You swipe your debit card and it appears: Credit or debit. Which one should you pick? With three people stacked up behind you in line, impatiently waiting, you can feel your heart beat a little bit faster. You choose an option and, instantly, the pressure is gone.

But did you make the right choice?

This scenario is all too familiar. Before I worked at Linn Area Credit Union, I honestly thought pressing the credit button over the debit button was exactly the same, with the exception of having to put in my PIN for the latter choice.

I’m here to help explain why choosing “credit” is good for YOU and for us!

First, a little background. Every time you swipe your debit card, there is a small fee that is generated called the Interchange Fee. When you press “credit,” this fee goes back to people who issue the card; when you press “debit,” that fee goes to the retailer.

What this means to you is every single time you use your Linn Area Credit Union debit card and press “credit” to sign that receipt, we receive the fee (yay!). In turn, we’re able to return it back to YOU through lower rates and fees (yippee skippy!). Pretty cool, right?

So what happens if you press “debit”? Well, the retailer that you are shopping at gets the Interchange Fee. Is that a benefit to you? Nope.

So, remember – press “credit,” SWIPE your card, and then SIGN your John Hancock.

Another misconception I had was that “credit” suggested I was using a credit card. Nope, not at all. Your credit card, if you have one, is not linked to the money in your checking account.

So next time you’re out at the store and you are faced with “credit” or “debit” debacle, be sure to SWIPE

and SIGN. (Another trick to remember: Give your CREDIT Union some CREDIT.)

Sound off in the comments: With the ease of purchasing with debit cards, do you ever write checks when you’re out and about?

When did you join our family tree?? Let us know and it could be worth $250 to ya!

The addition of the new Facebook Timeline has caused us to reminisce on our Linn Area past. We would love to see how our family has grown since we first began waaaaay back in 1935! (Click here to check out our Timeline!)

We thought it would be fun to hear YOUR stories and see some pictures of our extended family. Each entry will be put into a drawing. The winner of that drawing will receive $250!

How to Enter

To enter, email the following four items to me (Tara) at tbross@linnareacu.org:

1. The year you became a member (you can estimate, if you can’t remember back that far!),
2. a couple sentences talking about why you joined, what you like about Linn Area Credit Union or even share your favorite Linn Area experience,
3. one picture of you or your family and
4. your contact info (NOT your account number, please!) so we can let you know if you’ve won the $250!

The Rules

• All entries must be received by tbross@linnareacu.org no later than midnight on Monday, April 9th. The winner will be contacted on Tuesday, April 10th.

• One entry per household.

• Incomplete entries will not be eligible (see the four entry requirements above).

• Your entry must be emailed to tbross@linnareacu.org – no hard copies or other forms of entry will be accepted.

• All people that enter must live in Linn or surrounding counties.

• Linn Area Credit Union employees and their immediate families (spouses and children) are encouraged to participate, but are not eligible to win.

• No purchase necessary.

• By submitting an entry, you are giving permission for Linn Area Credit Union to use your name, picture and submission for promotional and advertising purposes, including but not limited to our website, our blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Questions? Just shoot me (Tara) an email at tbross@linnareacu.org. WE can’t wait to see all the members of our family tree!

Since we’re chatting about family trees, have you ever dug into your family history? How far back did you go? Tell us below in the comments!

OK, so you’ve got an iPhone and have signed up for our smartphone banking product, Mobile Money. It’s a great, easy to use service, but, dang it, you sure have to touch the screen a lot to get there! Here’s how to add a link right on your phone’s home screen:

1. Open the iPhone’s browser and navigate to the page you want. In this case it will be your unique URL for Mobile Money.

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2. Touch the Add icon on the bottom middle of the Safari screen. Depending on your phone’s iOS, it will either be a “+” sign like this   or a rectangle with an arrow coming out of it like this .

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3. Select “Add to Home Screen”.

5. Voila! There’s a new icon on your home screen that looks like this . Going forward all you have to do is touch it to go directly to Mobile Money.

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That was pretty painless, right? “But John, I don’t have Mobile Money!” Why not? It’s free and super-handy. Go here to learn more!

Any questions about the above – leave a comment or email me at jcollins@linnareacu.org. I’ll be happy to help.

To kick off the 2011-2012 NBA season, I thought I’d talk about my favorite player: Lebron James. 

I’m a huge basketball fan. When I was little, I used to be obsessed with Michael Jordan. I did everything I could to “Be Like Mike,” from mimicking his sweet moves on the court to attempting his signature tongue sticking out to the side on a layup. Genius.

