topic Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU. in Personal Finance

HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 18:41:36 GMT

So I had assumed that since my father was honorably discharged Navy(not RET), then he'd qualify to be a member and then I could get in. Well thats not the case. Only active duty or retired persons can join. Is there any other way? They are close to me, and very friendly for all types of loans for all types of credit. Is there any tricks to get into their membership? Nothing illegal lol, just loopholes or known ways? If not I understand.

PS: This is not me asking about impersonating any US Military service person whatsoever. So please dont go there.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 19:09:05 GMT

There isn't any other way.

You could however place a personal ad on Craiglist and see if you can marry somebody ....

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

takeshi74 — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 11:56:53 GMT

All the eligiblity info is on their site. The only "trick" not mentioned on their site is if you're a member of a credit union that they acquire.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:05:14 GMT

Actually I found another way. I found it on another forum burried deep in a thread. Apparently there are several military "Clubs" you can join (very cheaply), and they make you elligible for membership to NFCU. The NFCU reps over the phone wont tell you which work, but they will confirm if a selected group does work if you supply the name. But due to the condenending nature of the replys here, I can see that you all are not interested in really helping me, so Im going to return the favor. My way worked by the way. Im now a member, thanks to noboy here. So carry on people, and this thread can be deleted.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

UncleB — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:17:22 GMT

@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
There isn't any other way.

You could however place a personal ad on Craiglist and see if you can marry somebody ....

This is why I was so excited to get my USAF brother to join back in November... he's getting out next month, and he'll be two years shy of retirement. If he hadn't joined before May he wouldn't have been able to join on his own merits - and the rest of the family would have been locked out as well.

There is always a chance you'll be able to get in by a chain of relation at some point, but it's up to your relatives. For example, my brother (and I) being members makes our parents and grandparents eligible. If our grandparents become members, then our aunts and uncles are eligible, their children, and so on. It would work the other way for you as well... if you had a cousin to enlist and join NFCU then your grandparents would become eligible, then you. Or if a cousin married a member it would work the same way.

My brother was familiar with them somewhat, but it took a little 'nudge' from me to get him to get on the computer and join. (I offered to pay for his $5 share deposit, but he turned me down... LOL). After he joined, he realized why they are such a 'big deal' to the folks he works with, and there's a local branch near where he lives as well.

There's also a household loophole, but honestly I woudn't recommend it - as great as NFCU is, their security dept is said to be quite humorless. There are more than a couple of threads where folks had all their accounts frozen (including checking/savings) until they were able to verify that they were truly eligible for membership, and it is almost always somebody who uses a 'roommate' as a sponsor. I'm not saying it can't work (they do allow "household members") but it's not for the faint of heart - and wouldn't be worth the risk to me.

CH7's suggestion of marrying somebody that's eligible is a way in as well. I would offer to assist, but unless you don't mind a five-o-clock shadow and can grill a good steak it would never work out.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

UncleB — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:23:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Actually I found another way. I found it on another forum burried deep in a thread. Apparently there are several military "Clubs" you can join (very cheaply), and they make you elligible for membership to NFCU. The NFCU reps over the phone wont tell you which work, but they will confirm if a selected group does work if you supply the name. But due to the condenending nature of the replys here, I can see that you all are not interested in really helping me, so Im going to return the favor. My way worked by the way. Im now a member, thanks to noboy here. So carry on people, and this thread can be deleted.

I'm sorry you felt as if you weren't being helped... I think more people didn't respond since NFCU membership has been discussed quite a bit on here, and they likely assumed you had read the other threads already.

I'm genuinely intrigued about joining a military club for NFCU membership... I know that's a possibility for PenFed, but I've never read about that being an option for NFCU.

If you don't want to share your source I understand, but please at a minimum check and double-check your information... like I mention in my previous post, NFCU does not "play" when it comes to eligibility.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

SUMRFUN — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:45:30 GMT

...wow...guess I'm out for now...but I'm sure there will be a way, somehow.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

creditguy — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 17:54:10 GMT

I have read this on other forums, people saying they have a way to join NFCU by joining a group by making a donation. One example was joining the us navy league, the caveat was you had to go to a branch in person and speak to a supervisor because only they were privy to this top secret info. A person claimed this supervisor had a whole list of organizations you could join that qualifies you for NFCU membership.

My take is, it sounds like total bs. Others tried this and were told by a supervisor they know nothing of this. Of course they were called liars or told you didn't give the secret handshake blah blah blah. Navy along with others like Pen Fed and USAA make their membership requirements clear up front, there is no secret back door ways in, sorry it just makes no sense for these banks to secret back doors. If it were really that easy to join Navy everyone would join.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 18:02:46 GMT

You are both 100% correct and 100% incorrect at the same time. Ill PM you/

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 04:09:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You are both 100% correct and 100% incorrect at the same time. Ill PM you/

I really hope this works for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are many, many reports of people getting shut down after getting in to Navy. The frontline staff isn't very well informed, but they have an aggressive membership audit group. Some people have fibbed about their family member or whatever, and Navy has closed their accounts.

Just be aware that this could happen. And I sincerely hope it doesn't.

Congratulations

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 17:14:24 GMT

Keep in mind that you may have family members that are neither active nor retired that could possible be members and get you in that way. My boyfriend joined NFCU when he was in the marines. He was in service for 11 years and got out but is not retired. Technically, he would not be eligible to joing NFCU now, but since he was already a member, he was able to keep his account. I was able to join through his access number, because we live in the same household.

