Personal Finance

Sun Trust Bank Pleased So Far SunTrust Bank Address: 303 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308 Details: Through the power of ...

Sun Trust Bank Pleased So Far SunTrust Bank Address: 303 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308 Details: Through the power of ...

Community America Credit Union is a “member owned” credit union. The ads I heard on the radio when I was shopping for a local bank stated that this means they pay out dividends on a monthly basis rather than quarterly. I’ve always had good service from credit unions, so I decided to look into it.

Are you a Community American?

Most credit unions have strict membership rules. You have to be employed by a certain group/company or you have to live in a certain area or you have to be of a certain profession or some other such nonsense. Granted, there are some restrictions for joining this credit union, but these are fairly easy to meet.

Any resident of the state of Kansas is eligible to join. Also the counties of Clay, Jackson, Platte and St.Charles, Missouri residents are welcome. That’s a lot of places, but the range is still larger than that. Certain zip codes in the St. Louis, MO area are also accepted as well as employees of more than 200 major companies in the states of Kansas and Missouri. The last method is to have a qualifying family member. This will also qualify you for membership.

Membership has it’s privileges.

There are many different services offered to the customer here. Sure, there’s the standard stuff, checking, savings, safe deposit boxes, etc. But there is also investment plans, loans, programs for the kids, and several other things taht are nice to have around.

Checking

Checking, of course, is one of the things that most people want or need from a bank. Those pesky things taht we all deal with on an almost daily basis, called bills, generaly won’t accept cash as payment. They want a check or money order. Money orders cost, so most of us use checks. CACU has three different types of checking accounts.

The first one is Free Checking. There is no minimum balance requirements for this. There are also no monthly fees. This is the standard checking account. With it you get free identity theft protection (up to $5,000), overdraft protection transfers ($3 charge for transferring the balance from your savings PER transfer), direct deposit, free online bill pay, free notary service and a free debit/ATM card. There’s a bunch of “free in that, but there is also no interest earned on this account.

The second one is called Interest Checking. This one earns a “competative” monthly interest, currently 0.40%, but requires a minimum daily balance of $1,000 or more to avoid a service fee. It has all the perks of the Free Checking with the Identity Theft increase to $10,000.

The third one is the Premier Checking account. This one offers a 0.60% interest rate with no monthly service fees if a daily balance of $20,000 is maintained. It also adds a few other perks, such as free traveler’s checks, free safe deposit box, free unlimited boxes of checks and free money orders (normally $1.50 each).

Savings

There are also several types of savings programs available. The Share Savings is the basic one that every member will have. it earns a 0.85 to 2.00 monthly interest (the website says daily, but if that is true, it is only applied into the account at the end of each month). Funds can be added or withdrawn without penalty at any time.

Saving for that trip to Hawaii? The Special-Purpose Savings is an interesting account. With this, you set the amount you are trying to get to, and CACU will help you get there. It has a flat rate of 0.85% but otherwise operates exactly the same as the Share Savings with one minor change. It allows you to establish a payroll deduction from your regular deposits that will automaticly go to this account.

Christmas shopping get you in a bind each year? Start up a Holiday Savings plan that will help ease the pain a little. This works exactly the same as the Special-Purpose account program.

Got alot of excess savings that you want to do more for you? Then the Delta Package Share Savings is for you. With this account, you earn a huge 6% interest (no, I didn’t misplace the period) for the first $1,500 in the account and then the standard 0.85% for funds above that amount. To qualify for this account, you must have Savings, Checking and a Community America credit card (all in good standing).

Want your kids to learn about saving and investing? Sign them up for the Cash n’ Coins Club. They get their own savings account, money bags to collect their savings in (cute little coin banks that look like socks), newletters, birthday cards and free coin counting service. All this and the regular interest rates as adults get.

The big type of savings plan is, of course, the Certificate of Deposit. These can be established with as little as $500 for terms of 3 months to five years. Interest rates range from 2.5% to 4.0%, depending upon the program you pick. Of course, early withdrawl has penalties.

Investment and Retirement

Retirement is somethign that everyone looks forward to. Those days of lazy away the time without having to worry about the bills. Sad to say, very few people are able to achieve that level of finacial freedom, but CACU is here to help you make it.

There are six different types of IRAs available, to include one that can be used to pay for your children’s higher education. All while protecting your hard earned savings from Uncle Sam.

CACU’s investment advisors can also help you establish a high yeild, smart, investment program. These advisors are free of charge and CACU regularly holds siminars about making smart investments.

Internet Friendly

CACU has the full range of internet banking services. You can pay all your bills, establish automatic transfers to other banks, transfer funds from one account to another, see all the things that are going on with your money, all for free.

There is an ATM locator and office finder to help you find the nearest branch. Also, detailed information about all the services can be found here. Got questions? Call in to the office or drop them a note using the secure mail server.

In the Office

I can’t speak for all of the areas that CACU services, but I know taht there are around 30 branches in the KC area. Some of these have regular banking hours (9AM-5PM), some have extended drive thru hours (as late as 6:30PM) and some are in food stores that are open seven days a week and as late as 7PM on certain days.

There are also a large number of free ATMs around, although I never use ATMs at all. Why bother when I can pay for almost anything using my debit card? If I need cash, I generally know about it far enough in advance to make a trip to the bank and get it, the local branch is close enough to me.

I have been a member of CACU for over four years now. They stuck by me when I was working on the road and gave me the support I needed to take care of all my banking and finance needs. I was able to establish a reliable savings program that kept me afloat when times got tough and I have always gotten great personal service from them when I need to go into the office. I have no complaints.

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