He retired, I cried myself to sleep, life moved on.

And then Lebron James came into the picture. Phenom Lebron. King James. I was psyched about this guy and absolutely LOVE watching him play! 

Back in July of 2010, my man Lebron became a free agent and had a tough decision to make: 

1)       He could stay with his team in Cleveland (a team he had been with for 7 seasons) or

2)       He could sign with another team.

When you have been with a team for seven seasons, it’s hard to see yourself moving on. You build great relationships, comfort levels, and a solid team structure. Although he did not actually win any championships in Cleveland, he did come close. (In my opinion, Cleveland would have needed to pick up another key player to achieve “greatness”!)

After a flurry of media attention, which you would have had to be living under a rock to avoid, King James opted for a change of scenery and made the decision to join the Miami Heat. Now, I realize that the Heat didn’t get the championship rings this last season, but for a team that had to essentially start from scratch learning how to have 3 superstars, they did a great job. I think it’s pretty likely that they are going to take it all this season!

 You may ask yourself, why is Nick talking about this? 

The reason is because I think Lebron James made the right decision by moving to the Heat and making the move to Linn Area Credit Union might be the right decision for you. Sure, you may already be a member (heck yeah!), but perhaps you have an auto loan, your mortgage or even your credit cards elsewhere. You should seriously take a few minutes to chat with us to see if we could save you some money by moving those items over here! 

We at Linn Area take member service to the next level and will do all we can to WIN with you! (We just don’t recommend buying TV time to announce your decision live on air.)

Happy Halloween, all you Linn Area gouls and goblins! We hope that your day is going well and that you’re successfully dodging any black cats that try to cross your path.

Today is the final story from our real-life spooky credit card stories – and we’ve saved the best for last. So hold onto your knickers… this story is really going to make you cringe!

Victim: Dionn Pinckney

“My nightmare began March 2010. I had been with a card company for over 12 years. Most of the time, I paid my card off every month. This card was used quite alot for frequent flyer miles. In March I charged over 1000.00 for airline tickets to attend my aunt’s funeral. Because of bad weather, the airline cancelled our flight. With the new regulations the government put in place in Feb., this affected my card. My interest rate was 4.5% before the new rules.  Then it went to 17%.

For 2 months, I kept getting this huge interest charge.  I called the card company and they told me I had to pay my credit card off 2 months in a row in order not to be charged this rate. My interest was so large, because it was acruing daily.

I was shocked and very upset. I couldn’t pay it off, because of the credit from the airline. The next month when I received the credit, I paid the balance, cancelled the card, lost my flyer miles, and demanded they send me my .13 credit. I also told them they were backstabbing good customers, and will never come back. Linn Area is now the card for this family.”

*shuddering*  Uhhh!!!! That story gives me the heebie-jeebies! Well, except for the part when Dionn found Linn Area’c credit card. That part fills me with warm fuzzies!

When people think of “refinance,” 9 times out of 10 they immediately associate the word with refinancing a home. But did you know that you can actually refinance other things – like auto loans! YES! Many people think that if they have an auto loan, they are stuck with that same loan until the term is up. Well I have some good news for you – you’re not! 

Because most people aren’t familiar with the idea of refinancing an auto loan, I wanted to take out some of the mystery for you! As a financial counselor, here are some frequently asked questions I get about the process: 

Q: If I have my vehicle loan at another credit union or bank, do I have to call them to say that I’m moving my loan over to you guys?

A: You do not have to let the other institution know about the refinance. We will send them a check to pay it off (a.ka. a payoff) with a form that will allow them to transfer the title to us. 

Q: What do I need to bring with me in order to refinance my vehicle?

A: We need the VIN# (which you can find on your registration) and a 10 day loan balance payoff from the current financial. It also isn’t a bad idea to bring in the original purchase agreement when you bought it.

Q: How do I get a 10 day payoff?

A: You need to call your financial institution and they will give that to you over the phone. We’d do it for you, but they don’t always give us the payoff without the member’s consent. What some people like to do is make the call while they are in the office with us and we can help facilitate the whole she-bang. 

Q: How long does this usually take?

A: If you are an existing member, you are about 20 to30 minutes away from saving money. 

Q: What if I’m not an existing Linn Area member? Do I need to open an account?

A: Yes, you do need a five dollar savings account at Linn Area Credit Union. This will provide you with a membership to the credit union and we can start saving you money right away! 

