I thought it would be useful to have a list of all credit unions in which anyone can join. For most of these all-access credit unions, you can join an association and that will qualify you for membership into the credit union. All credit unions are required to have a field of membership which defines a common bond for members. When credit unions started, common bonds typically involved employers. This expanded to include community bonds in which anyone who lives or works in an area can qualify. Now many credit unions have fields of membership that include members of associations, and those associations can often be joined by anyone.
As you might expect, banks consider this as unfair competition since credit unions receive tax breaks. This 2010 New York Times article reported on this issue and the history of how large credit unions like PenFed evolved into an open membership. I'm more concerned with the massive size of the mega banks than I am with credit unions being unfair to the banks. The more competition we have, the more it helps savers, and as we all know, savers need all the help they can get in this awful interest rate environment.
The main reason to join a credit union that's not in your city is to take advantage of competitive banking products. Most of the all-access credit unions that I've reported on have offered competitive CD rates or reward checking accounts. Often the rates are better than what internet banks offer.
Like internet banks, many of these credit unions have online applications that make it easy to join. Also, the credit unions' online banking can make managing accounts easy without having to visit a branch. If you do need to visit a branch, many belong to the shared branch network. This allows you to conduct many banking transactions at any credit union in the network as if it were your own credit union.
The list is now updated daily. By default, the list is ordered based on asset size. Click the column title "Credit Unions" to order alphabetically or "Branches" to order based on the number of branches.
Click on the name of the credit union to visit our hub page for that credit union. The hub page lists all of my blog posts for that credit union. It also includes the credit union rate tables, financial health, branch locations and readers' reviews.
Under the credit union name is the city of its headquarters. Many of the credit unions have branches in multiple states. Click on the number of branches to see a map and listing of the branches.
Credit Union | Assets | Branches |
---|
 | PenFed Credit Union HQ: McLean, VA | $35.47B How you qualify | 50 |
 | BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union) HQ: Tukwila, WA | $28.99B How you qualify | 59 |
 | Alliant Credit Union HQ: Chicago, IL | $19.00B How you qualify | 1 |
 | Mountain America Credit Union HQ: Sandy, UT | $17.31B How you qualify | 105 |
 | First Technology Federal Credit Union HQ: San Jose, CA | $16.94B How you qualify | 39 |
 | Bethpage Federal Credit Union HQ: Bethpage, NY | $13.01B How you qualify | 32 |
 | Lake Michigan Credit Union HQ: Grand Rapids, MI | $12.72B How you qualify | 73 |
 | Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) HQ: Marlborough, MA | $11.96B How you qualify | 23 |
 | Teachers Federal Credit Union HQ: Hauppauge, NY | $9.67B How you qualify | 33 |
 | Patelco Credit Union HQ: Dublin, CA | $9.66B How you qualify | 37 |
 | Wings Financial Credit Union HQ: Apple Valley, MN | $8.84B How you qualify | 36 |
 | United Nations Federal Credit Union HQ: Long Island City, NY | $8.42B How you qualify | 3 |
 | Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union HQ: Harrisburg, PA | $8.26B How you qualify | 2 |
 | Bellco Credit Union HQ: Greenwood Village, CO | $7.84B How you qualify | 29 |
