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The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

I can confirm that Andrews (AFCU) is using the prepay/postpone due date formula outlined earlier in this forum..i.e nothing beyond 3 months.  Here's my experience:

12/7/2018 Joined American Consumer Council and received membership number via email same day (required for membership at AFCU)

12/10-12/21 A flurry of emails and secured messages back and forth to set up AFCU membership, gain access to online banking, set up external bank, and fund savings/share account via ACH pull by AFCU from my local bank.  (Note: AFCU uses ye old two small deposits method)

12/22 Things settle down and $1000 is reported as balance in AFCU Base Share Savings account.

12/31-1/4/2019 Applied for 36 month, $1000 Share Secured Loan.

1/5 Approved and funds deposited in Base Share Account. Payments... $29.30 per month. First payment due 3/3/2019.

1/6-1/10 Made 6 advance payments of $29.30 Should have extended next due date to 7/3/2019

1/10 NEXT PAYMENT DUE...5/3/2019

But I may have screwed the pooch!  When asked by an AFCU rep if I wanted to set up automatic payments for the SSL from my Base Share Savings account...I said Yes...thinking I could go in later and change it...That's a no go.

So, the question remains open for AFCU...If you follow my steps above...but decline autopay...will the due date extend out for more than 3 months?  Probably not... is my guess.

At this point, I think all I can do is pay the loan balance down to something =/< $89.00, and see what happens to my score in the next few months.

Message 251 of 468
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

I was just approved for the SPG Luxury Amex with a credit limit of 10,000$ despite my score of 683, so I hope I will seen an improvement in my score soon (as I only had a charge card before, so utilization wasn’t reported).

Would it still make sense to do this?
I would probably just try to get the Alliance unsecured loan.
Message 252 of 468
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant


@Anonymous wrote:

I can confirm that Andrews (AFCU) is using the prepay/postpone due date formula outlined earlier in this forum..i.e nothing beyond 3 months.  Here's my experience:

12/7/2018 Joined American Consumer Council and received membership number via email same day (required for membership at AFCU)

12/10-12/21 A flurry of emails and secured messages back and forth to set up AFCU membership, gain access to online banking, set up external bank, and fund savings/share account via ACH pull by AFCU from my local bank.  (Note: AFCU uses ye old two small deposits method)

12/22 Things settle down and $1000 is reported as balance in AFCU Base Share Savings account.

12/31-1/4/2019 Applied for 36 month, $1000 Share Secured Loan.

1/5 Approved and funds deposited in Base Share Account. Payments... $29.30 per month. First payment due 3/3/2019.

1/6-1/10 Made 6 advance payments of $29.30 Should have extended next due date to 7/3/2019

1/10 NEXT PAYMENT DUE...5/3/2019

But I may have screwed the pooch!  When asked by an AFCU rep if I wanted to set up automatic payments for the SSL from my Base Share Savings account...I said Yes...thinking I could go in later and change it...That's a no go.

So, the question remains open for AFCU...If you follow my steps above...but decline autopay...will the due date extend out for more than 3 months?  Probably not... is my guess.

At this point, I think all I can do is pay the loan balance down to something =/< $89.00, and see what happens to my score in the next few months.


Keep us updated on what happens.

 

I want to follow your steps by opening an account.

Message 253 of 468
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant


@Anonymous wrote:

I can confirm that Andrews (AFCU) is using the prepay/postpone due date formula outlined earlier in this forum..i.e nothing beyond 3 months.  Here's my experience:

12/7/2018 Joined American Consumer Council and received membership number via email same day (required for membership at AFCU)

12/10-12/21 A flurry of emails and secured messages back and forth to set up AFCU membership, gain access to online banking, set up external bank, and fund savings/share account via ACH pull by AFCU from my local bank.  (Note: AFCU uses ye old two small deposits method)

12/22 Things settle down and $1000 is reported as balance in AFCU Base Share Savings account.

12/31-1/4/2019 Applied for 36 month, $1000 Share Secured Loan.

1/5 Approved and funds deposited in Base Share Account. Payments... $29.30 per month. 3.310% interest rate. First payment due 3/3/2019.