Rates are super low right now and if you are looking for ways to cut corners or save a little cash each month, now is the time to capitalize. (In fact, you can bring any loan over to Linn Area and we can see how much we can save you!) It is a very painless process and, hey, if you are able to save money,  it’s a win-win situation!

Just give us a ring-a-ding at 378-0101 x4 or pop into any of our locations. We look forward to helping you!

Losing your mobile phone is more than a pain in the patootie, it can be almost paralyzing. (Who memorizes phone numbers anymore, for Pete’s sake?!) Think of everything you have on there: contacts, pictures, calendar/reminders, saved logins, your current level of Angry Birds… and possibly access to your bank account information. 

This infographic is awesome. It talks about common yet lousy places to leave/forget/lose your phone and offers come great preventative measures for you to put in place now should it ever happen to you. 

Mobile banking is incredibly convenient and we’d love all of our members to check it out because it puts all of your account information at your fingertips and you can do transactions anywhere. (Seriously, it’s free and quite fabulous.) What’s more, it’s very secure and you have to enter your password each time you log in. Even if your phone falls into evil hands, they can’t get into your account information. 

Maybe this would be a good time to look into backing up the information on your phone or updating your old-fashioned address book. What would you do if your phone fell in the bathtub tomorrow?

The other day I was walking out of the house with my husband and noticed that his work shoes look really worn out. He wears the exact same pair everyday and has for about 3 years. No wonder he looks in the closet and cannot understand why I have 30 pairs of shoes in there. Well, honey,  I need red shoes for this outfit, white ones for that outfit and multiple black pairs, depending on what I am in the mood to wear.

So I say to my husband, “Maybe it’s time to buy a new pair, you kind of look like a homeless person.” He just responds with, “They are fine.” Keep in mind my husband is an engineer (the bread winner, if you will) and we have no children. We can afford for him to buy new shoes! So I made him go shopping with me after work and we bought the same exact pair in 2 colors. He thought it was a bit excessive where as I thought it was very necessary. We are obviously opposites when it comes to spending. 

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Why do we do this to ourselves?

In my experience, I find “opposites attract” to work in our favor. It is important to be able to live functionally with your partner. If I was married to another spender who was as impulsive as I am, I am pretty sure we would run our finances into the ground within a year.

The argument is often made that couples with differing opinions have more conflict. But I believe if I was with another spender there would be a lot of stress that leads to conflict because of debt. I’m the kind of person who is already picking out my next car when I just got a new one 6 months ago. My husband only stopped driving his car from college because I traded it in for my new one! His contentment with not upgrading everything and buying everything right when we want it is attractive to me.

There have been studies that show that the logic behind “opposites attract” is that people look for things in others that they do not like in themselves, consciously or unconsciously. I found it frustrating in the beginning but we found a middle ground and are moving in the right direction. We are living “functionally.” I can still have fun and be somewhat impulsive but within reason. And my husband doesn’t guilt me about my spending as long as I have put some consideration to what I am buying and again, it is within reason.

I have found that conversations about big purchases make everyone more comfortable in the long run. My husband would be bored out of his mind, and probably sleeping on a futon, if it wasn’t for me and I think he appreciates our king size bed, even if he doesn’t say it. 

Here are a few tips to help those opposite couples out there:

• The saver needs to feel somewhat comfortable with the spending because stressing them out is unfair to them. Have a discussion to find out where that comfort level is. Is it just having more coming in than going out? Or is it that they want a million dollars in the bank in 10 years? Can the spender live with this?
• The saver also needs to get back to enjoying the impulsiveness and fun-loving person they married. Remember WHY you marred them.
• The spender needs to prioritize. Taking a trip to Italy? Buying a 60 inch TV? Or buying an iPad? Prioritizing allows the spender something to look forward to, knowing they cannot have all of those things at one time.
• Let the saver take care of the money. I bet the saver will save up for the iPad a lot faster than the spender because the spender will probably think Starbucks sounds good or that new xBox game looks fun!

Embrace each other’s differences and allow there to be some balance so you aren’t living happily ever after in a cardboard box.

 Are you the saver or the spender in your relationship? Let us know in the comments below!

We’ve all seen the commercials – those payday loan places make it look really easy to get money FAST! But what’s the catch? What do the loans really involve? What are some of the benefits? What could I use instead? Well I am here to answer your queries. 

