*TL;DR at the bottom*
Hey folks, @PullingMeSoftly's recent post inspired me to apply for the Affinity FCU Cash Rewards Visa Signature card, and I thought I’d share my experience + DP since there aren’t a ton out there.
Note: Don’t confuse Affinity FCU with Affinity Plus FCU — they’re two completely different credit unions.
For those unfamiliar with the card, here’s what it offers:
• $200 SUB after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days
• 5% cash back on Amazon and bookstores ($3,500/month spend cap, gift cards excluded)
• Rotating quarterly 5% categories that stack on top of the base rewards ($3,500/quarter spend cap)
• This quarter’s categories are supermarkets, sporting goods, and wholesale clubs
• 2% cash back on restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, streaming services, and ride share (excluding gift cards)
• The 2% supermarket base rewards stack with the rotating 5% category this quarter for a total of 7% cash back on supermarkets
• 1% cash back on everything else
• No AF or FTF
To apply for the card, you need to be a member. Membership is open to everyone — if you don’t meet their location/employer criteria and don’t know an existing member, you just have to donate $5 to either the New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education or Connecticut Jump$tart. There is no hard pull for membership.
You can apply for both the card and membership at the same time, however, I read that some folks ran into issues doing it that way so I applied for membership first along with a checking and savings account since they have good rates and no fees (checking has 1% cash back on up to $1,000 of debit card spend per month, and savings has 2% APY on up to $2,500 and 1% APY on the next $2,500).
After filling in my info and answering some security questions, I paid my $5 member share, made my $5 donation, and was able to fund my bank accounts. They offer credit card funding up to $1,000 I believe, although I didn’t want to risk getting charged a cash advance fee so I used a debit card instead.
Once that was done, I got a message saying my membership was approved, my bank accounts were open, and online banking was set up, along with my membership and account numbers. I was able to log in to online banking right away, however, the bank accounts weren’t visible until the next day.
(Side note — I was initially confused as to why there was an account called “Membership Eligibility” with a $5 balance, but apparently that’s just an account they create to hold your $5 member share and it doesn’t accept transactions.)
The next day, I decided to apply for the actual credit card. The application was pretty straightforward, although it was the first time I was asked for gross monthly income instead of annual income. Towards the middle of the application, they tell you that your Experian report has to be unfrozen in order to proceed.
Sure enough, after hitting submit, I immediately got a notification from Experian saying there’s a new inquiry on my credit report. A few seconds later, I got a screen thanking me for my application and, at the very bottom...it said I was approved! No starting limit or APR, though, as it said the loan department was going to follow up with me in a couple business days.
Now, mind you, I wasn’t expecting much of a starting limit as Affinity seems like a fairly small credit union and my Experian report shows 5 new accounts + 4 inquiries in the past 12 months (and about as many in the year before). So imagine my surprise when I got an email the next day congratulating me on my new Cash Rewards card and its *$18,400* credit limit! Very exciting.
I did have to upload my last 2 paystubs for income verification, however, everything matches what I provided on my application so I’m hoping the card shows up in my account soon and in my mailbox shortly after.
Hopefully this was helpful to someone. Let me know if you have any questions!
TL;DR + Stats
• Issuer: Affinity Federal Credit Union
• Card: Cash Rewards Visa Signature
• CU Membership Required? Yes
• CU Membership Open to All? Yes ($5 donation + $5 member share)
• Hard Pull for Membership? No
• Bureau Pulled for Credit Card App: Experian
• Credit Score: 787
• New Accounts: 0/6, 5/12, 11/24
• Inquiries: 1/6, 4/12, 10/24
• Starting Limit: $18,400
• APR: 12.50%
