5 Myths About Credit Unions

While credit unions continue to grow across the country, there are still myths about how they operate, as well as the types of products and services that are available.  Many times when talking with new members, they are surprised to learn of all the things their credit union can do for them.

Here are some of the top myths we’ve heard about credit unions and the truth of how credit unions operate.

Myth #1: You must meet strict eligibility requirements to become a member.

While credit unions require members to meet certain requirements to fulfill a common bond, many of these are broad and few truly limit membership. Although there are some credit unions which only serve those in a certain industry, others like Educators Credit Union are open to those who live and work in a geographical area.

One of the biggest myths about Educators Credit Union is that we only serve those who work in education.  The truth is that membership at Educators Credit Union is open to anyone who lives or works in Dane, Green, Jefferson, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Walworth, Washington or Waukesha County in Wisconsin.

Myth #2: Credit Unions only offer Savings accounts.

In addition to savings, credit unions offer checking accounts, consumer loans, debit and credit card services, online and mobile banking, bill pay, checking accounts, IRAs, mortgages, car loans, co-op networks and so much more!

Educators even offers our Ctrl app to protect your cards. With Ctrl, you can turn your Educators Credit Union credit or debit cards on or off.  Our mobile app also features FlashCash, which allows you take a picture of your checks and deposit them into your account.

Myth #3: Rates and fees are higher at credit unions.

Credit unions typically have lower fees for their loans and services compared to other financial institutions.  Credit Unions also typically have offer better rates because credit unions are not-for-profit institutions.  This means that the earnings of the credit union are returned to their members in the form of reduced fees, higher savings rates and lower loan rates.

Educators Credit Union also has the Loyalty Pay Back Reward.  Last year, we rewarded the loyalty of our members with a $2.46 million cumulative deposit into their accounts.  The deposit was based on the use of certain Educators services and products.

Myth #4: My Money Isn’t Safe at a Credit Union

Your deposits are insured with the National Credit Union Administration. The NCUA insures member deposits up to $250,000 at federally insured credit unions.  Learn more about the National Credit Union Administration at their website www.ncua.gov.

Myth #5: If I’m not at a Credit Union Branch ATM, I’m Going to Encounter Fees

Most credit unions offer access to a broad ATM network shared with other credit unions. This network has thousands of ATMs nationwide including many that can take deposits as well.

With Educators, you have access to co-op shared branches and more than 60,000 fee-free ATMs around the country. We even make it easy for you to find one in your area on our website and within our mobile banking app.

 

We hope this clears up some of the mysteries and misconceptions about credit unions.  If you have a question that we didn’t answer, please let us know by commenting below!

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Travel Safe and Sound!

With summer approaching, many members are planning vacations. Whether you’re headed on a week long vacation to a tropical location or getting away for the weekend in a different state, you want to make sure your cards are safe and ready to use. There’s nothing worse than finally arriving to your destination and realizing your cards are blocked for potential fraud.

Here are some tips to help you ensure your vacation spending goes smoothly.

Call Educators before you travel!

Be sure to add “Call Educators” to your to-do list before you travel. When you call, chat or visit a branch, tell the representative you want to add a travel note to your account.

Be sure to share where you’re going, if you’re driving or flying, how long you’re staying, and when you’ll return. That way when charges come through that are outside of your regular spending pattern and area, it is less likely to be flagged as fraud. You live and work in southeastern Wisconsin, and you’re driving to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. When you add travel notes, Educators’ credit card processor knows that charges at restaurants, gas stations and a hotel along the way are not fraud, just you seeing the sights!

This is important, even if you use Ctrl, Educators’ card-control app. Our fraud monitoring system checks purchases before they even get to your Ctrl settings, so travel notes are still needed.

Be prepared: Know the numbers

It’s important to understand the fraud monitoring process of your debit and credit card issuer.

The Steps:

• When fraud is suspected, you will receive an automatic email from Educators, and you can reply via email with “fraud” or “no fraud.”
• One minute after the email, you will receive a text message from shortcode 32874, which also has the “fraud” or “no fraud” option.
• If there is no response to the email or text message, you’ll receive an automated phone call to deny or confirm fraud.