 | Michigan State University Federal Credit Union HQ: East Lansing, MI | $7.71B How you qualify | 23 |
 | Veridian Credit Union HQ: Waterloo, IA | $6.93B How you qualify | 29 |
 | Kinecta Federal Credit Union HQ: Manhattan Beach, CA | $6.73B How you qualify | 33 |
 | Summit Credit Union (WI) HQ: Cottage Grove, WI | $6.56B How you qualify | 57 |
 | Connexus Credit Union HQ: Wausau, WI | $5.29B How you qualify | 16 |
 | Langley Federal Credit Union HQ: Newport News, VA | $5.15B How you qualify | 21 |
 | NASA Federal Credit Union HQ: Upper Marlboro, MD | $5.13B How you qualify | 14 |
 | Technology Credit Union HQ: San Jose, CA | $4.83B How you qualify | 10 |
 | Chevron Federal Credit Union HQ: Oakland, CA | $4.75B How you qualify | 20 |
 | Spectrum Credit Union HQ: Concord, CA | $4.75B How you qualify | 20 |
 | American Heritage Federal Credit Union HQ: Philadelphia, PA | $4.67B How you qualify | 32 |
 | Genisys Credit Union HQ: Auburn Hills, MI | $4.64B How you qualify | 30 |
 | Northwest Federal Credit Union HQ: Herndon, VA | $4.60B How you qualify | 12 |
 | Affinity Federal Credit Union HQ: Basking Ridge, NJ | $4.56B How you qualify | 23 |
 | GECU HQ: El Paso, TX | $4.35B How you qualify | 30 |
 | Jovia Financial Credit Union HQ: Westbury, NY | $4.33B How you qualify | 21 |
 | Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union HQ: Saint Paul, MN | $4.15B How you qualify | 28 |
 | UNIFY Financial Credit Union HQ: Allen, TX | $4.07B How you qualify | 49 |
 | University Federal Credit Union HQ: Austin, TX | $4.00B How you qualify | 24 |
 | United Federal Credit Union HQ: Saint Joseph, MI | $3.91B How you qualify | 49 |
 | Credit Human HQ: San Antonio, TX | $3.75B How you qualify | 24 |
 | Liberty Federal Credit Union HQ: Evansville, IN | $3.71B How you qualify | 29 |
 | Premier America Credit Union HQ: Chatsworth, CA | $3.61B How you qualify | 21 |
 | Grow Financial Federal Credit Union HQ: Tampa, FL | $3.52B How you qualify | 26 |
 | CoVantage Credit Union HQ: Antigo, WI | $3.42B How you qualify | 20 |
 | California Coast Credit Union HQ: San Diego, CA | $3.38B How you qualify | 26 |
 | Consumers Credit Union (IL) HQ: Gurnee, IL | $3.32B How you qualify | 17 |
 | NuVision Federal Credit Union HQ: Huntington Beach, CA | $3.11B How you qualify | 14 |
 | New England Federal Credit Union HQ: Williston, VT | $3.02B How you qualify | 18 |
 | USALLIANCE Financial HQ: Rye, NY | $2.95B How you qualify | 11 |
 | GTE Financial HQ: Tampa, FL | $2.92B How you qualify | 24 |
 | All In Credit Union (AL) HQ: Daleville, AL | $2.92B How you qualify | 32 |
 | Pen Air Credit Union HQ: Pensacola, FL | $2.88B How you qualify | 11 |
 | Achieva Credit Union HQ: Dunedin, FL | $2.81B How you qualify | 25 |
 | Chartway Federal Credit Union HQ: Virginia Beach, VA | $2.73B How you qualify | 38 |
 | AmeriCU HQ: Rome, NY | $2.71B How you qualify | 19 |
 | State Department Federal Credit Union HQ: Alexandria, VA | $2.69B How you qualify | 6 |
 | Workers Credit Union HQ: Littleton, MA | $2.65B How you qualify | 18 |
 | Andrews Federal Credit Union HQ: Suitland, MD | $2.42B How you qualify | 16 |
 | Elements Financial HQ: Indianapolis, IN | $2.29B How you qualify | 2 |
 | Financial Partners Credit Union HQ: Downey, CA | $2.28B How you qualify | 14 |
 | Magnifi Financial HQ: Melrose, MN | $2.26B How you qualify | 26 |
 | Allegacy Federal Credit Union HQ: Winston Salem, NC | $2.24B How you qualify | 27 |
 | Abound Credit Union HQ: Radcliff, KY | $2.17B How you qualify | 18 |
 | Dow Credit Union HQ: Midland, MI | $2.13B How you qualify | 1 |
 | Self-Help Federal Credit Union HQ: Durham, NC | $2.07B How you qualify | 37 |
 | Hanscom Federal Credit Union HQ: Hanscom Afb, MA | $1.90B How you qualify | 19 |
 | Blue Federal Credit Union HQ: Cheyenne, WY | $1.89B How you qualify | 21 |
 | Hughes Federal Credit Union HQ: Tucson, AZ | $1.89B How you qualify | 7 |