Every state has their own laws on payday loans including how much can be loaned and the cost. Or if they can even be offered (Fun fact: You cannot get a payday loan in New York). In Iowa, the loan term is 31 days, the max amount is $500 and it costs $15 for the first $100 and $10 on each $100 after.  The average APR on a payday loan is 400%!! 

To get a payday loan, you need to give the lender either a post dated check to be cashed or they get your bank account information to automatically withdraw money on an agreed upon date. It is suggested that you only borrow as much as you KNOW you can pay back with your next paycheck. High extra late fees are added if you do not pay it back on time. If you do not pay at all, you will be turned over to a collection agency, which is bad news bears for your credit. 

Some alternatives to a payday loan do exist. I suggest trying any of the following before looking into a payday loan: 

• Negotiate a payment plan with whoever you owe money to
• Charge it to a credit card (lower rates – find our cards here)
• Advance from employer
• Use overdraft protection offered by your financial (See our options here)
• Obtain a line of credit like a home equity loan (low rates – follow this link to read about ours)
• Borrow from your savings (use payroll deduction to automatically stash a little away each payday)
• Borrow from a relative
• Look into a signature loan
• Get a cash advance on your credit card 

I am not condemning payday loans. Sometimes the alternatives are just not an option and you need the money. Borrow what you need for necessity, take care of business, pay them back in a timely manner and be done with it. These are difficult economic times and that little extra help may be just what you need to get back on your feet. But do not depend on these loans. In the long run it will cost you more than any other form of a loan and you may get stuck in a hole you cannot get out of. 

A few benefits for payday loans:

• Usually no credit check
• Quick and easy to get
• Good in an emergency for quick cash
• May be cheaper than getting late fees or having your car being repossessed 

If you have to get a payday loan, make sure you find a reputable lender with low rates and fees. Paying them back should be your first priority when you get paid, and again, only borrow what you can afford to pay back when you get your paycheck. 

My best advice would be to have a savings built up (experts say try to have at least 2 months of living expenses in your savings) or have a credit card opened only for emergencies. Some things we cannot plan for, but we can plan for the unexpected!

Buying a home can be a very intimidating process for the experienced homeowner, so it’s only reasonable to say that for a first-time buyer it can be downright terrifying! 

It’s easy to get swallowed up by the terms and requirements of the mortgage world, things like escrows and rate locks, wondering why anyone would want to look at your college transcripts, being bamboozled by being told you don’t have enough debt (yes, there is such a thing) and all kinds of “little” details you would never even think of!

 I’ve gotten together with some of our most experienced mortgage originators (combined, these two have over 60 years in the biz!) to get some of their top tips for purchasing your first home!

Mr. Larry Potter (no relation to the wizard), the Director of Mortgage Lending at LACU, believes that planning and preparing is the key.  Start by speaking with a loan officer first to get pre-approved and go over the process to see what it will be like from start to finish.  They are able to estimate what it will actually cost you to purchase a home and what your eventual payment will be like.  Trust me, it adds up quick and you don’t want to be caught off guard when you find your perfect first home and realize it will be a $1,500/month payment!

Tom Wehmeyer is the Mortgage Loan Manager, and he truly is an expert at getting home loans approved!  If there’s a product or situation out there, odds are he’s dealt with it!  The man has more sayings (we call them Tom-isms) than you can count, but he is as wise as they come.  He’s a by-the-books kind of guy and can help you decide what is best for you by presenting the options.  He suggests a detailed conversation with a loan officer to discuss the details we will need to obtain and document to get you approved for a loan.  People are often surprised at the documentation they need to provide, things such as tax returns, utility bills, statements from landlords of your past 12 months payment history, etc.  Often times there are issues that can be easily cleared up, but there has to be knowledge that they are issues first and we can help identify what they might be!

His biggest recommendation is to determine your “threshold for pain”.  Don’t let a realtor or even a lender tell you what you can afford.  What you make in a month (gross income) divided by the debts reporting on your credit report (called a debt ratio) generally needs to be under 41% including the proposed payment on the new home.  The problem people run into is that they don’t consider that this ratio doesn’t account for vehicle insurance, groceries, entertainment expenses, car repairs, daycare costs or any of those “unpredictables”.  Your being comfortable with your payment is key, not just what the numbers say you should be able to afford.  We want to help you realize your dream and still be happy with your choice two, six or sixty months down the road.

So, if you’re thinking about a new home, now or in the future, give us a call, stop in or visit our website to set up an appointment with one of our very qualified loan officers first! Heck, you can even apply online! We’re here for you to help make that American Dream come true.