MembersFirst Credit Union: Blog -

March 5, 2018March 6, 2018

5 Car Finance Gimmicks and Tricks to Beware Of

Auto Loans — the offers are everywhere. Some are greater than others while others just seem like a great deal, but are they really?

“0% for 6 months!” “No payments for 90 days!” “Cash back up to $3000!” “We’ll give you more for your trade!”

How do you know which great deal is really, well…a great deal?

While some could prove to work in your favor, here are a few auto finance gimmicks and deals to be mindful of.

Too-Good-To-Be-True advertised discounts and rates. Not all dealers are created equal. Some use lower-than-usual rates and price discounts to draw buyers in. The deal could be on one particular vehicle that may or may not still be available. Be sure to get all the details before sitting down in a finance chair.
Don’t be bullied by special discounts and offer time limits. If you’ve been quoted a price with a substantial discount which also comes with a fast-approaching expiration date, don’t feel you need to make a hasty decision without time to consider. The expiration date of a promotion should be clear and upfront and shouldn’t make you feel rushed into making a decision to buy.
Focusing on the payment vs. the purchase price and terms. While it’s important to make sure your payment falls within your means, don’t get caught up in what you would prefer to pay each month and neglect the details of the purchase price and finance terms. Paying less each month, but stretching the terms longer to afford a higher-priced vehicle could prove to cost a lot more in the long-run.
Substantial offers to pay off your trade. You know what your trade is worth—so does the dealer. If you’re offered much more than your trade is typically worth, be sure the overage hasn’t been retrofit into the finance side of the deal. Traditionally, less is offered for your trade than its worth, so research the value before signing on the dotted line.
Offers of 0% vs. Cash Back. One way or another, a lender is going to profit from the sale of a vehicle. 0% offers usually work for the dealer by increasing the sales price of a vehicle. Cash back deals are usually contingent upon the rate you pay or the price of the vehicle—sometimes both. Give a good look to the fine print of these deals and consider traditional pricing and financing before these.

Get a quote from your credit union before finalizing a loan with a dealer. Your credit union is here for you with one goal – to help you afford life. It doesn’t matter where you find the car you choose (we do have some great friends at local dealers as well!), we will always check the values against the asking price, we’ll always give you a fair rate and we will ask for a copy of the vehicle title to avoid unnecessary hassle when it comes time to register your vehicle. Our GAP and Warranty programs are very affordable and save you from hidden dealer fees. You can protect your family and yourself in the event of unfortunate circumstances with our Optional Credit Life or Credit Disability Protection. We share a financial relationship built on trust and value your membership as we work to fit your needs. You’ll always see the terms and conditions of our offers up front and receive fair pricing and rates on all the products and services we offer. With that in mind, you can feel comforted knowing an auto loan through MembersFirst is a great decision.

Ready to purchase your next vehicle? Check with us first! We have loan programs for everyone, in every stage of life. Whether you’re just starting out on your journey to build credit, doing just fine or need a fresh start, look to MembersFirst! Visit membersfirstga.com, give us a call at 404-978-0080 or stop by your local office to get the process started today.

And, if you’re ready to start looking for a fantastic car, take a look at some of the services offered through MembersFirst:

Member Showroom: A Car-Buying Service, Powered by TRUECar
Enterprise Car Sales: A great pre-owned car-buying experience in your area

February 21, 2018March 5, 2018

Goal Diggers: This one’s for you.

We talk often about that stress-inducing ‘B’ word (budgeting…), but why do we concern ourselves with building a basic budget and focusing on putting money in savings anyway?

One word. GOALS.

Whether you’ve never given it much thought or voiced yours aloud, to your spouse, your mom or even to your barista, we all have financial goals. Much like snowflakes, no two goals are exactly alike. Your version of financial freedom may be freeing yourself from credit card debt while your BFF’s view could be paying cash for their next vehicle.

Regardless, you can’t quite get to the point of knowing how to get somewhere without defining where you’re going. So, let’s take a moment to think on that topic:

“What do I want?”

Before the panic sets in as you realize you’re not quite sure what you want or maybe you feel you want too much and none of it feels attainable–we have good news. Here’s a simple goal setting worksheet that helps you get it all down on paper and even helps you define the ‘why’ of it as well as suggests some next steps for tracking and rewarding.

Goal Setting Worksheet Preview — Goal Setting Worksheet

A few things to keep in mind when setting your financial goals.

1. No goal is too small. Believe it or not, your small goals help you build toward your larger goals anyway, so think small as much as you’d like. Essentially, you’re testing the waters with a small goal so you can see and feel how the process works. You’ll soon see how each of the saving/spending choices you’re making become easier.

2. How do you eat an entire cake? Bite by bite. Yes, we threw a cliché out there (kinda). But, it’s true… don’t become overwhelmed with the magnitude of your financial big picture. Just like anyone else, you’ll be breaking each goal down into bite-size pieces that make sense for you. Eventually, you’ll see it all coming together. For some, that’s major motivation to keep pushing themselves to take more bites, or steps, toward their bigger goals.

