrats, @SouthJamaica, on being approved for membership with SDFCU! I joined somewhere between 2 and 3 years ago and just recently was approved for their 2% cash back card ($15K at 14.24% with 8 new accounts before them in the past 12 months). My understanding is that they'll grant SP CLIs every year.

My only (relatively minor) complaint is related to the amount of time it takes them to approve new accounts, with the primary savings and credit card each taking roughly a week from application submittal to approval. Other than that, customer service has been excellent and I didn't have any issues with ID verification.

Thanks for the warning about payments from outside sources, @Guyatthebeach!

Re: SDFCU Membership

Guyatthebeach — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 03:45:37 GMT

@SouthJamaica,

I honestly don't remember because my HP's were in 2013. I know SDFCU utilizes EX and TU. Another thing I noticed is they do look at DTI.

Guyatthebeach

Re: SDFCU Membership

SouthJamaica — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 14:38:31 GMT

@DuaneBurr wrote:
Thank you, I am new and I didn't know about it before. I appreciate you for sharing the info.

Welcome to the forum

Re: SDFCU Membership

northway — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 22:20:25 GMT

I had the exact opposite experience. I got an "Unable to Identify" response after an online application, and then went in person with my DL, SS Card, and Passport, and was still declined as "Unable to Identify" which is absolutely ridiculous.

The best part is that I used to be a member about a decade ago before I closed the account when I moved west. Now that I'm back east, no luck. Their ID verification policies are insane.

On top of it, they hard pulled Experian during the membership application.

Re: SDFCU Membership

devilnic — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 23:05:03 GMT

I had a hard pull for membership. They use Mortgage Experian 2 version. I also had a hard pull for my first Personal loan with them, but it was also approved. After that, I have gotten a CC with a $15, 000 SL, and 2 different personal loans on preapproval soft pull only, which they update quarterly. Excellent customer service. Love them more than NavyFCU now. shhhh don't tell people that last part....

Re: SDFCU Membership

SouthJamaica — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 01:54:57 GMT

@northway wrote:
I had the exact opposite experience. I got an "Unable to Identify" response after an online application, and then went in person with my DL, SS Card, and Passport, and was still declined as "Unable to Identify" which is absolutely ridiculous.

The best part is that I used to be a member about a decade ago before I closed the account when I moved west. Now that I'm back east, no luck. Their ID verification policies are insane.

On top of it, they hard pulled Experian during the membership application.

I've read here about other folks whose experience with SDFCU has been like yours, so I was prepared for the worst when I applied. Was actually surprised mine followed a different path.

Re: SDFCU Membership

baronetheanvil — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 22:05:33 GMT

Along with Schwab SDFCU is my go to for international travel. I have used thier debit card in some pretty remote places without a hiccup. Just always do a travel notfication before departure.

Re: SDFCU Membership

AndySoCal — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 01:45:14 GMT

@Guyatthebeach You stated in in your post

After reading this I took the precaution of setting up an external account between my bank (Discover) and SDFCU. I set UP SDFCU in bill pay in Discover and paid it early so I would have enough time just in case. Logged in the next day and the payment posted. I just checked it again payment is still there. So I hope this will continue to work for me.

Re: SDFCU Membership

GhostCredit — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 05:06:16 GMT

Hey guys I know this is old I'm with nfcu and I like them but I just don't like that they don't have no ftf if pulling money from atm and they still don't have 2 day early deposit. Idk know what they're doing with their money... but even a local patelco has that and even have roadside assistance and other perks. But anyway I want to join sdfcu because it has a all in one bank that I don't have put money into fidelity and stuff like that. It's not a hassle but also I want to put my money where it benefits me the most that's all.

I'm kinda worried about the ach issue with one guy saying they lost a payment or something. I don't mind doing bill pay but I prefer doing ach.

I don't have a utility bill but I have car insurance and phone bill.

Re: SDFCU Membership

Yasselife — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:54:38 GMT

Congratulations @SouthJamaica

Re: SDFCU Membership

AndySoCal — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:56:01 GMT

@GhostCredit I am a member of SDFCU and I have the 2% cash back card. I use bill pay to pay my credit card bill. I use bill pay to pay all of my bills. This is a good credit union. The credit accounts are reviewed once a year and I have gotten 2 auto CLI(s) as a result. I do use setting up an external account to pay any bill. Why? That would mean I would have redo all those accounts if I switched banks and hope I did not miss one. If setting up something in bill pay is a long process your banking at the wrong bank in my opinion.

Re: SDFCU Membership

Mfaiz — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:25:52 GMT

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