America First CU Info for Share Secured Loan Shoppers

[Billharrell]

Hi all. Imagine my despair when reading that Alliant CU discontinued their Share Secured Loan products, not two weeks after I opened my account with them for that purpose. Since that ship has sailed, I've been looking for an alternative, and found America First Credit Union (Utah). I called today and spoke to a loan officer, and though some might be interested in my findings...

They're a little cagey on eligibility requirements, and their website will not let you know if you're eligible until after your application. However, the loan officer told me that they could almost always "make it work", and that if you apply for membership over the phone they won't perform a HP until they're sure you're eligible.

They do a single HP on Experian only at the time of application for membership. That pull can then be used for three months from the time of application, and can be used for multiple products (auto, personal share secured CC). Yes, they do need a HP for a share secured personal loan. 

They offer a 120-month terms with $500 minimum. 

Minimum deposit of $1 into a savings account to open an account and get the ball rolling.

Hope this helps anyone out there searching for an easy loan for the SSL trick! If you have any other suggestions, let me know in the comments, I'm still shopping.

[Adidas]

Wow having a 10 year SSL would be great! Did they mention any prepayment penalties? The key here is you need to pay down the vast majority of the loan but keep it open the full term.

So the question to ask is: if you get a windfall and make a lump sum payment does that shorten the life of the loan or push back the due date for your next payment?

[Billharrell]

Yeah, forgot to ask about that. Looking at their website it doesn't say anything about it.

[SouthJamaica]

I believe America First Credit Union has a very limited field of membership.

[heyryan]

You can join the Utah PTA for $10 to join America First:

Here's their SEG list:

https://www.americafirst.com/about/membership/seg.html

(scroll down and there's a search box)

Here's the Utah PTA page:

http://www.utahpta.org/join-beehive-unit

[Anonymous]

Just a quick note:

There are many lenders out there that have Share Secured personal loans with friendly CSRs.  The "money" question is whether you will be able to pay off most of it early and still keep it open for the full life of the loan.  I have contacted at least a dozen of the lenders and all of them fail in that regard.  Pre-payment (as others have observed) is the key to this whole technique working (unless a person needs his score boost only for five months, such as a guy preparing to buy his first car).

I remain confident that we will find SSL alternatives to Alliant but it may take a while.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@heyryan wrote:

You can join the Utah PTA for $10 to join America First:

Here's their SEG list:

https://www.americafirst.com/about/membership/seg.html

(scroll down and there's a search box)

Here's the Utah PTA page:

http://www.utahpta.org/join-beehive-unit

---

I don't see anything like that on their site.

[heyryan]

---

@SouthJamaica wrote:

---

@heyryan wrote:

You can join the Utah PTA for $10 to join America First:

Here's their SEG list:

https://www.americafirst.com/about/membership/seg.html

(scroll down and there's a search box)

Here's the Utah PTA page:

http://www.utahpta.org/join-beehive-unit

---

I don't see anything like that on their site.

---

[Anonymous]

---

@Billharrell wrote:

Hi all. Imagine my despair when reading that Alliant CU discontinued their Share Secured Loan products, not two weeks after I opened my account with them for that purpose. Since that ship has sailed, I've been looking for an alternative, and found America First Credit Union (Utah). I called today and spoke to a loan officer, and though some might be interested in my findings...

They're a little cagey on eligibility requirements, and their website will not let you know if you're eligible until after your application. However, the loan officer told me that they could almost always "make it work", and that if you apply for membership over the phone they won't perform a HP until they're sure you're eligible.

They do a single HP on Experian only at the time of application for membership. That pull can then be used for three months from the time of application, and can be used for multiple products (auto, personal share secured CC). Yes, they do need a HP for a share secured personal loan. 

They offer a 120-month terms with $500 minimum. 

Minimum deposit of $1 into a savings account to open an account and get the ball rolling.

Hope this helps anyone out there searching for an easy loan for the SSL trick! If you have any other suggestions, let me know in the comments, I'm still shopping.

---

I'm actually interested in this option if there isn't any alternative to Alliant.  Too bad I was not able to join Alliant due to ChexSystems when they still had the SSL program.  Anyway, with the 120-month term, after paying the loan down to below 8.99% or $ 44.00, monthly payment estimated to be around $ 4.50.  At least there is a boost in fico for nine to ten months period for those who need to app for anything.