Are Relationships with CUs Real?

[XxRaVeNxX1]

Are relationships with credit unions real or is something that we put in our head, or 'wish' but isn't actually true?

I can understand relationship may happen with the regional or city credit unions where you deal with the same person day in and day out, and the same loan underwriter, but what about the big credit unions such as NFCU or PENFED.

Reason, I asked I bank with NFCU, yet applied for a loan with NFCU & PENFED. PENFED interest rate was only a fraction(literally) better than NFCU.

Is it worth it to follow through with PENFED to build a 'relationship,' maybe refiance down the road, to get a better rate?

Or relationships really dont exist and it's just based on your credit profile.

[Taoron]

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Are relationships with credit unions real or is something that we put in our head, or 'wish' but isn't actually true?

I can understand relationship may happen with the regional or city credit unions where you deal with the same person day in and day out, and the same loan underwriter, but what about the big credit unions such as NFCU or PENFED.

Reason, I asked I bank with NFCU, yet applied for a loan with NFCU & PENFED. PENFED interest rate was only a fraction(literally) better than NFCU.

Is it worth it to follow through with PENFED to build a 'relationship,' maybe refiance down the road, to get a better rate?

Or relationships really dont exist and it's just based on your credit profile.

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Nothing but good things to say about CUs.  They were the first to get me started with credit after bankruptcy, and even offered the lowest APR car loan I have ever been offered before in my life.  (2-3%)  ... and their CLIs are awesome, they raised my CLI from $1000 initial card limit to $6000 in one go.

So yeah, I'd say CUs are good to have a relationship with. 

Also, NFCU granted me $5k signature visa card on DAY 1 (edit: of our relationship)!!!   Definitely a good CU to get in with if you can.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, unless you are a private bank client I don't feel a 'relationship' is truly being built.  Sure, if you use the same branch for 20 years the folks will certainly know you by name, maybe even ask how your son/daughter is, and smile more than average and can be more accomodating in terms of ease, but I doubt it from the perspective of interest rates or such.  Now, most banks do have tiers where if you have "x" amount in assets held by the bank then you qualify for a slight interest rate reduction under their prime.

Now, as you noted for community banks or such?  That I would say you can absolutely build a relationship with for sure.  I have some family in a few small towns that bank with their local community bank and you'd think they run the bank when they go in with how they are given such priority feeling treatment (and no, they do not have assets that would quality them for private banking at the big banks).

[takeshi74]

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Are relationships with credit unions real or is something that we put in our head, or 'wish' but isn't actually true?

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Depends on the CU.  CU's are not all identical.  For a very small CU it might help.

IMO it's not just wishing but misplaced causality.  It's difficult to properly test things like this so when people establish a "relationship" and then get an approval, CLI, etc down the road they assume that it must have been "relationship".

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Is it worth it to follow through with PENFED to build a 'relationship,' maybe refiance down the road, to get a better rate?

Or relationships really dont exist and it's just based on your credit profile.

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This is just anecdotal but I joined PenFed back in 2009.  At that time I had a BK reporting, very high revolving utilization, etc. Needless to say, I was not approved for a card with them.  I wasn't approved until 2013.  It wasn't because of relationship.  It was because my BK had fallen off and my revolving utilization was dropped to well under 10%.  I'm not mentioning other factors because the rest of them were in good shape.

People in general tend to rely too much on "relationship" whether it's with small CU's, larger CU's, banks or other creditors IMO.  Relationship may help to some small degree in some cases but it will not overrule credit profile and income which are the primary considerations.  I've had approvals for cards well into 5 digit limits with no former relationship with my creditors.  Don't rely on relationship as a major factor.

[kdm31091]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Are relationships with credit unions real or is something that we put in our head, or 'wish' but isn't actually true?

---

Depends on the CU.  CU's are not all identical.  For a very small CU it might help.

IMO it's not just wishing but misplaced causality.  It's difficult to properly test things like this so when people establish a "relationship" and then get an approval, CLI, etc down the road they assume that it must have been "relationship".

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Is it worth it to follow through with PENFED to build a 'relationship,' maybe refiance down the road, to get a better rate?

Or relationships really dont exist and it's just based on your credit profile.

---

This is just anecdotal but I joined PenFed back in 2009.  At that time I had a BK reporting, very high revolving utilization, etc. Needless to say, I was not approved for a card with them.  I wasn't approved until 2013.  It wasn't because of relationship.  It was because my BK had fallen off and my revolving utilization was dropped to well under 10%.  I'm not mentioning other factors because the rest of them were in good shape.

People in general tend to rely too much on "relationship" whether it's with small CU's, larger CU's, banks or other creditors IMO.  Relationship may help to some small degree in some cases but it will not overrule credit profile and income which are the primary considerations.  I've had approvals for cards well into 5 digit limits with no former relationship with my creditors.  Don't rely on relationship as a major factor.

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This. While CUs may be more known for the "relationship" thing, try to avoid the temptation to assign emotion and such things to creditors. At the end of the day, your credit profile gets you approved or declined. Sure, if you have 10k sitting in a savings account, it could sway things a little, but there's no way to know whether it really mattered.

[Taoron]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Are relationships with credit unions real or is something that we put in our head, or 'wish' but isn't actually true?

---

Depends on the CU.  CU's are not all identical.  For a very small CU it might help.