3. The only mistake is not starting to begin with. You really only have two choices when it comes to reaching goals: you can choose to work toward reaching them or choose to do nothing. Even if you jot down your goals on scrap paper (note napkins count, too) and get started with a burst of enthusiasm and motivation then fall off the bandwagon (oops, another cliché) a quarter of the way through, well, at least you started. Just don’t forget to restart. You may have to pick yourself up and reassess, but you’re already miles ahead. The bottom line is… it’s ok to mess up every now and then.

4. Be lazy. Yep. Be lazy. Make reaching your goals as easy on yourself as possible. Use the tools available to you to make transitioning from a not-so-savvy to a super-savvy-saver simple. Once you’ve set a budget to determine the amount you can comfortably save, go ahead and set up an automatic transfer to savings. Or, even better, set up a payroll deduction from your paycheck to savings. If you don’t see the cash entering and leaving your checking account, you’ll miss it less (if at all).

5. See it and believe it. For the visually inclined, personal vision boards, or tools which use images to help you better define and focus on a specific goal, are growing in popularity. You can make yours as detailed or simplified as you’d like to help you stay on top of your goals. For instance, if saving enough money to pay for your child’s future education is part of your plan, you may have photos of your child, images of colleges, books or school logos, along with inspirational quotes about growing up pinned, stapled, taped or glued to a poster board, corkboard or even a blank wall in your home. Each time you pass these vision boards, they help you remember why you do what you do each day, especially when having to make a tough financial decision.

Gather your own inspiration from our “Vision Board” on Pinterest here.

6. My goal is (not) better than your goal. Who’s to say your financial goals are less important or exciting than anyone else’s. You do you. You know what works for you. You know what’s most important to you. Don’t worry if it seems your ideas of financial soundness aren’t aligning with your peers’; not everyone wants the same things. In the end, what matters is you’re happy with your outcome.

Talk to us.

If you need a little push in the right direction, let’s talk. You can drop by and talk with one of our Member Advisors a little bit about your goals, find out which tools you can use to make it easy on yourself and get a little guidance on where your focus should be.

And don’t forget that ‘note napkin’ or your Goal Setting Worksheet. When someone asks you what your goals are and why, you’ll be ready to talk it through with them and work up a plan that best fits your budget and means.

Good luck, Goal Digger.

Download the Goal Setting Worksheet.

November 7, 2017December 7, 2017

We are Relocating Our Decatur Office

front elevation

If you live in the city of Decatur or in DeKalb County, you may have heard the news that North DeKalb Mall will be redeveloped sometime in the near future. We are using this opportunity to relocate our main office to a larger, more convenient, free standing location with drive-thru access. Our new location is under construction and is expected to be complete in the Fall.

The new office will be located at 2476 Lawrenceville Highway, just under half of a mile away from our existing office on Lawrenceville Highway. You will immediately notice that we have added curbside convenience by providing a drive-thru window for teller transactions and a drive-up, deposit-taking ATM.

Most noticeable inside the building will be the significantly expanded lobby presence. The expansion will provide a dedicated member service area featuring private offices for loans and member service. We will have more people available to greet you at our concierge desk and guide you to the private areas where we can serve you. We have added a transaction center that is focused on privacy and security consistent with the service you receive at the drive-thru. For deposit and withdrawal transactions, you will still see the familiar faces of the tellers who will now serve you from a secure and private video connection.

We are excited about this move and the changes ahead. We are looking forward to the many ways we will deliver exceptional, secure, private and personal service to you. Please be on the lookout for more information about the construction and the move.

October 4, 2017December 7, 2017

Equifax® Data Breach: How to Protect Your Financial Identity

By now, it’s safe to assume most of us have heard about what Equifax is referring to as a ‘cybersecurity incident’. For those of us who haven’t, here’s a quick recap:

Hackers took advantage of a weak area in an Equifax application between May and July 2017.
Information that may have been stolen included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birthdates and driver’s license numbers for close to 143 million U.S. customers.
You will need to take action to protect your information and credit by first visiting equifaxsecurity2017.com to find out if you were included in this data breach.
Equifax is offering one year of free credit monitoring to those effected.
In addition to the breach of personal information, some 209,000 credit card numbers and 182,000 dispute documents containing personal information may also have been stolen. Equifax will alert those affected via U.S. mail.

Also, while it’s true we have the word ‘credit’ built into our name, it’s important to understand your credit union was not breached and your account information with the credit union remains safe.

What this breach could mean to you.

Thieves could use the stolen information to pretend to be you and open accounts like credit cards, auto and personal loans in your name. This could be harmful to your chances of being approved for loans and accounts you are actually applying for in the future. Landlords, utility companies, cellular service providers, employers and others also use your history when deciding to hire, grant you credit, lease a home to you, provide you with internet and other services necessary for daily life. If someone else has taken your good credit on a joy ride, it’s likely they won’t plan to also make the corresponding payments, thus, leaving you with raised debt ratios and poor pay history. All this adds up to lowered credit scores and one big mess to clean up once you’ve discovered they’ve taken advantage of your hard work.