I'll be honest, though; I don't keep much money in there because I am terrified that they will shut me down some day. They didn't ask for any verification that we lived together (maybe they recognize the address on his account is the same as mine). I have been using another local bank as my main in case NFCU decides that I need to be shut down or something.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Indianaguy — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 03:56:43 GMT

You don't have to worry about them shutting you down, my friends mom joined from her dad being retired from the navy and then she joined (my roommate) and I was able to join since we're in the same household , been a member for 4 years now and have never been turned down for any loan, I also just got the loc for my checking account 6 months ago , haven't used it yet 14k very nice to have though.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

UncleB — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 11:38:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Keep in mind that you may have family members that are neither active nor retired that could possible be members and get you in that way. My boyfriend joined NFCU when he was in the marines. He was in service for 11 years and got out but is not retired. Technically, he would not be eligible to joing NFCU now, but since he was already a member, he was able to keep his account. I was able to join through his access number, because we live in the same household.

I'll be honest, though; I don't keep much money in there because I am terrified that they will shut me down some day. They didn't ask for any verification that we lived together (maybe they recognize the address on his account is the same as mine). I have been using another local bank as my main in case NFCU decides that I need to be shut down or something.

I feel the same way, Annipoo... and I'm a member through my brother. He's been to a brick-and-mortar branch (he lives near a base) so I'm confident they are OK with him being eligible, but we have different last names, and I've been nervous since I joined that there would be a problem because of that. I'm not sure it's worth collecting birth certificates if it were to come down to that, although if it ever does I will have to give it some thought.

I did make sure he was a member before I joined, and I used his access number as my sponsor, since most of the folks who had verification issues didn't use their sponsor's access number (they joined based on their sponsor's service instead). So far I've had no issue, but until a year or so passes I'll be hesitant to consider a checking account with them. I have around $100 in my share account, and if it were to be temporarily frozen it woudn't be the end of the world. Plus, I'm very pleased with USAA's checking at the moment, and until I have a reason to change I'll probably stick with them anyway

@Indianaguy wrote:
You don't have to worry about them shutting you down, my friends mom joined from her dad being retired from the navy and then she joined (my roommate) and I was able to join since we're in the same household , been a member for 4 years now and have never been turned down for any loan, I also just got the loc for my checking account 6 months ago , haven't used it yet 14k very nice to have though.

Indianaguy, I'm not saying you're wrong, but for every post where someone says everything will be fine there's at least three threads were people have gone into great detail describing their experience with NFCU security. Actually, there are enough threads on here that it made me sure to go the 'extra mile' of having my USAF brother join before I did, even though the guidelines explicitly state that it's not required.

It does seem to have 'calmed down' a bit lately, and perhaps they have relaxed (?), but when it comes to my checking account I can't be locked out for even a day - and when NFCU security gets involved, it tends to be longer than a day. As awesome as NFCU CSRs are, the security folks are said to be quite humorless, and it's just a chance I'm not prepared to take.

We all have our thresholds for risk, and for some folks it might be perfectly fine to 'chance it', but I'm personally not in a good-enough 'place' to do so. It would literally be a disaster for me to lose access to my checking account - even temporarily.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 19:42:07 GMT

@Indianaguy wrote:
You don't have to worry about them shutting you down, my friends mom joined from her dad being retired from the navy and then she joined (my roommate) and I was able to join since we're in the same household , been a member for 4 years now and have never been turned down for any loan, I also just got the loc for my checking account 6 months ago , haven't used it yet 14k very nice to have though.

And yet actual veterans can't join. No offense to you, but this is a screwy system.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

UncleB — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 00:17:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
And yet actual veterans can't join. No offense to you, but this is a screwy system.

I agree completely, CAPTOOL. It seems if they wanted to be restrictive, they could find another way to 'cull the masses'.

It's a head-scratcher for sure.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Indianaguy — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 19:54:19 GMT

I've read lots of those threads as well and before even joining we called in and joined over the phone and I also went through the security check , I figured get it out of the way before doing business

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Officer737 — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 22:48:13 GMT

Been trying to figure out a way in for a while as former military but can't because I didn't retire out. Pretty much given up on getting in.

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Statman — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 18:43:16 GMT

Hello,

I am in need of help joining the NFCU and open to any private clubs (becoming a member) to make me eligible for membership.

my wife got a membership referral and joined. On the same day she sponsored m

she sponsored me also but now they need to validate the relationship between the individual that referred my wife.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

baller4life — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 19:52:04 GMT

@Statman wrote:
Hello,

I am in need of help joining the NFCU and open to any private clubs (becoming a member) to make me eligible for membership.

my wife got a membership referral and joined. On the same day she sponsored m
she sponsored me also but now they need to validate the relationship between the individual that referred my wife.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/Navy-Federal-CU-The-REAL-way-in-for-those-that-dont-qualify/m-p/4598275#U4598275

Re: HELP - Need assistance getting into Navy Federal CU.

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 19:58:14 GMT

@Statman wrote:
Hello,

I am in need of help joining the NFCU and open to any private clubs (becoming a member) to make me eligible for membership.

my wife got a membership referral and joined. On the same day she sponsored m
she sponsored me also but now they need to validate the relationship between the individual that referred my wife.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Does you wife not have a valid relationship with the person who sponsered her? I wonder if NFCU will allow a second way in if they think you fraudulently gained membership previously?