1/6-1/10 Made 6 advance payments of $29.30 Should have extended next due date to 7/3/2019

1/10 NEXT PAYMENT DUE...5/3/2019

But I may have screwed the pooch!  When asked by an AFCU rep if I wanted to set up automatic payments for the SSL from my Base Share Savings account...I said Yes...thinking I could go in later and change it...That's a no go.

So, the question remains open for AFCU...If you follow my steps above...but decline autopay...will the due date extend out for more than 3 months?  Probably not... is my guess.

At this point, I think all I can do is pay the loan balance down to something =/< $89.00, and see what happens to my score in the next few months.

UPDATE 1/12/2019 SSL paid down to $87.97...schedule of payments still shows next payment due as 5/3/2019.

Total cost to date for this little experiment?  56¢ ☺


 

Message 254 of 468
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

RE Andrews Federal Credit Union (AFCU)

Be sure to decline autopay when the rep calls you to finalize the loan.  Tell them you'll transfer the payments for the loan into you share savings account from an external bank...and make the payments from the share savings account.  Why?  Because you don't want to decrease the amount in your share savings account for now.  That might open up a function/service they offer called "Skip-A-Payment" , which in turn could be used down the road to extend the term of the loan beyond the current, limited 3 month pre-pay...which is hardcoded into their auto-pay option.

Message 255 of 468
wdkwang
Contributor

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant


@Anonymous wrote:

RE Andrews Federal Credit Union (AFCU)

Be sure to decline autopay when the rep calls you to finalize the loan.  Tell them you'll transfer the payments for the loan into you share savings account from an external bank...and make the payments from the share savings account.  Why?  Because you don't want to decrease the amount in your share savings account for now.  That might open up a function/service they offer called "Skip-A-Payment" , which in turn could be used down the road to extend the term of the loan beyond the current, limited 3 month pre-pay...which is hardcoded into their auto-pay option.


Thanks for all of your insights into AndrewsFCU.

 

So far, I've been approved for a secured loan. Based on your $1000 loan getting approved for 36 months, I figured my $1900 loan request would get 48 or 60 months, so I requested 60 months. I have $2000 sitting in the savings account. The loan officer countered me for 24 months and would not budge. Oh well. As of right now, I'm waiting for documents to be sent by the loan officer via email in the next 24-48 hours. I'll update this thread on what happens after I pay it down to 8.9%. I'm thinking I'll pay it down after 2 weeks into the loan timeline.

Chase Sapphire Reserve 34K | Chase Freedom Unlimited 28K | Chase Amazon 25K
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08/18: TCL 246.95K | AoOA: 18Y | AAoA: 5.0Y || TU: 820 | EQ: 823 | EX: 815 || INQ - TU: 3 | EQ: 3 | EX: 7
12/18: TCL 386.95K | AoOA: 18Y | AAoA: 3.1Y || TU: 805 | EQ: 813 | EX: 769 || INQ - TU: 5 | EQ: 4 | EX: 10
11/19: TCL 421.55K | AoOA: 18Y | AAoA: 4.2Y || TU: 818 | EQ: 820 | EX: 794 || INQ - TU: 6 | EQ: 5 | EX: 9
Message 256 of 468
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

Any update here on Ideal CU?
Message 257 of 468
spikeman768
Member

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

First things first:  Huge thanks to CreditGuyInDixie (CGID) for starting this thread and to all of the contributors who have spent so many hours gathering and sharing their own information.
Second:  Just a friendly reminder to all of us to keep this thread focused on SSL options (Share Secure Loan options), not messages about credit score boosting, not messages about credit card info, not for messages better meant for direct messages, etc....I know, it's easy to slip, I've done it myself!

While reading thru TONS of messages in this amazing thread, I started getting caught up in the weeds a bit.  I decided to create a spreadsheet with info from all of you on this forum.  The spreadsheet is almost empty, and it would be helpful if everyone chipped in...I basicaly just created the structure with a couple of <incomplete> examples.  Eventually, we should probably lock down the spreadsheet so no one accidentally erases important info (it is Google Sheets, and it is tricky to use if you aren't used to it).  Ideally, a few of you regular contributors could take it over and handle the spreadsheet properly...I'm a total nube not suited to the task.  I started on it this evening, and decided to put more structure to it in hopes it will help other people as this forum (and myfico as a whole) has helped me.