It’s a good idea to enter the text code and phone number into your cell phone contacts so know it is a legitimate fraud prevention text message or call should it pop up on your phone while traveling.

As a side note: it’s always important that you keep your contact information up to date with us. If you’re traveling, it’s even more important, especially your cell phone number or email address. That information can be updated in Online Banking or by calling/messaging our Member Response Center at 262.886.5900.

If your card is declined and you don’t receive a fraud notice, you can call us to find out the cause of the denial. Use the numbers in the paragraph above to call and speak to an Educators Member Response Agent. The Member Response Center is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. If it’s outside of those hours, you can call 888.526.0404 for assistance with declined transactions on Educators credit or debit cards.

If your card is declined

It happened. Your card got declined. Here are some things to check that might resolve the issue quickly, and before you have to call Educators.

If you use Ctrl there are several settings that may be causing the denial.

1. Is the card turned off? If you usually keep your credit card turned off, it may have slipped your mind to turn it back on before using it on vacation or for a specific purchase.
2. Is there a location setting on? If you have “My Location” on for that card, and your phone is unable to detect or find your location, turn the “My Location” setting off and try the card again.
3. Are you overseas? Another location setting in Ctrl is “Block International.” If it’s on and you’re trying to use your card in Canada, Mexico or another country that is not the US, it will be declined.

It is also important (so important, we’re repeating it for you skimmers) to let us know you’ll be traveling. Notes can be added to your account so purchases that are outside your normal spending habits and locations (e.g., shopping and a hotel stay in another state) aren’t flagged as fraud. As we said above, fraud-monitoring blocks kick in before the charge gets to your Ctrl setting, so travel notes are still very important.

Happy travels!

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Using Chip Cards at Stores

Earlier this month, we shared information about how ATMs are being converted for chip card use.  Now, we would also like to let you know about card security changes that are being made at retailers throughout the country.

When you are shopping, if a store has a chip card reader and you have a debit or credit card with a chip, it is very important that you don’t swipe your card and instead use the chip card reader. The slide feature is present to accommodate cards that don’t have a chip, so if you slide your chip card your transaction may be declined.  

The chip adds an additional layer of security over the magnetic strip on the back of credit cards, creating a unique code for each transaction. When using your chip card at a retailer with a card reader, please follow the instructions and insert your card until the transaction is completed.  

If you have questions about your chip card, please use the Live Chat feature at the top of the page to speak with Educators representative and learn more.

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National Jelly Bean Day!

Did you miss out on National Jelly Bean Day? No worries! Check out our annual National Jelly Bean Day video where Educators’ employees play Bean Boozled!

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel.

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Educators Credit Union Teaches Hundreds of RUSD Students About Managing Their Budgets

On Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 18, all Racine Unified School District’s high school juniors took part in Educators Credit Union’s Reality Check Day at Racine’s Roma Lodge.

The two-day event was the largest in Educators Credit Union’s long-standing partnership with Racine Unified. The two organizations agreed to expand the program to all juniors as part of RUSD’s new Academy model.

“It’s a great opportunity to let students have a brief glimpse into the future,” said Educators Credit Union’s Director of Community Engagement Victor Frasher. “This eye-opening experience informs students what it costs to live in the real world and how hard it can be to balance your life.”

Racine Park High School junior Austin Boley though the first-hand experience managing his budget was crucial as he planned for adulthood.

“I didn’t understand how truly hard and difficult it is to budget everything,” said Boley. “We are truly gifted to have a chance to learn about this.”

Reality Check Day is a simulated look designed to give students a look at managing their day-to-day finances as an adult. The students were assigned a career, a budget based on average salaries for that career, a marital status, credit score and more. They then had to use their month’s salary to pay bills, find transportation, manage life’s unexpected expenses like a speeding ticket or flat time, and much more.

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Financial Tips for your Furry Friends

No matter how you find your pet, whether they’re adopted, purchased from a pet store or they were given to you, pets are expensive. From the food, to general care, to the veterinarian, the costs can burn a serious hole in your pocket.

I bought my first dog from a national pet chain. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, the price was astronomical. What can I say? We fell in love with him! We made it work at the time, but there were a lot of things we should have planned for.

