Altura Credit Union - Inland Empire

[ceejx]

Figured this was interesting.. got an email from the Altura Credit Union where I've been a banking member for 15 years, but have never had a credit card.. no balance transfer fee, and 25 day grace period on all balance transfers.. wow!

[Anonymous]

Interesting. What does "automatic payments skips in January, August, and September" mean? My eyes are bad and I can't read the fine print. Does it mean you can skip your payment those months?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can skip those payments by just not paying as long as account is in good standing. I assume interest still accrues so not a great decision but...

[Anonymous]

That's the first I've ever heard of something like this on a credit card. That's crazy! I'm not sure if I'd ever feel comfortable skipping a payment though, even if it's ok with the lender. And I think what really gets me is they have 2 months back to back (Aug & Sept). Maybe they figure people usually spend a lot on vacations and stuff throughout the summer and this gives them an opportunity to get caught up on things (and Jan. is right after Christmas shopping)

[Anonymous]

Actually, the more I think about it, that is a very clever way to get more interest out of people  Smart CU!

[ceejx]

Yeah interest still accruses, they just let you miss a payment 3 days out of the year... smart on their part.. they do that with car loans too...I'm more intersted in the 25 days of no interst on the BT.. that's the first I've heard of that from them.

[Anonymous]

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@ceejx wrote:

Yeah interest still accruses, they just let you miss a payment 3 days out of the year... smart on their part.. they do that with car loans too...I'm more intersted in the 25 days of no interst on the BT.. that's the first I've heard of that from them.

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Yes, very smart on their part. If you're not paying your balance down during those skipped months, then you're paying interest on a higher balance. And, I completely missed the part about no interest on the BT for 25 days. That's pretty interesting as well. This CU is definitely doing things I have never heard of before. Maybe it's time for you to get the card? 

[Anonymous]

They pull EXP (my weakest) but solid CU and card!

[ceejx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ceejx wrote:

Yeah interest still accruses, they just let you miss a payment 3 days out of the year... smart on their part.. they do that with car loans too...I'm more intersted in the 25 days of no interst on the BT.. that's the first I've heard of that from them.

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Yes, very smart on their part. If you're not paying your balance down during those skipped months, then you're paying interest on a higher balance. And, I completely missed the part about no interest on the BT for 25 days. That's pretty interesting as well. This CU is definitely doing things I have never heard of before. Maybe it's time for you to get the card? 

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I would actually like the card, but I have 3 new ones that have already killed my AAoA and dropped me out of the 800 club for the time being, and have a few other cards I'm considering before that to get some more travel rewards. Once they recover I might consider it though.