Archive for the ‘Better than a Bank’ Category

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$8.95 To See A Teller and Other Big Bank Craziness

October 27, 2010

I ran across an article yesterday that nearly knocked me out of my chair. Pallavi Gogoi of the Associated Press wrote an article for USA Today about banks and how free checking has gone away for some institutions and others are soon to follow.

The article mentions that some in the banking industry have made customers jump through hoops to keep their checking accounts free, but it seems that even those hoops can’t stop them from charging a monthly fee anymore.

Up to this point the article hadn’t grabbed my attention – free checking hoops have been happening for years. Here is the sentence that really got me:

“One new account at Bank of America charges $8.95 per month if you want to bank with a teller or get a paper statement.”

If you want to see a teller to do a financial transaction or get a statement in the mail, you have to pay $8.95 every month! In other words,  if you would like to use your bank you’ll have to pay a monthly fee. Nice.

I guess our Unbelievable Checking account just became even more unbelievable.

For the record, this article states that free checking is either gone or going quickly and that may be completely true for banks, but not for credit unions. Northwest Georgia Credit Union has no intentions of charging you to use your checking account or making you jump through hoops to keep it a free account. 

The article is an interesting read and gives insight into how the future looks for big banks. Just know that your credit union is not following suit.

Posted in Better than a Bank, Fascinating Finds | Leave a Comment »

International Credit Union Week

October 8, 2010

Every year we join in on International Credit Union Week to celebrate credit unions and our members. Credit unions are a big deal worth a yearly celebration!

We’ve got some fun stuff to give away as well as some informative events dedicated to financial literacy. Here’s the calendar of events:

Monday, October 18:  Giveaway Day – Stop by either credit union location to receive your free reusable tote while supplies last.

Tuesday, October 19:  Financial Check-Up Day - Sit down with a Financial Services Officer to organize your finances and ask questions about money saving options. Call ahead to schedule your appointment. Redmond Road Office: 706.291.9290 or Dean Avenue Office 706.802.0030

Wednesday, October 20:  Life on a Budget Seminar – Join us  at 12:00 pm in the Etowah Room at the Sara Hightower Library as we discuss living life on a budget for a quick lunchtime seminar. Enjoy pizza for lunch and the opportunity to win prizes! Call Kelly at 706.291.9290 or e-mail at ksmith@nwgacu.org to reserve your spot.  

Thursday, October 21: ‘You’re So Sweet’ Candy Buffet – Stop by either branch office to pick up your gift of sweet treats as we celebrate our sweet members!

Friday, October 22:  Kid’s Club Day – Open a kid’s club account for your little ones and we will pay the first $25 deposit! Little Sprouts: age 0-4  Acorn Club: age 5-12

Posted in Better than a Bank, Events | 1 Comment »

Why is Enterprise a Good Car Choice?

September 15, 2010

Buying a car stresses most of us out, me included. So many choices, so much money. And even though buying a used car is the financially saavier choice, what if the car has some indiscretions in its past that you don’t know about? (And why does buying a car seem to be an analogy for dating?)

Enterprise Car Sales Logo

This is exactly why buying a car from Enterprise Car Sales is so helpful. A few years ago, I bought a car from Enterprise, and I can’t say enough about it. Here’s why you ought to consider choosing Enterprise too:

1. Despite what people think about buying a rental car, the cars that Enterprise sells are extremely well-maintained. 50% of their their rental fleet are people renting because their car is in the shop, so these cars are usually driven between home, work, and local errands. Rental cars receive higher amounts of oil changes, car washes, and general maintenance than a privately-owned car. And in in addition to that, Enterprise will not sell a vehicle that has incurred more than $1,000 in damage.

2. All vehicles have passed a 109-point certification. DANG.

3. The pricing is no-haggle. What you see is what you get; no intimidating negotiations. And at our car sale this Friday and Saturday, they can guarantee that the prices will be BELOW NADA Retail Value.

4. You can return the car within 7 days if you change your mind on it. Have you EVER heard of an auto dealership with a return policy?

5. All vehicles come with a 12 month/12,000 mile limited powertrain warranty.

6. They take trade-ins. And at our car sale this weekend, they’ll give you Kelley Blue Blook Trade-In Value PLUS $500!

If you’re thinking about buying a used car, I recommend Enterprise anytime. But, if you shop this weekend at our car sale, you’ll get additional incentives: your first month’s payment made for you (two months if you get pre-approved before Friday), rates as low as 3.99% APR, and the $500 bonus on your trade-in.