 | Lafayette Federal Credit Union HQ: Rockville, MD | $1.88B How you qualify | 8 |
 | Alabama Credit Union HQ: Tuscaloosa, AL | $1.80B How you qualify | 36 |
 | Self-Help Credit Union HQ: Durham, NC | $1.76B How you qualify | 38 |
 | Premier Members Credit Union HQ: Boulder, CO | $1.75B How you qualify | 18 |
 | Hiway Credit Union HQ: Saint Paul, MN | $1.75B How you qualify | 9 |
 | SRP Federal Credit Union HQ: North Augusta, SC | $1.69B How you qualify | 19 |
 | Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union HQ: Gardena, CA | $1.66B How you qualify | 27 |
 | Capital Educators Federal Credit Union HQ: Meridian, ID | $1.49B How you qualify | 12 |
 | St. Mary's Bank HQ: Manchester, NH | $1.48B How you qualify | 11 |
 | Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union HQ: Burbank, CA | $1.47B How you qualify | 12 |
 | BluPeak Credit Union HQ: San Diego, CA | $1.42B How you qualify | 6 |
 | Great Lakes Credit Union HQ: Bannockburn, IL | $1.36B How you qualify | 13 |
 | United States Senate Federal Credit Union HQ: Alexandria, VA | $1.31B How you qualify | 4 |
 | Orion Federal Credit Union HQ: Memphis, TN | $1.28B How you qualify | 11 |
 | Salal Credit Union HQ: Seattle, WA | $1.25B How you qualify | 5 |
 | Quorum Federal Credit Union HQ: Purchase, NY | $1.13B How you qualify | 1 |
 | Pima Federal Credit Union HQ: Tucson, AZ | $1.08B How you qualify | 9 |
 | REV Federal Credit Union HQ: Summerville, SC | $1.07B How you qualify | 20 |
 | Velocity Credit Union HQ: Austin, TX | $999.2MM How you qualify | 7 |
 | Ideal Credit Union HQ: Woodbury, MN | $997.7MM How you qualify | 6 |
 | Vibrant Credit Union HQ: Moline, IL | $992.3MM How you qualify | 7 |
 | Santa Clara County Federal Credit Union HQ: San Jose, CA | $969.6MM How you qualify | 6 |
 | Justice Federal Credit Union HQ: Chantilly, VA | $954.4MM How you qualify | 19 |
 | Marine Federal Credit Union HQ: Jacksonville, NC | $951.2MM How you qualify | 14 |
 | Latino Credit Union HQ: Durham, NC | $948.9MM How you qualify | 16 |
 | True Sky Credit Union HQ: Oklahoma City, OK | $917.3MM How you qualify | 15 |
 | Utah First Federal Credit Union HQ: Salt Lake City, UT | $898.3MM How you qualify | 9 |
 | Sun East Federal Credit Union HQ: Aston, PA | $878.8MM How you qualify | 6 |
 | Fortera Credit Union HQ: Clarksville, TN | $869.5MM How you qualify | 8 |
 | Christian Community Credit Union HQ: San Dimas, CA | $863.4MM How you qualify | 1 |
 | Thrivent Federal Credit Union HQ: Appleton, WI | $859.3MM How you qualify | 1 |
 | Department Of Commerce Federal Credit Union HQ: Washington, DC | $834.6MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Corporate America Family Credit Union HQ: Elgin, IL | $834.0MM How you qualify | 21 |
 | Zeal Credit Union HQ: Livonia, MI | $832.0MM How you qualify | 13 |
 | CBC Federal Credit Union HQ: Oxnard, CA | $830.3MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | NIH Federal Credit Union HQ: Rockville, MD | $822.5MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | Greenwood Credit Union HQ: Warwick, RI | $821.5MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | Superior Choice Credit Union HQ: Superior, WI | $792.2MM How you qualify | 13 |
 | Communitywide Federal Credit Union HQ: South Bend, IN | $777.6MM How you qualify | 11 |
 | Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union HQ: Proctor, WV | $726.6MM How you qualify | 12 |
 | La Capitol Federal Credit Union HQ: Baton Rouge, LA | $721.2MM How you qualify | 15 |
 | People's Credit Union HQ: Middletown, RI | $702.0MM How you qualify | 6 |
 | America's Credit Union HQ: DuPont, WA | $701.7MM How you qualify | 11 |
 | Oklahoma Central Credit Union HQ: Tulsa, OK | $685.8MM How you qualify | 10 |
 | Dover Federal Credit Union HQ: Dover, DE | $664.8MM How you qualify | 9 |
