Credit-union shout-out
Nov. 9th, 2011 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseI've been a proponent of credit unions since long before it was fashionable to abandon large banks; I made the switch when we moved to Arizona, having gotten increasingly tired of Wells Fargo's increasingly labyrinthine requirements to avoid monthly fees. It's been nearly two years now and I've never regretted making the switch. Sometimes it's a little inconvenient not being able to find a fee-free ATM nearby, but given that [a] I barely ever use cash and [b] you can get cash back at the grocery store with no fees, I can't say as I've found that aspect particularly problematic.
But I wanted to send a shout-out to American Southwest Credit Union in particular. Not only have they had excellent service whenever I've been by, and not only did they give us a screamingly good deal on our used-car loan, but they have all sorts of nifty little touches that really make you feel like a valued customer. One program is their holiday skip-a-payment - if you have non-real-estate loans through them, you can fill out a form and skip your loan payment for the month of December, which makes budgeting for gifts much, much easier. (I assume that it still accrues interest, but with an APR of less than 7%, one month doesn't worry me overmuch.) Additionally, they've been advertising for a while on their website a "knock of 1%" promotion - refinance one of your loans with them, and they'll take 1% off the interest rate. I'd assumed this was only for outside loans, but today I looked at the fine print, and they'll do it for in-house ones as well, once they're 24 months old. So hopefully next March, when our auto loan qualifies, they'll still be running it.
Seriously, it's not very often that I feel this valued as a customer by any institution. Here's hoping that the hundreds of thousands of other folks who've made the credit-union switch have equally good experiences.
But I wanted to send a shout-out to American Southwest Credit Union in particular. Not only have they had excellent service whenever I've been by, and not only did they give us a screamingly good deal on our used-car loan, but they have all sorts of nifty little touches that really make you feel like a valued customer. One program is their holiday skip-a-payment - if you have non-real-estate loans through them, you can fill out a form and skip your loan payment for the month of December, which makes budgeting for gifts much, much easier. (I assume that it still accrues interest, but with an APR of less than 7%, one month doesn't worry me overmuch.) Additionally, they've been advertising for a while on their website a "knock of 1%" promotion - refinance one of your loans with them, and they'll take 1% off the interest rate. I'd assumed this was only for outside loans, but today I looked at the fine print, and they'll do it for in-house ones as well, once they're 24 months old. So hopefully next March, when our auto loan qualifies, they'll still be running it.
Seriously, it's not very often that I feel this valued as a customer by any institution. Here's hoping that the hundreds of thousands of other folks who've made the credit-union switch have equally good experiences.
