@SouthJamaica wrote:Applying for the savings & checking accounts:
No hard pull.
Had to upload a better copy of drivers license, and evidence of eligibility (in my case receipt for donation to one of the organizations)
By next day I was advised my application was granted.
Applying for credit card:
After getting my deposit accounts set up, I applied for a credit card. The application was simple, prompted me to request a certain credit limit. I put in the maximum for that card.
Oddly I have not received any indication of a hard pull anywhere, although I assume there must be one somewhere.
Within a couple of hours I received a phone call from a very nice representative saying that my credit card application was "fully approved and all" but she wanted to make sure I had intended to apply for the specific card I had applied for, which was the case. I thanked her for the great service.
Within an hour or so, the account actually appeared on the website along with my deposit accounts, and I was able to use it to transfer funds into my checking account. The credit limit was the amount I'd asked for, and the interest rate was the lowest rate offered
Awesome experience.
As to unusal fees, I do have to pay $3 a month to use the billpay service. I could avoid the fee by using one of their better checking accounts, but I'm using the stripped down version.
Thanks for coming back and sharing your experiences! If you don't mind posting, can you share some stats like income range, FICO, CL, # of inqs, etc?
@SBR249 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:Applying for the savings & checking accounts:
No hard pull.
Had to upload a better copy of drivers license, and evidence of eligibility (in my case receipt for donation to one of the organizations)
By next day I was advised my application was granted.
Applying for credit card:
After getting my deposit accounts set up, I applied for a credit card. The application was simple, prompted me to request a certain credit limit. I put in the maximum for that card.
Oddly I have not received any indication of a hard pull anywhere, although I assume there must be one somewhere.
Within a couple of hours I received a phone call from a very nice representative saying that my credit card application was "fully approved and all" but she wanted to make sure I had intended to apply for the specific card I had applied for, which was the case. I thanked her for the great service.
Within an hour or so, the account actually appeared on the website along with my deposit accounts, and I was able to use it to transfer funds into my checking account. The credit limit was the amount I'd asked for, and the interest rate was the lowest rate offered
Awesome experience.
As to unusal fees, I do have to pay $3 a month to use the billpay service. I could avoid the fee by using one of their better checking accounts, but I'm using the stripped down version.
Thanks for coming back and sharing your experiences! If you don't mind posting, can you share some stats like income range, FICO, CL, # of inqs, etc?
1. They did do a hard pull at EX. I don't know if it was for membership, or just for the credit application.
2. My inquiries are many. Most credit unions turn me down for credit because of that.
3. My EX FICO 8 was 754 but I don't know what FICO formula VW uses.
Thanks SJ for the info! I'm officially a member now. Ha ha
Can't log in till tomorrow. Though I have my account and membership information. I did have to join the bicycle club. That $15 will be offset by the $50 cash back I get using a CC to make the initial deposit hopefully.
Can't log in till tomorrow. Though I have my account and membership information. I did have to join the bicycle club. That $15 will be offset by the $50 cash back I get using a CC to make the initial deposit hopefully.
@Gmood1 wrote:
Thanks SJ for the info! I'm officially a member now. Ha ha
Can't log in till tomorrow. Though I have my account and membership information. I did have to join the bicycle club. That $15 will be offset by the $50 cash back I get using a CC to make the initial deposit hopefully.
Oh I forgot to tell you, you have to go to Tucson to make withdrawals 
😲....Lol ...yeah that might be a problem. 😂 VW is officially the farthest west I've gone with credit unions. If things go south. I'll just blame SJ.😜
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Gmood1 wrote:
Thanks SJ for the info! I'm officially a member now. Ha ha
Can't log in till tomorrow. Though I have my account and membership information. I did have to join the bicycle club. That $15 will be offset by the $50 cash back I get using a CC to make the initial deposit hopefully.Oh I forgot to tell you, you have to go to Tucson to make withdrawals
@SouthJamaica wrote:1. They did do a hard pull at EX. I don't know if it was for membership, or just for the credit application.
2. My inquiries are many. Most credit unions turn me down for credit because of that.
3. My EX FICO 8 was 754 but I don't know what FICO formula VW uses.
Vantage West is my primary CU, I live & work in an AZ county that is in their geographic area. I joined in Dec. 2015 when they snail mailed me a pre-qualified offer for their "regular" Visa, and joined when approved. My EX Fico was only in the 670s then. I don't believe they HP just to join, but like you they had the HP for the CC app. I have the eChecking account which is pretty basic, one free book of checks, no minimum balance or DD required for the free checking, and there's no charge for using Bill Pay.. I app'd for the Visa Connect Rewards (that's the one with 5% rewards category you choose) in Sept. as I got a car loan with them and the rep agreed to use the same HP. They may not be too concerned with inquiries, but I was turned down for too much "recent new credit" - the new car loan, Penfed Home Equity LOC in August, PayPal 2% MC in July. But the loan rep was really nice, told me to wait 3 months for the new accounts to age, but I'm going to wait longer - 9 inquires on EX is too much for me, and my utility bill isn't that much and I get 2% from other cards.
You can use a CC to fund new accounts, up to $2k I believe. And it you don't want to come to Tucson to make a withdrawal (
) they participate in CU shared branching -https://co-opcreditunions.org/ - I use another CU with shared branching moe often than a VW branch as it's more convenient.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Gmood1 wrote:
Thanks SJ for the info! I'm officially a member now. Ha ha
Can't log in till tomorrow. Though I have my account and membership information. I did have to join the bicycle club. That $15 will be offset by the $50 cash back I get using a CC to make the initial deposit hopefully.Oh I forgot to tell you, you have to go to Tucson to make withdrawals
It's 78 degrees in Tucson this afternoon, might not be such a bad thing if you live in New England, Midwest, or especially if you live in Erie PA. ( I have relatives Erie, 5 feet of snow the past few days)
@DaveInAZ wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:1. They did do a hard pull at EX. I don't know if it was for membership, or just for the credit application.
2. My inquiries are many. Most credit unions turn me down for credit because of that.
3. My EX FICO 8 was 754 but I don't know what FICO formula VW uses.
Vantage West is my primary CU, I live & work in an AZ county that is in their geographic area. I joined in Dec. 2015 when they snail mailed me a pre-qualified offer for their "regular" Visa, and joined when approved. My EX Fico was only in the 670s then. I don't believe they HP just to join, but like you they had the HP for the CC app. I have the eChecking account which is pretty basic, one free book of checks, no minimum balance or DD required for the free checking. I app'd for the Visa Connect Rewards (that's the one with 5% rewards category you choose) in Sept. as I got a car loan with them and the rep agreed to use the same HP. They may not be too concerned with inquiries, but I was turned down for too much "recent new credit" - the new car loan, Penfed Home Equity LOC in August, PayPal 2% MC in July. But the loan rep was really nice, told me to wait 3 months for the new accounts to age, but I'm going to wait longer - 9 inquires on EX is too much for me, and my utility bill isn't that much and I get 2% from other cards.
Me, I never even heard of them until I saw this thread. But I get a good feeling about them. I was shocked, within a couple of hours of my credit card application, to get a phone call from a really nice lady who tells me 'your application is fully approved and all', and was just calling to make sure that the Connect card -- rather than the Connect Rewards card -- was really the card I wanted. The customer service seems very good.
And it was very pleasant to see that the interest rate I was given was the lowest, the credit limit I was given was the max, and the account was already up on the site and ready to go.