 | Pelican State Credit Union HQ: Baton Rouge, LA | $661.3MM How you qualify | 18 |
 | AFFCU HQ: San Antonio, TX | $644.0MM How you qualify | 7 |
 | Financial Resources Federal Credit Union HQ: Bridgewater, NJ | $622.2MM How you qualify | 13 |
 | Spectra Credit Union HQ: Alexandria, VA | $606.0MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | Partners 1St Federal Credit Union HQ: Fort Wayne, IN | $601.0MM How you qualify | 22 |
 | Fort Liberty Federal Credit Union HQ: Fort Bragg, NC | $594.6MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | American 1 Credit Union HQ: Jackson, MI | $592.6MM How you qualify | 15 |
 | Securityplus Federal Credit Union HQ: Baltimore, MD | $557.2MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | Hope Federal Credit Union HQ: Jackson, MS | $540.6MM How you qualify | 25 |
 | OUCU Financial Credit Union HQ: Athens, OH | $514.6MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Southeast Financial Credit Union HQ: Franklin, TN | $490.8MM How you qualify | 13 |
 | Wheelhouse Credit Union HQ: San Diego, CA | $431.5MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union HQ: Tampa, FL | $429.2MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | Signature Federal Credit Union HQ: Alexandria, VA | $422.4MM How you qualify | 1 |
 | Credit Union Of New Jersey HQ: Ewing, NJ | $421.4MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | AgFed Credit Union HQ: Washington, DC | $358.6MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | Matadors Community Credit Union HQ: Chatsworth, CA | $336.2MM How you qualify | 1 |
 | Interior Federal Credit Union HQ: Washington, DC | $310.7MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | MTC Federal Credit Union HQ: Greenville, SC | $281.9MM How you qualify | 8 |
 | First Community Credit Union (WI) HQ: Beloit, WI | $278.7MM How you qualify | 6 |
 | Pasadena Federal Credit Union HQ: Pasadena, CA | $276.3MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Transportation Federal Credit Union HQ: Alexandria, VA | $273.0MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | U S Postal Service Federal Credit Union HQ: Clinton, MD | $264.7MM How you qualify | 0 |
 | Western Vista Federal Credit Union HQ: Cheyenne, WY | $251.4MM How you qualify | 5 |
 | Expedition Credit Union HQ: Mendota Heights, MN | $230.9MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Parda Federal Credit Union HQ: Auburn Hills, MI | $222.5MM How you qualify | 9 |
 | First Flight Federal Credit Union HQ: Cary, NC | $220.4MM How you qualify | 7 |
 | Puerto Rico Federal Credit Union HQ: Caparra, PR | $216.9MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | Oklahoma Community Credit Union HQ: Stillwater, OK | $212.2MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | SunWest HQ: Pueblo, CO | $205.7MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Xcel Federal Credit Union HQ: Bloomfield, NJ | $188.4MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Princeton Federal Credit Union HQ: Princeton, NJ | $161.2MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | Market USA Federal Credit Union HQ: Laurel, MD | $140.2MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | Credit Union Of The Rockies HQ: Golden, CO | $119.0MM How you qualify | 4 |
 | Pinnacle Federal Credit Union HQ: Edison, NJ | $103.5MM How you qualify | 3 |
 | Taleris Credit Union HQ: Seven Hills, OH | $68.8MM How you qualify | 2 |
 | Vision Financial Federal Credit Union HQ: Durham, NC | $59.8MM How you qualify | 3 |
Credit unions are constantly changing their fields of membership (FOMs). If you don't see a credit union on the list that makes it easy for anyone to qualify for membership, please let us know. The best way is by posting this news about the credit union in our bank promotions forum.
