Best Credit Union for Son

[jamie123]

Hi all!

My 19 year old son who is a full time college student has started his credit journey with 2 credit cards this year. He has a Discover IT and a BoA Rewards card. Once these cards are a year old in March of 2021 I will suggest to him that he apply for 2 more CCs.

When he comes home from college for winter break I want him to join a CU and take out a credit building SSL. He is fortunate that he doesn't, and hopefully won't have to, take out any student loans.

Which CU do you think would be best for him?

I am a member of several CUs but don't want to influence your suggestions by telling you which ones I belong to.

[Slabenstein]

If you want him to do the SSL trick, it needs to be a CU that lets you pay off 91% of the balance w/o advancing the maturity date, e.g. Navy.

[jamie123]

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@Slabenstein wrote:

If you want him to do the SSL trick, it needs to be a CU that lets you pay off 91% of the balance w/o advancing the maturity date, e.g. Navy.

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Yeah, that would be nice but we don't have a military connection for membership.

He really shouldn't need a super great score for the next 3 1/2 years while he is in college so it isn't too big of a detriment to just make the monthly payments.

EDIT: My father was in the Army during WWII (Deceased now) but his service records were lost in the fire that happened in the 1970s and it would be VERY difficult to prove his service now.

[Slabenstein]

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@jamie123 wrote:

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@Slabenstein wrote:

If you want him to do the SSL trick, it needs to be a CU that lets you pay off 91% of the balance w/o advancing the maturity date, e.g. Navy.

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Yeah, that would be nice but we don't have a military connection for membership.

He really shouldn't need a super great score for the next 3 1/2 years while he is in college so it isn't too big of a detriment to just make the monthly payments.

EDIT: My father was in the Army during WWII (Deceased now) but his service records were lost in the fire that happened in the 1970s and it would be VERY difficult to prove his service now.

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It should be easy.  You can request his DD214 from the government.  But if getting the low installment balance points isn't important, then I'd probably look for a CU associated w/ your son's school or easily accessible from campus.  SSL is a common CU product, so for that alone he prly doesn't need to find a unicorn CU w/ a monster rewards card or crazy good savings rate or whatever.

[M_Smart007]

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@jamie123 wrote:

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@Slabenstein wrote:

If you want him to do the SSL trick, it needs to be a CU that lets you pay off 91% of the balance w/o advancing the maturity date, e.g. Navy.

---

Yeah, that would be nice but we don't have a military connection for membership.

He really shouldn't need a super great score for the next 3 1/2 years while he is in college so it isn't too big of a detriment to just make the monthly payments.

EDIT: My father was in the Army during WWII (Deceased now) but his service records were lost in the fire that happened in the 1970s and it would be VERY difficult to prove his service now.

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@jamie123, So here is my honest opinion ...

My Late Dad served in the Air Force as a Photographer .. he passed in 2000

I found out about NFCU through myFICO forums. After reading a lot, I thought? I should qualify based on His service?

I pondered it for a few weeks thinking how can I prove His service? .. I have No documents of any kind.

Here is what I thought, I have nothing to lose .. So I called NFCU and spoke to a Rep., I was very honest and straight forward,

about everything, I did know what years He served, what branch and where He was stationed.

I gave that Information to the Rep .. (put me on hold) came back within 5 minutes and took the rest of My information.

I was approved for Membership within 24 hours from time of call .. That was May 19th 2019.

So my advice to you is "CALL" and speak to the very nice people. You have nothing to lose!

Customer service: 1 (888) 842-6328

Good Luck and keep us posted!

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

I joined NFCU through my grandfather. He was in WWII. I told CSR his branch of service, discharge date, DOB and they asked what kind discharge he had.

Whether it was honorable or medical.

I think you have a good chance at membership with NFCU. They have been nothing short of generous for me and many others.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

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@M_Smart007 wrote:

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@jamie123 wrote:

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@Slabenstein wrote:

If you want him to do the SSL trick, it needs to be a CU that lets you pay off 91% of the balance w/o advancing the maturity date, e.g. Navy.

---

Yeah, that would be nice but we don't have a military connection for membership.

He really shouldn't need a super great score for the next 3 1/2 years while he is in college so it isn't too big of a detriment to just make the monthly payments.

EDIT: My father was in the Army during WWII (Deceased now) but his service records were lost in the fire that happened in the 1970s and it would be VERY difficult to prove his service now.

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@jamie123, So here is my honest opinion ...

My Late Dad served in the Air Force as a Photographer .. he passed in 2000

I found out about NFCU through myFICO forums. After reading a lot, I thought? I should qualify based on His service?

I pondered it for a few weeks thinking how can I prove His service? .. I have No documents of any kind.

Here is what I thought, I have nothing to lose .. So I called NFCU and spoke to a Rep., I was very honest and straight forward,

about everything, I did know what years He served, what branch and where He was stationed.

I gave that Information to the Rep .. (put me on hold) came back within 5 minutes and took the rest of My information.

I was approved for Membership within 24 hours from time of call .. That was May 19th 2019.

So my advice to you is "CALL" and speak to the very nice people. You have nothing to lose!

Customer service: 1 (888) 842-6328

Good Luck and keep us posted!

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Definitely take this advice here.

Smart knows what he's saying!!

[Anonymous]

@jamie123 I joined NFCU earlier this year. I would have been able to provide any needed information to them for my grandfather, who was in the military, but it was not needed. I called in and spoke with a rep to set up my membership and they only asked which family member was in the military and what branch they were in. I was approved while on the phone and the whole call took about 15 minutes. Of course i wouldn't recommend people with no actual affiliation try to do this but if you do have a family member who served i would just give them a call. They are extremely easy to work with.

[Anonymous]

Yes they are known to come back and verify later on so you definitely don’t want to do it fraudulently, but if he was in the military as you say, definitely give them a call, they will help you out!

[jamie123]

Hey, thanks everybody!

I thought about joining NFCU several years ago but discovered the proof requirements on their website. I investigated what I would need as proof and discovered that there was a fire in 1973 that destroyed the service history records of everyone that had been discharged from 1912 until 1964. Yeah, it was a very big fire that burned for 2 days! That is when I stopped with my application. My Dad had been deceased for a couple of decades at that point.

My Dad was in the Army Air Force from 1942 until the end of WWII. He initially trained as a bomber pilot but flunked out because he had problems with his depth of field which caused him problems landing the bomber. He always told us that it was the best thing that ever happened to him because the great majority of his classmates never made it home.

He served the majority of the war at an airfield in the Southeast UK. He made some English friends during the war that lasted a lifetime with them visiting each other every few years or so.

I'll give NFCU a call tomorrow and try to apply for membership. I'll stop by here and let you know how it turns out. NFCU is one of the very best CUs as far as I know from things that I've read on this board.

Wish me luck!