So how, then, do you protect yourself?

The good thing to know is you do have options which could prevent the above scary situation. Some experts suggest a complete ‘freeze’ of your credit file while others suggest a ‘lock’. The two seem the same; however, there’s a difference in how to go about adding and removing the freeze or lock.

According to TransUnion, a major credit reporting agency, locking your credit file puts you in control of preventing lenders and others from accessing your credit. When you lock your credit yourself, there’s zero waiting period, need for a PIN number and no fee is charged. TransUnion suggests enrolling in their credit monitoring program, TrueIdentity, which gives you the ability to lock and unlock your credit anytime while providing free monitoring alerts for critical credit information changes.

Freezing your credit, however, means you’re turning over control to credit reporting agencies to remove and control access to your credit file. You initiate the request to freeze and unfreeze, reporting agencies do the rest. A few things to keep in mind with a credit freeze:

There are fees associated with freezing and unfreezing your credit and you must initiate the request with each of the major credit agencies separately. These fees can range from $3 – $10, depending on your state, per request.
You may not be able to immediately freeze and unfreeze your credit file. Keep this in mind if, for instance, you’re out and about car shopping and decide to have your credit pulled for loan approval. In some cases, it can take up to 48 hours and may require a fee to unfreeze. Patience is a virtue, but in a world where instant gratification often reigns, it can feel like an eternity.
A PIN is required and must be provided when applying for new credit. If you forget your PIN, you’ll have to take in-depth steps with one or more of the credit bureaus to verify your identity and reset your PIN. As this breach is related to personal identifying information, identification processes may be strenuous. If you choose this option, be sure to choose a PIN you will remember.

Clark Howard made it even easier for all by providing links to freeze or lock your credit with each of the 3 main credit bureaus (thanks, Clark!) You can visit the page by clicking here.

As credit card info for 209,000 cardholders across the U.S. and possibly another 182,000, we encourage you to take advantage of Remote Control Card services by logging into mobile banking using our FlexTeller app and turning your debit cards ‘on’, or active, and off, or ‘disabled’ as you need to use them. If you have questions about this service, let us know!

Is there such a thing as ‘too much’ protection?

In this case, it’s not possible to be overzealous in protecting your financial identity, especially since it’s important to remember you may not immediately see false accounts or trade lines on your credit report. Identity thieves are patient…this breach happened in May – July 2017 and it’s possible, if your information is misused at all, it may not be evident for a long time. If you do not choose (and even if you do) to block or freeze your credit, you should be diligent in monitoring your financial accounts and credit report for any suspicious activity. You can do this by requesting your credit report from each of the three major credit agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, at no charge, once per year. To request a copy from one or each of these agencies, visit annualcreditreport.com. Some may choose to enroll in other credit monitoring services like Credit Karma. If so, understand these services are not the ‘be all, end all’; combine the info you see with these services to what you see on the credit reports you request.

Still, despite all you can do to help yourself, we’re here for you as well…working to calm the concerns you’ve expressed to us when calling, emailing and stopping by one of our offices. You should know we take this breach very seriously and have taken steps to ensure your member advisors are working to protect you and your information. Just as we’ve always done, we’ll continue to ask you to verify your account and contact information by asking several questions when you call. This will continue to be consistent across the board and we ask that you be patient while we complete this process as it’s truly in your best interest. A few extra seconds spent verifying your identity could prove to save you hours of frustration in the long-run should identity thieves attack the security of your information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 404-978-0080.

January 26, 2017December 7, 2017

Clean Up Your Finances for the New Year

After a year of spending, saving, paying off bills and racking up rewards points, your financial life can get a little messy. And now that the holiday season is over, it is a great time to regain control of your finances. When you de-clutter your accounts, paperwork and budget, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to make the most of your money.

Resolve to roll up your sleeves, dust off your statements and follow these tips for finances that sparkle:

Streamline your banking. Close old accounts, switch to online bill pay and sign up for e-statements to reduce paper waste. Shred year-old bank statements, expired warranties, old Social Security statements and tax documents that are over seven years old.
Consolidate your debt. Consider rolling all of your high-interest payments into one low-rate personal loan like a Save As You Pay loan with MembersFirst. Close credit cards you don’t need and create a payment strategy to lower your debt. Plan to pay off credit cards with the highest interest rates first.

Organize your savings. Many households have multiple savings accounts, including IRAs, CDs and 401(k)s. Consider moving all of your savings plans to one financial institution and consolidating all IRAs to one account. Talk to your employer about moving old 401(k) accounts into the one at your current job, or rolling them to a self-directed IRA. Finally, increase your 401(k) savings so that at a minimum you are saving enough to earn a full match from your employer.

Plan your estate. Update or create your will. It’s a fairly easy and inexpensive process that people often put off for obvious reasons. If you have any property (car, house, land, flat-screen TV, etc.), a will prevents lengthy legal battles and guarantees the right people receive your belongings upon your passing.

Need help tidying up? Stop by your nearest MembersFirst branch or give us a call at 404-978-0080. We’d be more than happy to help you clean up your finances!