It is also possible that credit unions will make changes to their FOMs that will eliminate ways for everyone to qualify. I've seen several cases in which credit unions added state-residency requirements to association membership requirements. Also, I've seen cases in which credit unions have removed associations from their FOMs. If you see that a credit union on this list has added restrictions on new members, please let us know.
It should also be noted that some all-access credit unions may not allow all members to open certain accounts. Some accounts like IRAs and business accounts may require a branch visit. Also, there may be some popular account that is limited to certain members.
http://www.kinecta.org
Wish there would have been a way around the $10-15 it cost me to join that military orginization though.
Recently, I found a little tiny credit union NEAR me that had 1.25% money market but their field of memberships is only for people who live or work in that tiny little city. No "worship clause". So I havent bothered.
Plus, about as soon as I showed up with $200k, they'd lower their rates probably !
They have excellent online banking and free checking. I live a state away and wouldn't dream of changing banks.
I am not at all worried about the information I posted.
I would suggest you might have paranoia issues !
LOL
#33 How I wished I didn't agree with you about Fluffy and the Blind Baboon and the economy. I was just reading today how the Dems and Repubs both have "no" idea what to do. I guess I will be voting "Independent" this go round. What a mess they have gotten us in!
Hard to find "good" rates anywhere.
I assume you are looking at the correct list/s.
http://www.foxcredit.com/join.php
Some of the banks on this blog have similar rates and you do not have to jump through the hoops of becoming a member of some innocuous organization.
@anonymous #58, Thanks for alerting us on the merger. Pacific Resource CU has been removed from the list.
SECU
Baltimore, MD
Thomas Hinton, American Consumer Council
www.americanconsumercouncil.org
This list is a marvelous resource for your readers, and the way you have kept up with so many changes is also impressive. Thanks!
I do notice, though, that the name change from Tobyhanna to Valor is not yet reflected. The link works, though, and comes up as Valor, so maybe it's not a big deal. I like the Tobyhanna name more, too; it just sounds better!
It may be helpful to list next to the CU name if they require a clean Chex/EWS & which CR's they pull
Thomas Hinton, President, American Consumer Council
19 Month Promotional Certificate19 Month Certificate: 1.25% APY with $10,000 opening balance
Thats all I see and its not really noteworthy.
1. Ken might not be aware anyone can join NFCU , , or
2. Ken might prefer not to make the path into NFCU public. A few service members are, perhaps understandably, resentful of the wrinkle that allows anyone into NFCU, which is a great CU. There is one instance, here on the net, of someone having purposely disseminated FUD regarding the method of entry. The FUD was eventually exposed and nullified, but not right away, and many people were led astray by it.
It took nearly two weeks to get in. I joined now in hopeful anticipation of possible CD specials upcoming. I've always envied NFCU members and wanted to be an NFCU member, but I do not qualify for membership through any of the traditional, well known, pathways. Frankly, when I learned (by accident) about the route to membership I ended up following, I had my doubts. Joining NFCU is notoriously difficult. But it was worth losing $25, in my view, to try. As the matter turned out everything went well and I was granted entry, so I'm quite happy.