Posted in Better than a Bank, Education, Events, Making Cents | 1 Comment »

5 Ways NWGACU Can Save You Money

July 19, 2010

It’s a tough world out there right now, which means it’s a particularly good time to be a credit union member. The latest stats indicate that credit unions save member households $159 a year over bank customers*–and that’s just an average! NWGACU is no exception. Here’s our top 5 ways that NWGACU can save you money:

1. Credit card interest. Most Americans carry some amount of credit card debt, and a whole lot of them are paying high interest or being whacked with exorbitant fees. Even though recent legislation has ended most of the outright abuse on consumers by credit card companies and banks, many consumers are still paying way too much in interest. Our interest rates on credit cards are darn good, and we don’t charge balance transfer fees or cash advance fees. How about you? Are you carrying balances on a credit card with rates over 12% APR? Consider transferring your balance to us.

2. Loan interest rates. Besides credit cards, our loan rates are usually better than banks. Oftentimes, we come across people who don’t realize that they can refinance their existing loans to the credit union. If you have an auto loan, a home loan, or even an unsecured loan somewhere else, let us quote you a rate. Refinancing is easy and is almost always worth your time.

3. Member discounts. We offer our members a host of discounts to other places, like Sprint, Carfax, and renting cars at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Just sharing the love.

4. Checking fees. Free checking became all the rage over the last decade…and now with Bank of America leading the charge to end free checking, you can bet your sweet bippy that other banks will follow suit in the months to come. We, on the other hand, are not ending our free checking. If you want a simple, straightforward checking account with no service fees or minimum balance, then we’ll be your new BFF.

5. ATM fees. Did you realize that NWGACU has over 25,000 free ATMs around the country? We’re part of the CO-OP network, so before you leave Rome, find the surcharge-free ATM you can use by searching online, texting your location (zipcode, address or intersection) to MYCOOP, or downloading the free CO-OP iPhone app.

*Source: Cuna.org

Posted in Better than a Bank, Making Cents, Un-banking. | Leave a Comment »

Financial Success

May 14, 2010

About a month ago a familiar face came to the credit union to do some familiar business.

Christi, a credit union teller for about 3 years, was serving this familiar face (Danny) when she noticed he might be in need of an overdraft protection loan. This is a loan designed to be a backup to your checking account and help you avoid non-sufficient funds fees.

Danny decided it might be a good thing to look into, so he sat down with a Financial Services Officer. Our very astute FSO saw that Danny had loans elsewhere and he was paying crazy interest rates on them!

Danny got to refinance an auto loan and some other debt with us that day which saved him a bunch of money.

How much is a bunch?

About $400.00 every month.

FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS EVERY MONTH?!

Wow!

Danny said that he was so happy to be able to save so much money that he treated himself to a dinner at Red Lobster.

Thanks for sharing your story, Danny!

Posted in Better than a Bank, Life at the Credit Union | Leave a Comment »

Annual Meeting at the Movies

February 16, 2010

2010 is off to an exciting start at the credit union! We ‘changed the scene’ of the Annual Meeting and met at the movies – and of course the meeting was followed by a movie complete with popcorn and drink.

What a fun night!

I wish I could show you really great pictures of our members eating popcorn, reading the Annual Report, chatting with one another, or watching the movie. But, I can’t. I forgot my camera.

And then I remembered it!

And then I got to the meeting and was way too busy to think about taking pictures.

So sorry about that.

All that to say – you’ll have to bear with my visual-less explanation of the 48th Annual Meeting.

The theme this year was ‘Unbelievable’ because we just rolled out our newest tagline ‘Un-banking. Unbelievable.’ (You can read more about the tagline here.)

Michelle and Robert started the meeting with an update from this past year at the credit union – all good things, I promise.

Then we moved on to everyone’s favorite part – the drawing! The drawing is always so exciting. “Who’s it gonna be? Could it be me? Am I the lucky winner?”

Then members grabbed their popcorn and drinks and settled in for a special viewing of the new movie “Tooth Fairy”.

It was a really cute movie and I heard lots of member compliments when it was over.

If you were there, leave a comment and let us know what you thought!

