Re: Official Credit Unions Guide

heyryan · ‎06-13-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Anyone have experience with UN FCU?

I interested in their ATM rebates for foreign transaction fees. I do a bit of traveling and that piqued my interest.

I read in other places their Custom service is less than desirable, and they don't like to extend credit.

I would get a checking account, and a line of credit. I would like the CLOC to be high, 20-25K. I have the scores and income to get that. But I don't want to risk a HP if I am not going to get anything near that.

And I have also read that no one has gotten a CC from them.

UNFCU denied me membership because I had too many Chex inquiries. I had 3 unique ones in the prior 8-9 months (although it looked like more since 1 CU did 3 INQs and another did 2). I had no negative entries on Chex (just INQs), and they never pulled credit. I've heard that they're also new account and INQ and avail credit sensitive for credit products, so YMMV.

Personal:

Business:

Credit Unions:

Banks:

(TU Split File - FIXED!)

heyryan · ‎06-13-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Several questions about Apple FCU, as I'm considering joining this weekend (I almost did a couple weeks ago but decided to put it off a bit longer).

Do they do hard pulls for basic membership (savings), and if so, which bureau?

Do they do hard pulls for checking accounts?

Is there a waiting period for applying for a credit card after joining?

Which bureau do they pull for credit card apps?

Here's the response I got when I emailed them:

We received your message below and would love for you to join Apple FCU. To answer your questions, we use Transunion.

We have the ability to do a soft inquire on credit scores but once we start the loan application as a whole, it will be a hard pull. Once we create the loan application we have 5 days to use that same report.

So: SP to join (TU)

HP for credit (TU)

You can apply for a credit card before joining, then when approved they'll do the membership then

Personal:

Business:

Credit Unions:

Banks:

(TU Split File - FIXED!)

Anonymous · ‎06-13-2017

@heyryan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Several questions about Apple FCU, as I'm considering joining this weekend (I almost did a couple weeks ago but decided to put it off a bit longer).

Do they do hard pulls for basic membership (savings), and if so, which bureau?

Do they do hard pulls for checking accounts?

Is there a waiting period for applying for a credit card after joining?

Which bureau do they pull for credit card apps?
Here's the response I got when I emailed them:
We received your message below and would love for you to join Apple FCU. To answer your questions, we use Transunion.
We have the ability to do a soft inquire on credit scores but once we start the loan application as a whole, it will be a hard pull. Once we create the loan application we have 5 days to use that same report.

So: SP to join (TU)
HP for credit (TU)
You can apply for a credit card before joining, then when approved they'll do the membership then

What kind of score on TU do they generally require? My most recent TU from May was 640, but it's late updating this month (possibly because of a dispute request/correction request I filed last month to have them fix an inaccuracy on my report).

heyryan · ‎06-13-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
What kind of score on TU do they generally require? My most recent TU from May was 640, but it's late updating this month (possibly because of a dispute request/correction request I filed last month to have them fix an inaccuracy on my report).

I'm afraid I didn't get into that much detail with the CSR. The credit pulls DB only has one recent entry, and they were in the 700s. Have you searched the board here for "Apple FCU"? I know there are quite a few discussions on them, but not sure how recent. If not, I'd recommend just calling and speaking with them. I've done that a few times, and they're usually pretty willing to help you out with your chances if you explain your details to them.

Good luck! They have some awesome rates for sure.

Personal:

Business:

Credit Unions:

Banks:

(TU Split File - FIXED!)

Anonymous · ‎06-13-2017

@heyryan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
What kind of score on TU do they generally require? My most recent TU from May was 640, but it's late updating this month (possibly because of a dispute request/correction request I filed last month to have them fix an inaccuracy on my report).
I'm afraid I didn't get into that much detail with the CSR. The credit pulls DB only has one recent entry, and they were in the 700s. Have you searched the board here for "Apple FCU"? I know there are quite a few discussions on them, but not sure how recent. If not, I'd recommend just calling and speaking with them. I've done that a few times, and they're usually pretty willing to help you out with your chances if you explain your details to them.

Good luck! They have some awesome rates for sure.