Although I will not be offended from any critique of or suggestions for the spreadsheet, this forum is not the place for it...please put critiques, etc in the SUGGESTIONS tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  Again, even my current, few examples might have a mistake...feel free to correct them.  Thanks. 

To refer back to what CGID has said:  If the info is easy to get to (such as in a shared spreadsheet), it would reduce how often we have to contact CU's and goof up our options by bothering them too much.

Credit Union Share-Secured Loan (SSL) Info spreadsheet (the main info is in the "CU list - Good SSL Offers" tab at the bottom)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C86xZUbOlPK1XBSt9cutKQ8rU8ZwRAiVbpqHWA4J-tg

-Spike

Message 258 of 468
spikeman768
Member

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant

I determined today that I am eligible to join NFCU although I have not yet.

I would like to join and get an SSL thru NFCU, but I'd like to do so in a way that gathers data to help the group as well (by tracking my credit score before/after, hard/soft pulls, etc).  Can anyone suggest a method to do this to collect accurate data during the process?

Background:  My free BofA TU 8 score has been 642-655 for 24 months with a single derogatory (a $101 collection), I have one CC (a BofA unsecured with a $500 limit) that is 30 months old and has always stayed under 10% utilization, and I have one closed installment/auto loan at zero balance (although I mistakenly suggested elsewhere that I had more closed installment loans...I have only one).   Basically, a nearly empty credit report.  Two weeks ago, the single derogatory was removed from my TU report, and my new TU 8 score was posted today on my BofA portal.  The score had increased from 653 (the posted 1/21/19 score) to 752 (today's posted score).  I mention this in case the recent change could affect any scores or reports that I purchase for the sake of the NFCU SSL score testing.

1 - Would it be helpful if I were to purchase a true FICO report/score combination before I join and get a loan, etc and then to do so again some time later to post any results or changes? 
2 - If so, which reports/scores would be preferred?

Thx.

-Spike





Message 259 of 468
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: The Quest for an SSL alternative to Alliant


@spikeman768 wrote:

I determined today that I am eligible to join NFCU although I have not yet.

I would like to join and get an SSL thru NFCU, but I'd like to do so in a way that gathers data to help the group as well (by tracking my credit score before/after, hard/soft pulls, etc).  Can anyone suggest a method to do this to collect accurate data during the process?

Background:  My free BofA TU 8 score has been 642-655 for 24 months with a single derogatory (a $101 collection), I have one CC (a BofA unsecured with a $500 limit) that is 30 months old and has always stayed under 10% utilization, and I have one closed installment/auto loan at zero balance (although I mistakenly suggested elsewhere that I had more closed installment loans...I have only one).   Basically, a nearly empty credit report.  Two weeks ago, the single derogatory was removed from my TU report, and my new TU 8 score was posted today on my BofA portal.  The score had increased from 653 (the posted 1/21/19 score) to 752 (today's posted score).  I mention this in case the recent change could affect any scores or reports that I purchase for the sake of the NFCU SSL score testing.

1 - Would it be helpful if I were to purchase a true FICO report/score combination before I join and get a loan, etc and then to do so again some time later to post any results or changes? 
2 - If so, which reports/scores would be preferred?

Thx.





Others may disagree with what I'm about to say but this is my opinion.

I have personally tried the SSL gambit several times, and the effect on the FICO 8's is very clear. There is some very slight gain on the way down from 90% to 10%. And then when you get down to 9% or less, you're in the promised land. There might or might not be a slight gain at 4.9%.

 

What is less clear is the effect on the mortgage scores. In my personal profile, EX FICO 2 and EQ FICO 5 completely ignored the whole installment utilization thing, while my TU FICO 4 did react, but with only about 20% of the signal strength realized in FICO 8. But @Revelate has reported TU & EQ shrugged it off, while EX FICO 2 did react, albeit less severely than FICO 8.

 

So for me the only thing that is of interest is the impact on the mortgage scores. And to gauge that you'd have to spend the big bucks -- $40 a month plus tax -- for MyFICO's ultimate monthly monitoring. So maybe you should skip the study, and just enjoy the loan.


 


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 260 of 468
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