*You may have noticed that I have placed this blog post in the category called ‘Better than a Bank’. Why? Well, when is the last time your bank offered to take you out to the movies? I’m just sayin’…

Posted in Better than a Bank | Leave a Comment »

Consumers Moving to Credit Unions

January 7, 2010

Big banks are so last season.

Why?

Dan Mica, President and CEO of the Credit Union National Association,  answers the ’why’ question in the Huffington Post today. Read it here.

Great article! But if you’re already a credit union member I’m sure you already know why.

[P.S. Judy is the big winner in our Thashers Giveaway! Congratulations Judy!]

Posted in Better than a Bank | 1 Comment »

New Credit Card Rules

December 9, 2009

This coming February will bring a lot of changes to the credit card market and if you have a credit card, these changes could be great for you.

Here are a few of the new rules that will be effective in February 2010:

  • Interest rate hikes on existing balances will be allowed only under limited conditions. 
  •  Significant changes in terms on accounts cannot occur without 45 days’ advance notice of the change.
  • Payments will be due at least 21 days after they are mailed or delivered. Consumers have complained about due dates that change without notice, giving them less time to pay their bills and increasing the likelihood of late fees.
  • When consumers have accounts that carry different interest rates for different types of purchases (i.e., cash advances, regular purchases, balance transfers or ATM withdrawals), payments in excess of the minimum amount due must go to balances with higher interest rates first.
  • Consumers must “opt in” to be able to spend more than the allowed limit and therefore be charged over-limit fees.
  • No one under 21 can have a card unless a parent, legal guardian or spouse is the primary cardholder.

These new rules are great and they will protect consumers, but one of the unintended consequences is that credit card companies must look for new ways to increase their income.

Right now credit card companies are increasing rates, adding new fees, increasing fees, and increasing minimum payments to squeeze as much money out of their customers as they can in the next few months. 

If you have a credit card with a bank or credit card company, be watchful of the fine print over the next few months.

And while we’re being honest about all of this credit card stuff, I should let you know that Northwest Georgia Credit Union will not need to make any changes to our VISA® Platinum credit card!  

Since our credit card process is already consumer-friendly and will NOT be changing, we have no need to seek extra income by nickel and diming our members!

Read more here.

Posted in Better than a Bank, Making Cents | Leave a Comment »

Loan Rates

December 2, 2009

 Have you seen these crazy new loan rates at the credit union?

Yowzah!

Apply Online

Or stop by and see us.

Posted in Better than a Bank | Leave a Comment »

The Credit Union Way

September 24, 2009

Tiffany and I have a fascination with these two personal finance radio personalities, Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard.

ramsey

Tiff and Dave are like BFF…or maybe it’s just that she reads his books and listens to his radio show all the time.

clark-with-wallet-200_o

Clark and I go way back…or maybe it’s just that I’ve listened to his radio show my entire life (thanks Dad!).

So, if you couldn’t tell already, we are big fans! Dave will tell you how to get out of debt and Clark will tell how to save a buck.

I was listening to Clark this afternoon when a caller called in about looking for a credit union. He was tired of the crazy fees that his bank was charging.  He heard Clark talking about how different credit unions are than banks and he wondered how to find a credit union that would work for him. Clark was more than happy to help.

Did I mention that Clark and Dave STRONGLY recommend credit unions to their listeners?

Oh, well then, I’ll tell you now. Clark and Dave STRONGLY recommend credit unions to their listeners. They are big fans of the credit union world because we are not-for-profit and NOT owned by stockholders.

Clark even mentioned that in the coming years the ‘giant monster mega banks’ (that’s his affectionate term for them) will have to find more and more ways to charge fees to their customers to make more and more money.

Credit unions have lower loan rates and fewer fees because we don’t have stockholders to please.  It’s just that simple.

So, I’m glad I got to hear that caller on the Clark Howard Show today. It reminded me that my money is safe in a place that isn’t trying to nickel and dime me to please their stockholders.

If you know of anyone that is tired of their bank, tell them about NWGACU. And if they live far away, tell them to check out www.findacreditunion.com.

If you are interested in tuning in to personal finance radio, you can hear Dave on WLAQ (1410 AM) from 3-5 every weekday, and you can hear Clark on WRGA (1470 AM) from 1-3 every weekday.

Posted in Better than a Bank | 1 Comment »

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