Yes, I've read several other discussions (and responded to a couple); I know they're friendly to rebuilders like me. I've actually been thinking over joining up with them for a couple of months now - I almost did two weekends ago but for no particular reason got cold feet while I was actually in the parking lot of the local branch ; however, I mean to go through with it this coming weekend. If they'll accept credit-card applications at the same time as memberships, that's good; I just really need to know if they're inquiry- / new-account-sensitive like, for instance, Penfed (if they are, then it'd probably be better for me to wait to make a CC application to them until my new Overstock and Walmart accounts have aged a bit).

Anonymous · ‎06-13-2017

Also does anyone know if they do a hard or soft pull on your credit report just for joining UN FCU?

I may just open a checking account to use for traveling, but if they do a hard pull anyways, might as well get that CLOC.

Thanks.

JC

Anonymous · ‎07-03-2017

Found lots of good info here for myself; adding mine to the list. CUs have become my latest obsession:

1) DCU - joined April 2016 looking for auto refi. HP for EQ for membership then, but I've seen recently SPs for membership. Used Reach Out for Schools $10 donation to be eligible.
They beat my Cap1 auto loan of 9.99% by dropping it to 2.99% with a 643 EQ 5 score (model they use). Was originally 3.99%, but dropped 0.5% with direct deposit then dropped 0.25% for 3 months and then again for 6 months of on time payments.
No major issues with them, but can't push or pull money from other banks

2) NFCU - got in this February when Navy League was still available. Appd for Platinum and CLOC in March, then was approved for cashRewards when Platinum was 91 days young. No POI asked for with any of my approvals. HP TU for membership and CCs, EQ for CLOC.
Mobile deposit is fine, but would be nicer to move money to them. Have checking and savings with them as well.

3) PenFed - Used Navy League for eligibility here. EQ HP got me Power Cash, Promise, and OLOC all at the same time, although I did have to recon to have the Promise increased after initial approval. No POI asked for
Power Cash is my daily driver with the 2% cash back

4) Alliant - SP on EQ when I joined; eligible with $10 donation to Foster Care for Success.
No credit products with them for now, use them as my main bank

5) Apple FCU - just recently joined, used ChexSystems. Eligible through $20 donation to NVADACA (Northern Virginia Athletic Directors, Administrators, and Coaches Association). Being a teacher and coach for 20 years, I was glad to find a CU that supported teachers (lots of teacher and student products), wish there was something more local to me like them.
Looking at low APR CC in the future, but no products with them now

Anonymous · ‎07-03-2017

I joined Apple FCU a couple of weeks ago (6/17) and got their Platinum Visa with a $2K SL. Data points:

- As @heyryan reports, Apple uses TU, SP for membership and HP for credit card and other loan applications. They will also take your application for a credit card at the same time you apply, no waiting period. Like many CU's they produce a debit card for you on the spot when you open a checking account.

- I got the Platinum Visa with a 646 TU FICO score and a discharged 2014 Ch7 BK as well as a 2011 civil judgment on my TU report. Discussed my financial history and rebuild progress at some length with the banker who processed my application. Apple is definitely BK/rebuilder-friendly.

- Apple PC's the Platinum Visa to higher (rewards) tiers after a certain period of responsible use, and starts offering CLI's after at least 6 months (the banker said to allow up to 12 months on the safe side). I didn't catch whether they offer an auto-CLI as bigger bank issuers do so I guess I'll have to wait and see. The Platinum Visa has a maximum of $35k CL; I was mildly surprised to find their MyRewards visa only goes to $5K, but they have another rewards card that has a similar maximum CL to the Platinum.

- Their website is fairly basic, as befits a smallish regional CU, but has several nice features; I like their My Financial Life app. Had to hunt a bit but found the tab to add external accounts for transfers in and out. You need to be very specific when providing your Apple account numbers to other banks for transfers; Apple does it in a 14-digit format which you can retrieve by clicking the gearwheel icon to the left of each account on your main screen and clicking "Account Details". It took a couple of false starts but I finally completed linking my Apple, BoA and Penfed accounts today.

- Apple's cards are fairly simple in appearance but quite attractive, with the prominent apple motif (their base clientele is Northern Virginia educators and students but they're open to people who live and work in most of the region as well as anyone who makes a donation to the NVADCA, the Northern Virginia athletic directors' charitable association). Their Platinum Visa has a rather patriotic-looking red-white-and-blue motif.