San Diego Navy League welcome letter,
Now you dig for more info.
You could be right, and it would be interesting to know why. Ken obviously is monitoring these conversations because anyone can see just above your post he has removed several earlier posts. I am a long time reader here and I know Ken is a member of Navy Federal because he has told us that. He had a way to get into NFCU because of some kind of connection to the military he has.
As somebody else already posted, I agree opening of Navy Federal to the general public might not be sitting all that well with military people because previously it was sort of a special perq reserved solely for them and a darn good one too. Just sayin'.
So if you're a veteran the day might be coming, sooner or later I do not know, when you can join NFCU without having to pay the $25. I certainly applaud efforts by NFCU to expand (free) membership eligibility in this manner. It's the right thing to do for our vets.
For savers, a strategy which has emerged in recent years is to join (whatever) CU in anticipation of, in hope of, good CD deals in future. Basis for this approach is difficulty of joining hastily, following actual announcement of a special CD deal, when everyone is trying to squeeze into the door at once. Good CD deals can be lost while one is awaiting membership to finalize.
There are well over 6,000 credit union in the USA and it is clearly impossible to join even a tiny fraction of so many institutions. We try to identify those most likely, based on their history, to offer good CD deals in future. There is also one other factor: location. Credit unions in certain market locations tend, in general, to offer better CD deals. I think the top location is Washington, D.C., and vicinity. Another good location right now appears to be, believe it or not, Iowa.
NFCU is located in the vicinity of D.C. and it has a history of offering good CD deals. When you can find a way into a CU like that which checks two boxes on the list of desirable attributes, joining makes sense. Speaking personally, I also was able to get in on the (albeit small money) $20K/20 month 2% CD deal which ended yesterday. That alone was not reason enough to join, but I will be happy to take the income from that deal regardless, along with my new membership, and wait for better opportunities down the line.
There is one final aspect to anticipatory joining of credit unions: maintenance. It comes down to the fact that if there is no activity in (whatever) CU account they will kick you out. Maintenance is a PITA, but not nearly as large a PITA as once was the case. I've been actively using ACH for less than fifteen years. If I still were using snail mail and paper checks I'm not certain I could deal with the maintenance issue. But today everyone has an Alliant account and just rifles out a small ACH deposit to each of their CUs whenever required. The time expended on such maintenance as this is minimal. Alternatively, you can open two accounts at the CU (e.g., savings and checking) and simply move money between the two accounts periodically. Candidly, maintenance is still a PITA. But it is doable, not very time consuming, and necessary to the strategy.
PenFed? I'm a member who has no complaints, still benefiting on daily basis from those great rates and appreciative of the income. Were I not already a member of PenFed I would join. Just stay away from their "reward" credit cards, which suck.
Secondly, it would be very helpful if you provided options for the sort. You have it presented here by CU size. So, I had to troll through everything on the list to see if Financial Partners was on the list. It would be helpful if we had the option to sort alphabetically.
About sorting, you can sort alphabetically. Just click on the "credit union" heading at the top of the table. To switch back to sorting based on size, click on either the "Assets" heading or the "Branches" heading.
"NFCU is no longer accepting Navy League - San Diego"
https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=593109
uh uh
1) PenFed: HP on EQ to join, will reuse that for at least 30 days for other products. Also, if you open a checking account after you're already a member, they'll HP you for that.
2) Golden1: Have read on other boards that you can get deposit accounts outside of CA, but not credit products. HP on (probably) EX to join, but I've heard mixed results on that.
3) Alliant: SP on EQ to join + Chex. Very friendly, decent rates, good online banking. ACH transfer speed & limits are awesome.
