by Michelle M. Haas-Dosher

Credit unions are all about helping their members, but military credit unions go above and beyond to help those who serve our country.

"For more than 75 years our credit unions have done an outstanding job taking care of military and civilian personnel assigned to the Department of Defense," says Arty Arteaga, president/CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), an organization based in Washington D.C., for military credit unions. "During peace or war, stateside or overseas, defense credit unions always have stepped up to the proverbial plate and delivered the products and services required for and by our troops and their families."

Whether providing financial counseling, offering unique services, or creating special programs for troops, military credit unions show their members how much they're appreciated.

Marine Federal Credit Union
Jacksonville, N.C.

Financial counseling doesn't only mean getting help when you're up to your ears in debt. It also can mean getting help starting a budget or planning for the future. Wherever troops fall on that spectrum, Marine Federal Credit Union, Jacksonville, N.C., is ready to help. The credit union offers three types of counseling services:

• Productive counseling: A counselor talks with a member about saving and investing and focuses on insurance, annuities, stocks, bonds, 401(k) plans, and IRAs (individual retirement accounts).

• Preventive counseling: A counselor talks with members about the importance of credit, about starting a budget or planning savings, how to balance a checkbook, how to buy a car, and how to read a credit report. This counselor is available anytime--6 a.m. out in the field, or late in the day in a gymnasium for six to 200 people.

• Remedial counseling: In this case a counselor may help a young couple or a marine or sailor start a budget or plan savings. This type of counseling comes into play at the other end of the spectrum, when they've gotten themselves into too much debt, as well.

At this point the counselor contacts creditors, asks them to waive or reduce the interest, and the marine or sailor starts direct deposit of pay to the credit union, says Craig Chamberlin, CEO for Marine Federal. The counselor makes prorated payments on members' bills until they're eventually paid off, at no additional cost to the member. Currently one of the credit union's counselors is paying the bills for about 100 members.

"If they've [the troops] become delinquent while they're away, we know we don't need to put any more pressure on them while they're gone, or on their families," says Chamberlin. "We don't file it in their credit report or anything of the sort. We establish that they're deployed Marines, we establish that they're probably single, and we just carry the delinquency on our books until they get back and we can make arrangements with them. They don't need a delinquent notice if they're dodging bullets in Iraq."

Online access

Many troops take advantage of credit union online services to keep checking balances current and to pay bills.

Marine Federal helps its members stay on top of their finances by providing electronic statements. If members sign up for e-statements, electronic bill payment services are free.

"We try to encourage young troops, if they have recurring bills like house payments or car payments that are the same every month, to set them up as recurring so they'll automatically be taken care of," Chamberlin says. "We try to provide them with as much information as possible through our Web site."

TIC Federal Credit Union
Columbus, Ga.

TIC Federal Credit Union, Columbus, Ga., offers its active duty military members an exclusive Iron Mike Account. Iron Mike benefits include a rewards checking account with no per-check charge; an Iron Mike membership card that allows service members and their families to receive special discounts at select area retailers; a program to help with saving, investing, and retirement planning; direct deposit; overdraft protection; free notary service; and a discounted safe deposit box.

The Iron Mike account also gives members access to a TIC Federal debit card and e-branch services. Most of the credit union's deployed members use e-services. "It's crucial to pay your bills and have access to your money when you're away," says Wanda Rutledge, TIC Federal's community relations vice president. "We offer this service to our military folks so that wherever they go they're able to transact their business.

"We're tying to deepen our relationships with all of our members," Rutledge adds. "If they use one service with the credit union, we want them to use two; if they use two services, we want them to use three."

The credit union tries to head off problems before troops are deployed by offering one-on-one counseling to make sure members who have loans have allotments in place to make payments while they're gone. If they have checking accounts, the credit union makes sure they have direct deposit and they have access to e-branching--Internet bill pay and a debit card.

Community outreach
To let them know they're thinking about them, the credit union employees send goody boxes to deployed family members of credit union staff. TIC also has been involved in the community's "We Care Project," in which the community adopted an entire military unit and each TIC employee supplied personal hygiene items for deployed individuals.

Service Credit Union
Portsmouth, N.H.

"Beginning to save can seem impossible when your paycheck barely covers your living expenses," says Gordon Simmons, president and CEO of Service Credit Union, Portsmouth, N.H. "That's why our credit union makes special services available that help moderate-income members work toward a goal of financial freedom. Two special programs that reduce rates on loans and increase rates on savings can help make this happen."

• The STAR Program is a special collection of unique services available exclusively to military enlisted members whose base pay doesn't exceed $2,175 per month, or to civilian members whose annual gross income is $40,000 or less.

• The Warrior Reward Program is available to military members who are assigned to combat or war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, or to peacekeeping operations such as Bosnia, Kosovo, or other hostile environments. The program also is available to members who have returned from combat or peacekeeping operations within the past 120 days.
  "They don't need a delinquent notice if they're dodging bullets in Iraq."

Here's how the programs work: Say the credit union interest rate on auto loans (new and used rates are the same) is 5.7%. If you're in the STAR Program your rate would be 5.2%; if you're in the Warrior Program your rate would be 4.7%. If you financed $20,000 over five years, as a STAR member, you'd save about $276 in interest over the life of the loan. As a Warrior member you'd save almost $551 over the life of the loan.

Both programs offer reduced interest rates on other loan types and higher rates on savings products as well.

Other credit union special products and services include:

• Early payday checking for members who have direct deposit. The credit union credits the direct deposit to members' accounts two days before payday. Funds are ready for troops to use immediately. This takes the troops out of the lines that occur on payday at the commissary, BX (base exchange), or wherever they go to shop--saving them stress and headaches.

• Early payday loans to help military members with cash-flow problems. They consist of a maximum loan of $500 paid back within 30 days. This is a great alternative to getting loans from payday lenders--which are very prevalent near military bases. At most payday lenders you'll pay interest ranging between 300% to 1,000% APR (annual percentage rate) on up.

• Emergency loans for individuals referred to the credit union by their First Sergeant or by agencies such as Army Community Services (ACS) or the American Red Cross. If there's an emergency such as a family member passing away, near death, or some pressing financial commitment, the credit union grants military members loans up to $1,000--sometimes more, depending on the circumstances.

  "We don't run credit checks and don't subject them to lengthy interviews," Simmons says. "We realize that these troops have been referred to us for help. These are people who are in need--they need to take care of their problems as quickly as possible and we don't need to add to their burden. We just simply grant those loans and get them on their way."

  "We're tying to deepen our relationships with all of our members."

Shared branching

"We're able to serve not just our members, but other credit union members whose credit unions are members of shared branching," Simmons says. "Our members are served at other credit union locations as well. There are about 2,100 branch locations worldwide and 18,000 surcharge-free ATMs (automated teller machines) that have opened up because of our shared-branching relationship."

Financial education

"We're deeply involved in community financial education--stateside and overseas," Simmons says. "We have developed education lesson plans and conduct financial education training at ACS and Family Services Centers."

Courses are offered stateside and overseas in classrooms and over the Internet and include topics such as auto buying, checkbook management, and budgeting for debt-free living. The credit union's community financial education manager and the vice president of member services develop the lesson plans, provide the training, and run the teleconferences.

"To say that defense credit unions have fulfilled their role (on the military base) would be a gross understatement," says the Defense Council's Arteaga. "Military credit unions always, and will always, go over and beyond the call of duty to ensure those serving our country are provided every opportunity to maintain a high state of financial readiness.

"Our troops deserve the best, and we provide the best. 'Serving those who serve our country' are not mere words. They are a way of life ... a philosophy ... a tradition."

Published May 15, 2006