National Credit Union Scores?

[Anonymous]

I'm having a hard time finding a list of credit unions and their eligibility criteria. I have a low 600s score and am wondering who has had luck joining a CU then applying/getting approved for a credit card or signature loan with low stats. I am not active military and neither is anyone in my family. I'm willing to make a donation to join if it's likely I will get some form of credit from them.

[FinStar]

Membership eligibility and lending criteria will depend on the CU itself. That being said, have you checked into any local CUs in your area? Which state do you live?

You can also peruse through the following thread and see whether it can point you in the right direction:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-Credit-Unions-Guide/td-p/4768788

Also, what's keeping your scores low? Are you willing to open a secured CC through a CU?

[spiritcraft1]

There is an open source listing of CU's that have a way to join aside from geography.  I found it helpful but after I narrowed a few down, I called and talked to member service reps to see about products and requirements.  I was looking for a secured card or two and ended up joining Apple Federal CU.  It took a letter, in my case, to get in explaining why I wanted to be a member but YMMV. 

Depending on what you are looking for there are many good ones.  You have to ask about FICO's required etc and they will usually tell you straight up in most cases.  As for Apple, they start approving unsecured cards with a 580 TU and value your history with them along with FICO's.  You have to do a bit of legwork I found though since many of these oddball CU's are not written about much.  I tried to get into Affinity and Unify but they could not identify me!  Elements Financial is great for banking and free EQ FICO 08's.  Look for soft pull memberships...

CU's open to anyone with group membership etc.

[Anonymous]

Closed account with Amex that was 90 days delinquent. Now almost fully paid off, but still a recent delinquency in lenders' eyes because my credit history is pretty limited. It was my oldest account (3 years) and highest credit limit ($2000). Closed 1 year ago. Only 4 open accounts now all with low credit lines (Discover Secured $200, Quicksilver One $500, CapOne Platinum $500, and Fingerhut Webbank $400). I talked to my local CU first, now want to compare stats to FCUs.