topic Re: Dow Credit Union in Personal Finance

Dow Credit Union

AndySoCal — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 02:26:41 GMT

First, just a reminder credit unions are non profit not like banks which are for profit. See the article on their website People before Profits. I looked at Dow Credit Union some time ago I chose another credit union for whatever reason I do not remember. If I were going to add another credit union to be a member of it would be this one. Link is below

DowCreditunion.org

The reason is the banking and member giveback. Yes they have a rewards credit card but it is not upto the forum standards for a rewards card. What makes this credit union unique is the member giveback program that has been around since 1955. This member giveback program is not guaranteed each year. The link below explains their member giveback program

https://dowcreditunion.org/member-giveback/#membersaverreward

Re: Dow Credit Union

TrapLine — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 07:03:59 GMT

Good if it works for you.

Did not see jumping of tall buildings for this. Something is rumbling around in the back of my mind over this CU. Back in time, I thought there was some things that were not user friendly about the credit union. It has been awhile so I cannot recall.

"Reviews generally praise the credit union's friendly, helpful, and professional staff, competitive rates, and the unique year-end interest rebates. Some members have reported issues with the functionality of the mobile app or the online banking interface following updates, and some past issues with specific loan processing experiences," (Source Google AI). Also, "some user experiences with service hiccups or strict fraud measures."

The year-end rebate has qualifiers and may not be for everyone.

Be aware and research.

Note there was more

Re: Dow Credit Union

AndySoCal — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 22:48:01 GMT

@TrapLine There is another credit union by the name of Texas Dow Credit Union. This credit union is not related to the Dow Credit Union in Michigan. I looked at the reworks on Wallet Hub it appears that is the source of Google AI on some of the negative comments. I like strong security as a rule so that does not bother me. At the moment I not looking to add another credit union to the ones I have. The one thing that might change my mind is the ACH transfer limits inbound and outbound.

Re: Dow Credit Union

TrapLine — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 02:08:32 GMT

@AndySoCal

Good information. Did not know there were multiple credit unions. Appreciate the update.

Re: Dow Credit Union

Mervin — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 03:06:44 GMT

Can anyone join? Are they the chemical guys?

Re: Dow Credit Union

AndySoCal — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:58:32 GMT

@Mervin The link below is the history of the Dow Credit Union. This will answer your second question about the chemical guys better than I can

https://dowcreditunion.org/about

As far as membership is concerned the link below will give you more information. It is available nationwide yes

https://dowcreditunion.org/join

Re: Dow Credit Union

Royalbacon — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 04:33:31 GMT

Health look solid from DepositAccounts

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/dow-credit-union.html

Only 2 branches, interesting

@AndySoCal wrote:
@Mervin The link below is the history of the Dow Credit Union. This will answer your second question about the chemical guys better than I can

https://dowcreditunion.org/about

As far as membership is concerned the link below will give you more information. It is available nationwide yes

https://dowcreditunion.org/join

Do you know if they puill Chex? (ChexSystems) @AndySoCal

Re: Dow Credit Union

AndySoCal — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 04:58:29 GMT

They are not listed on Doctor of Credit list one way or the other for Chex systems

Re: Dow Credit Union

Curious_George2 — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:21:09 GMT

This is the entity formerly known as Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union (DCECU), based in Michigan. There are some posts about it, using that name, on here.

I joined DCECU back around 2020, for one reason: they offered a credit card with a low, fixed APR. I think it was around 6%. I liked the idea of having that as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option. I don't remember details like Chex pulls. I do recall that their credit card application process was quirky. A human called me while the application was pending and asked what credit limit I wanted. Also, they told me I had to unfreeze my report on whichever bureau they wanted to pull, but they never actually did a hard pull, so I got the card with just a soft pull.

I got a $10k starting limit, and then an automatic $4k CLI some years later, despite almost zero usage on the card.

They occasionally gave out modest spend-based bonuses that motivated me to use the card for that limited purpose. I think those were worth around $25-$50 each.

Thr staff were always friendly when I called in.

The member giveback thing is real and unique. The catch is that they only give back a portion of the interest you have paid to them, on an eligible loan/credit product. So if you don't pay them any interest (e.g. you always PIF your credit card) you will not receive anything in the giveback. It's not really like an enhanced dividend. It functions as a discount on their interest rates, in an unpredictable amount. I don't know whether it is taxable.

Their website and mobile app are low-tech and limited.

When they nerfed the low-rate Visa card, my reason for being a member was gone, so I cancelled my CU membership. No regrets and no hard feelings.

Re: Dow Credit Union

Royalbacon — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 02:31:46 GMT

@AndySoCal wrote:
They are not listed on Doctor of Credit list one way or the other for Chex systems

Doctor of Credit isn't a very good source for smaller banks or credit unions, unless that credit union or bank has previously offered a new checking account bonus for opening a new checking account. If that's something they've never offered, you simply aren't going to find very many datapoints, or any at all.

Doctor of Credit's audience is primarily opening accounts at institutions all over for new checking account bonuses or promotional CD's. If Dow Credit Union ever offers a checking account bonus, then it'll become a good source of data points as there will be plenty of people over there opening (or trying to open) new accounts there for the bonus, especially since they're open nationwide so there will be plenty of people and plenty of datapoints.

Until the time comes when/if they ever offer a new account bonus or some other promo to entice Doctor of Credit members to join, don't expect to see very many, or any datapoints at all over there from people because they simply aren't going to be joining a smaller credit union for no reason.

Re: Dow Credit Union

AndySoCal — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 21:24:04 GMT

@Royalbacon The link below is what I was referring to regarding Doctor of credit. The list is old but it is helpful

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/banks-credit-unions-dodont-pull-chexsystems/

Re: Dow Credit Union

Royalbacon — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:03:25 GMT

Yeah im familiar with Doctor of Credit. There isn't a single post on Doctor of Credit of this place ever offering a checking acocunt bonus, therefore the chances of seeing any datapoints for it over there are extremely slim, as people on that website primarily only join an out of state credit union for a new checking account bonus.