topic Re: Affinity FCU in Credit Cards

Affinity FCU

mfinsmi1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 14:20:59 GMT

So i opened my account with them about 2 months ago and i just got a call from a lovely lady who was so happy to talk to me , more banks should be like this - with them reaching out to see if you need anything.

Anyway besides their amazing 3.5% apy for their savings they offer a secured card that you can put any amount and it reports to the credit bureaus as an actual credit card - it does not have the secured card notation ONE BIG PLUS (this is a reason why i got their secured card intially

Anyway she was telling me that in 8-12 months she is going to call be to go through the conversion process from their secured card to their unsecured card but even though its a new application and possibly HP she mentioned the the history of the secured card will carry over so that the average age of accounts does not get effected when the card will unsecure.

I know most secured cards convert and the history carries over but sometimes people get stuck with their secured card never graduates and they have to open an entire new account to go unsecured affecting their AAOA - just putting the information out their for anyone looking into credit unions and secured cards.

I know for me - customer service and support like this makes me want to transfer all my deposit accounts into this credit union lol

Re: Affinity FCU

cws-21 — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 16:10:20 GMT

I agree, @mfinsmi1. I have been with Affinity only since December of last year, but they have been great and they have great products!

Re: Affinity FCU

OmarGB9 — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 17:56:41 GMT

I'm looking at joining, we'll see. Thanks for the info.

BTW, whether a card reports as "secured" or not really doesn't matter (to FICO/lenders anyway; if it matters to you, well that's different).

Re: Affinity FCU

unsungivy — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 20:12:08 GMT

Yes, that lovely lady left me several messages and emailed me as well. Denise, I believe.

Other than the lack of autopay they're great so far.

Re: Affinity FCU

mfinsmi1 — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:27:15 GMT

@OmarGB9 doesnt matter to me either way but i see it talked about so i thought i would mention that as a poistive for them , it definitly is a preference thing haha

Re: Affinity FCU

babygirl1256 — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:32:29 GMT

@mfinsmi1 It sounds like a great CU and it very important when financial institutions care about their members/customers!!! Thanks for posting and it's important to me for a secured card not to reflect that . . . I still have an USAA secured card only because of the account age. I probably should close it but the longer I wait the older the account gets!!!

Re: Affinity FCU

Taurus22 — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 03:57:38 GMT

Glad you're happy at Affinity. I'm sure you've noticed by now, they also have some of the lowest interest rates of anywhere I've seen. Only since the recent inflationary spike and the Feds hiked the rates, Affinity recently went up an entire 1%.....but even so, their lowest rate is still 2.39% on new vehicles, and 2.77% on used/refinancing.

And once you've graduated to an unsecured card, you'll likely be eligible for the Cash Rewards unicorn....at least the Pure Rewards if nothing else. And if you do use them as your Primary bank, you accumulate More Points. Once you reach, I think it's 400 More Points, the Pure Rewards card automatically gets the same cashback rewards as the Cash Rewards card. So you win either way.

Welcome to the Affinity family!

Re: Affinity FCU

SSMac — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 05:26:35 GMT

I've recently opened an account with them. Opened the savings for the 3.5%, and planning to app for the cash rewards later. whenever I try to transfer money out of the savings it says transfer failed?! I'm going to have to call customer support, and now I'm kinda wary of furthering my relationship with them. I guess we'll see how it plays out over the next few days

Re: Affinity FCU

mfinsmi1 — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 06:40:45 GMT

@SSMacthats weird ive never had any issues with transfers - are you transferring out to an external account? if so you have to move it to your checking acct first i believe.

Re: Affinity FCU

SSMac — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 10:34:13 GMT

bizare. I don't particularly want to open a checking with them. I was able link external accounts, and schedule the transfer, it just failed to go through. Maybe I'll just try to pull money out with my other bank. Are there any quirks with the cash rewards visa? any chance affinity does ebills?

Re: Affinity FCU

SSMac — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 07:08:32 GMT

good news, the issue seems to be resolved. perhaps it was due to me being a new member or something but I can transfer to external accounts from my savings now.

Is anyone aware of roughly when they do their quarterly credit pull for the fico scores and pre-qualifications? I want to thaw my report for that, but not any more than necessary. Since they haven't pulled my report yet, mine will need to be thawed for the inital pull. Any ideas?

Re: Affinity FCU

mfinsmi1 — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 09:13:56 GMT

@SSMac ive been a member for 3 months now and i still cant access my fico score with them yet - not sure how much longer until they finally start soft pulling

Re: Affinity FCU

M_Smart007 — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:21:19 GMT

Originally joined Affinity FCU Oct. 2021

The main goal was to get the coveted Cash Rewards Hi5 card. I was able to accomplish that a few days back.

(Was @PullingMeSoftly inspired after reading)

Waiting to hear back on the PLOC with same (30 days) HP .

I had also opened a SmartStart savings and have a few dollars parked there. (3.5% on $5K is not to shabby)

IMHO, Affinity runs like a well oiled machine. ACH Transfers and Zelle® are smooth as butter.

Having many memberships at different CU's ..I'd say this one is top tier.

Re: Affinity FCU

OmarGB9 — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 15:26:22 GMT

@SSMac wrote:
good news, the issue seems to be resolved. perhaps it was due to me being a new member or something but I can transfer to external accounts from my savings now.

Is anyone aware of roughly when they do their quarterly credit pull for the fico scores and pre-qualifications? I want to thaw my report for that, but not any more than necessary. Since they haven't pulled my report yet, mine will need to be thawed for the inital pull. Any ideas?

Being that you have an existing relationship with them, they can SP you even with your frozen reports.

Re: Affinity FCU

CashOutReFi — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 18:38:49 GMT

I can't rep these guys hard enough. Affinity is a great FCU with a noble mission. Just opened a $15k card with them and am very pleased with my approval. Can't wait to use it.

Re: Affinity FCU

butterpecan — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 03:19:25 GMT

@mfinsmi1 Can you add additional funds to the secured card after the fact?

Re: Affinity FCU

mfinsmi1 — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 03:38:20 GMT

@butterpecan yes just call them up and they will take it from your savings

Re: Affinity FCU

butterpecan — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 03:55:48 GMT

@mfinsmi1 Perfect, thanks. I am a member by means of an auto refinance way back in 2016 and loved them then for sure. My rate was phenomenal. So was their customer service.