4) DCU: Now a SP on EQ to join. I think they've raised them, but a couple years ago 680 would get you the best rates at least on auto loans. Refi'd a loan from 15% to 2.49% with them! 5% APY up to $1000 on your primary savings.
5) Bethpage: SP to join
6) MACU: HP on EX to join, will reuse HP (not sure on time window)
7) LMCU: HP on EX (used to be TU, but CSR told me EX last week) + Chex. Reports are they're pretty Chex INQ, new account, and exposure sensitive.
8) DFCU: Told no credit check to join, don't know about Chex
9) A+: HP on EX, will reuse for 60 days
10) Affinity Plus: HP on TU, told will NOT reuse for other credit products
11) AgFed: No HP, possible SP on EQ + Chex
12) Air Force FCU: SP on EQ + Chex
13) America's CU: HP on EX, will reuse for 30 days
14) Apple FCU: SP on TU + Chex
15) Bellco: HP on *probably* EX
16) Blue FCU: Reports are they're very Chex INQ sensitive
17) CapEd: SP on EX or TU
18) Chartway: SP to join, use all 3 bureaus and is geographical. East=EQ, Central=TU, West=EX
19) Connexus: HP on TU, don't reuse
20) Consumers CU (IL): HP on TU to join, will reuse if you call them. If you apply online, it'll auto-pull again. Great rates, nice customer service, cash rebate card is good. Online banking is pretty terrible though.
21) EECU: HP on EQ to join, was told they don't reuse
22) ETFCU: SP on TU to join, Chex INQ sensitive. This was reported on other sites, and I missed it. Denied w/ ~5 INQs in the past year.
23) First Financial: HP on TU
24) GTE: HP on EQ
25) Hiway: HP on EQ, reuse for 90 days
26) Langley FCU: HP EQ, reuse 30 days
27) Marine FCU: SP EQ - **note, this is the one in NC, NOT the one in Wisconsin**
28) McGraw-Hill: SP EX
29) MSU FCU: HP EX
30) NASA FCU: HP EX
31) Northrup-Grumman FCU: No HP to join, they use EX for loans
32) NWFCU: SP on EX
33) NRL FCU: SP EQ
34) NuVision: SP EX
35) Ohio University CU: HP TU, reuse 90 days
36) PARDA FCU: HP EX, reuse 30 days
37) Partner CO: I was told SP on EX, but I've also heard HP other places
38) Premier America: Was told no credit pull, but they use EX. Have heard others report they got a HP.
39) Premier Members: HP on EQ or EX, couldn't answer if they reuse
40) SCE FCU: SP on EX
41) Self-Help: No HP to join
42) Signal Financial: SP EQ
43) Signature FCU: SP on EQ + Chex. Applied last week, still 'Pending', but another site did an article on their high-yield checking right around the same time, so I think they got inundated. The membership director actually posted on the article comment section, so I'm thinking there will be extra scrutinizing for a while.
44) Silver State Schools: SP on EX
45) SDFCU: HP on EX, very conservative
46) Superior Choice: Savings: No HP or SP, Checking: SP on TU, Credit: HP on EQ
47) Tampa Bay FCU: HP on EX
48) Trustone: HP EX, reuse 30 days
49) Unify FCU: SP on EX + Chex
50) University FCU: There have been discussions on other boards that if you're outside TX, they'll ask you to come into a branch to validate your identity, so YMMV
51) US Alliance: HP EX, reuse 30 days
52) Velocity CU: No SP/HP, probably Chex
53) Veridian CU: HP EQ, reuse 30 days
54) Wings Financial: HP EX, said MAYBE they'll reuse
Some not on this list:
Altra FCU - formerly Trane FCU (join the Altra Foundation) - HP on TU, will reuse
American Heritage Credit Union - Donate to Kids-N-Hope Foundation - HP EX, reuse 30 days
Interior FCU - join New Mexico Wildlife Foundation - HP EQ, reuse 30 days
Justice FCU - join Nat'l Sheriff's Assoc - HP EQ
Virginia CU: join Virginia Assoc for Career and Tech Education - no SP/HP (probably Chex)
United Nations FCU (UNFCU) - join UNA-USA - SP EX + Chex. My experience was pretty negative with them.