If you’re looking for a new pet, here are a few tips and tricks to make things easier:

• Save – I know this seems a bit obvious, but the more you save, the easier the initial costs of adoption/purchase, supplies, food, and medical bills will be on you and your family.
  • Did you know that you can open a special savings share under your account through Online Banking anytime you want? That way you can have a special account dedicated to saving for your pet.
• Research your options – When we bought our pup, we took him to a veterinary clinic that the store recommended. After going there a few times, we realized the prices were outrageous. I finally started asking around and found a vet we liked and could afford.
  • Did you know that the Humane Society will perform spay/neuter services for your pet for significantly less money than a vet? Our vet quoted us at over $500 to get our puppy fixed when the Humane Society did the surgery for less than $100!
• Subscription – Typically, I am not one to promote subscriptions of any kind, but if you find a brand of food that works for your pet, check online to see if you can get a monthly renewal with discounts. We found a brand that our puppy loves and since we set up a monthly renewal subscription for the food to be mailed right to our doorstep, they give us a 15% off every time!
  • Make sure that you find a program that lets you cancel at any time with no penalty to avoid unnecessary fees.
• Pet Insurance – If you like to play on the safer side, pet insurance may be a good option for you. Most insurance companies will offer free quotes for the type of pet insurance you are looking for. To make this process even easier, check with your current insurance company and see if they can work it into a bundle for you.
• Keep saving – Wait, didn’t we already cover that? Yes, but I wanted to emphasize it again. It’s important to keep saving, specifically for you pets, because you may never know what will happen.
  • Our pup swallowed a squeaker from a toy which resulted in an expensive trip to the emergency vet clinic. Even if your pet seems healthy, you never know what silly thing they may get themselves into.

If you’re a huge animal lover like I am, you’ll do anything for your pet, but it shouldn’t have to cost you a pretty penny. I hope these tips and tricks will help you prepare for your new furry friend!

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Habits to Help Improve How You Budget

Technology has made a lot of things in our lives better. We can communicate with our friends and loved ones at any time, get updates in seconds about big events we care about, and much more. Life may be easier, but sometimes technology can cause problems we didn’t notice before.

Financially, technology can make it harder to budget. In a day and age where spending money is as easy as tapping your phone against a payment terminal, it’s difficult to take note of how much we’re spending and how much we still have left.

The easy solution to this used to be keeping track of your purchases in a check register. Since check registers aren’t among the items we regularly use, we came up with some tips to help control your spending and keep your budget on track.

• Check your accounts every single day. If you always know how much money is left in your account, you can follow along with your purchases to guarantee you know you’re not exceeding your limits.
• Write down what you’re spending. Check registers used to help us keep track of what we were spending and what was left in our account. While check registers may not be commonplace anymore, tracking your purchases can still help you better manage what you’re spending money on.
• Get spending notifications. Apps like Educators Mobile Banking and Ctrl can send alerts to your phone any time you make a purchase. Seeing these notifications helps remind you that you’re spending money.
• Review your spending every month and look at what you can cut out to save. Most of us likely have several subscription services we don’t need or can cut down on the times we’re going through the drive-through. Make a plan to save your money better.

These are just some ways to improve your spending. The important thing is finding a system that works for you.

Have any budget tips you think can help? Let us know in the comments!

 

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Using Chip Cards at ATMs

Chip cards are now the norm for debit and credit cards. This is being done to help increase the security of every card user. With this extra security measure, we also must change how we make transactions.

One of the biggest changes as a result of the chip cards is at ATMs. Most ATMS are being converted for chip card use to protect its users from fraud. Some of these chip card readers use a card “grabber” that locks and holds your card while you make the transaction. Other machines don’t lock your card into place, but they require that you hold your card in for the entire transaction.

Please pay attention to the requirements of each machine to make sure you are successfully completing your transaction.

Questions about the chip card? Use the Live Chat feature at the top of the page to speak with an Educators representative and learn more.

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April Member Focus

The latest Educators Credit Union Member Focus is here! This month, we discuss our new Savings account, the 81st Annual Meeting and Art in Bloom.

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