IMO it's not just wishing but misplaced causality.  It's difficult to properly test things like this so when people establish a "relationship" and then get an approval, CLI, etc down the road they assume that it must have been "relationship".

---

@XxRaVeNxX1 wrote:

Is it worth it to follow through with PENFED to build a 'relationship,' maybe refiance down the road, to get a better rate?

Or relationships really dont exist and it's just based on your credit profile.

---

This is just anecdotal but I joined PenFed back in 2009.  At that time I had a BK reporting, very high revolving utilization, etc. Needless to say, I was not approved for a card with them.  I wasn't approved until 2013.  It wasn't because of relationship.  It was because my BK had fallen off and my revolving utilization was dropped to well under 10%.  I'm not mentioning other factors because the rest of them were in good shape.

People in general tend to rely too much on "relationship" whether it's with small CU's, larger CU's, banks or other creditors IMO.  Relationship may help to some small degree in some cases but it will not overrule credit profile and income which are the primary considerations.  I've had approvals for cards well into 5 digit limits with no former relationship with my creditors.  Don't rely on relationship as a major factor.

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Yeah, there have been horror stories I'm sure where good "relationships" turned sour.. esp if it involved not being able to pay back your loan!    CU "relationships" are good to have.. as long as you don't abuse it, make your payments but this is true for any creditor! 

In terms of "relationship" it's more of a "wow, they granted me credit where another bank would never have touched me!"    And compare no fee checking/savings services for most CUs (the ones I'd consider using anyway) compared to big banks, I'll take a CU over big banks any day.

They help save people money.. whereas Big Banks want more of your money. 

Just my view on things.  My attachment to CUs comes from them giving me a second chance after a bankruptcy.. this scenario doesn't fit everyone here, so hopefully if anyone questions my views, they realize that is where my attachment to CUs comes from. 

[Open123]

In my view, relaionships are highly overrated.  Invariably, the relationship is great, until the moment one's finances suffers some volatility.

[Anonymous]

If you have a flawless car loan with a CU and 4-5 years later the same people are actually still there, I see a new car loan going through in much less time. Other than that, you need your scores moderate, baddies not on same Bureau they pull, and so on.

[Anonymous]

My experience with Emory CU has been what nightmares are made of... they completely ruined credit unions for me... I wouldn't wish a relationship with those people on my worst enemy...

My car broke down right as I graduated so I was scrambling to get some $$ (eventually just fixed my old one instead, still driving it like 4 years later lol)... I knew nothing about credit, loans or whatever... but I heard CUs were good so I went to the nearest one

Getting in with them was a nightmare... you would think I was applying to be an FBI agent... they made me send them pretty much every official document I had and kept it on file, it took weeks till I could even get a savings account with them to get my foot in the door

The loan that they gave me stunk... seriously, dealership financing was infinitely better...

Credit card? You either get a no-benefits cards or you pay $50 to have pretty much non-existent benefits that you can't redeem for anything... I looked at it and couldn't understand why anyone would want it for free... much less for $50... so of course I chose the regular card... I'm not paying $50 just because... so guess what? They still gave me the "rewards" card and charged me $50

When I asked them to change it to the regular one a year later, they said they couldn't do it. Well, they did... but except of PCing it... they CLOSED the rewards one and OPENED a regular one, AAoC down the toilet...

but wait... it's not over... the card was so bad that clearly I didn't use it... so I never saw the $50 charge... so they stuck a 30 day late on my credit report and wouldn't remove it even when I asked... and then they charged me fees on that late

it gets better though... they would charge me fees for pretty much breathing... USPS screwed up mail? here's $15 fee for you

They had an app that I could've coded in 15 mins with efectively no coding experience... it would lock you out of your account any time you miss-typed your password... can't change it though... gotta submit an official application at the branch to re-open your app access

can't change address online, gotta go into the branch... branch works for liek 30 mins a day and nobody knows when... couldn't get to the branch to change your address? $15 return mail fee good sir...

what a worthless experience... will never touch another CU again... the only positive from this whole experience is that at no point did they punch me in the face... I really thought that with how they do business, a punch to the face or... lower... was coming... 

[Anonymous]

I think "relationships" might matter in some cases as far as whether or not someone goes the extra mile for you, or is willing to give you more information, or point you in the right direction, but I think it's really limited. Who you talk to may be far more important, as in what kind of person are they in general. Some people love to go that extra mile because that is who they are.

I am a DCU customer (for about two years), and a long time Bank of America customer (going back almost 20 years counting bank acquisitions). I can't say enough good thing about DCU and how they have treated me, both through a car loan process, a car refinance, (got my Visa at $15K at the same time), and now through the HEL process. They have been friendly, answered whatever questions I have, and been honest around helping me get where I need to be.

At the same time, anytime I need anything from BoA, whether it be a card comprimise, changing over my credit cards, general banking, or most recently through my home refinance last summer, they have been nothing but perfect. My loan specialist was gold. She walked me through everything, gave me tips on how to get their fees down by getting a competitive quote, what my best option was for cash out vs straight refi, how to drop my PMI, everything. You can be damn sure I will call her if I need any other mortgage help, or if anyone I know needs some, I will refer her.

Is that BoA? Or just her? Both? Hard to say. Many people hate BoA. Not me. But maybe it's the people.