Financial Fitness Association CUs: ($8 to join I think)
CommonWealth Central CU
Financial Partners CU
Tech CU - SP on EX + Chex
San Diego County CU - HP on EX
Hope this all helps!
For me, they used Experian. That was the only major bureau I've had absolutely no credit file or history reported with, so in their notice of adverse action they mailed me, they said I have a credit score of 0 according to Experian.
Was not aware they might use Equifax sometimes; if they'd have checked through that I might have gotten in since Digital Federal CU used them and approved me. Though DCU's credit inquiry was electronic and automatic, whereas PMCU had me wait for a live loan officer to manually assess my credit situation before declining me.
Credit Unions are great. Member owned coops. People first, not profits. However, I thought credit unions had a "field of membership" based upon common bonds? Like all work at the same employer or live in the same community. Donating $5 to a charity is nice but doesn't really create a traditional common bond.
https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/credit-union-of-the-rockies.html
Everywhere except one place on the page it says 52.80% interest rate. Scared the crap out of me until I expanded the rate history details and saw that this site's graph correctly shows it as 5.28%.
That would've been pretty great tho...
The highest savings rates I've seen after painfully exploring every credit union's site off this list range between 5% to 7.5%. As far as savings accounts with balance tier limits, I would not consider anything less than 3% APY.
Similarly, I would not consider anything less than 3% for CD savings accounts since that seems to be near the cap for CDs, and several (even if rationally few) CUs have savings or MMA interest rates better than that if you don't mind distributing your savings across multiple CUs (since each have their upper bounds for the maximum balance such high rates apply to).
Alliant CU seems to have (and have had, the past few years) the highest savings interest rate with no balance tiering (also excluding things like rewards checking accounts and debiting 12 or 15 times a month), but then again a few commercial banks like Ally have better still. Huge thanks to semistatic for that list of credit inquiry methods CUs do since I've already been declined by two CUs for having no credit history and rarely enough a credit score.
https://www.american1cu.org/american-1-info
It also states "Membership in Community 1 Cooperative is only $3 and is open to anyone."
https://www.american1cu.org/community-1-info
Greater Arizona Bicycle Association
Ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/6g3xgz/vantagewest_credit_union_az_giving_5_on_one/
- thank you
https://www.elements.org/about-elements/partner-with-elements/
is large. I am skeptical that anyone can join Elements Financial. What partner group is easiest to join for individuals who do not live in central Indiana?
It appears that you can join Tru Direction non profit association for financial literacy.
https://www.trudirection.org/index.php?submenu=membership&src=gendocs&ref=MembershipBenefits&category=Join_True_Direction
https://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/best-of/credit-unions-anyone-can-join/
-Tower Federal Credit Union Maryland
-Black Hills Federal Credit Union South Dakota
https://www.psecu.com/about-psecu/become-a-member
(A) Ask if a hard pull credit report is going to be run against applicants. It's a bad thing reducing credit score and actually denying opening some other accounts if done in less than 6 months spacing. (AMEX and Chase cards with good bonuses will be denied because of a few past other "applications".) If you are told something general about looking at applicants' credit that MEANS hard pull.
(B) Beware requests for more information after passing first identity screen and soft pull credit and 4-6 questions. Especially if an "underwriter" has to approve, that's the person paid to deny anything and everything as in mortgages. Refusal of admittance likely when requested are pay slips, 2 government-issued-photo IDs, direct photo of license, anything sensitive having to be sent over unsecured open e-mail, rent/utility payments and like, especially to be received within 5 business days. SOURCE: Am retired banking and consumer financial regulatory economist, decades of personal experience.
Source: https://gardenstatefcu.org/about-us/join-garden-state/