Holiday Cash

Cut & Paste Impromptu trips to the grocery store Grocery lists and coupons The kids are back to school, but here’s a homework assignment that can save you bundles! Take a look at this Cut & Paste checklist for ways to cut your family’s expenses without sacrificing too much. Tips in red boxes are ways your Allegis Credit Union membership can help save you money! less at home. Also, start taking your lunch to work. Eating out everyday is expensive and if you plan ahead, you can save around $50 a week by taking your own lunch. Cable Library Eliminating cable TV can easily save $50 a month. That is enough to fill the gas tank, pay the electric bill or buy groceries. But what will your family do at night? You can go to the local library and get more than just books! Borrow DVDs of movies or TV shows, CDs, magazines, cookbooks, and more! And many libraries work cooperatively with other libraries in the area so you have even more options. Bounced checks Overdraft protection With an Allegis Credit Union checking account, there are many ways to avoid bouncing a check. First, we can link your savings account to your checking account so that when you are short on funds, it transfers money from there first. An overdraft line of credit is also available. You’re responsible only for paying the interest on any credit you use, and you can avoid that by using the money in your savings account as your backup. Bottled water Use a faucet filter If you buy bottled water all the time, consider investing in a filter that connects directly to your faucet. Filling your water bottles with filtered tap water will save you a ton of money in the long run. Paying bills by snail mail Allegis CU*Easy Pay The average household receives about 15 bills a month. With stamps now at 44 cents each, you spend about $79 a year just on postage―and don’t forget the late fees if your checks get lost in the mail. Save time and money by signing up for online bill pay when you log into online banking. You can log in to make your payments each month or schedule your payments in advance. Save time paying all of your bills in one place! Take some time to plan your meals out for the week and create a grocery list. This will help you cut down on unnecessary random purchases that you didn’t budget for, and it will teach you how to be disciplined with your money. Look at sales fliers, clip coupons, and even go online to find coupons for the items you need. Making only the minimum payment on credit cards An Allegis VISA With an Allegis VISA, you can transfer your balance from your other high interest credit cards and pay them off faster. We start by paying you 1% of your balance. Then we offer a low, fixed rate to help you get that credit card paid down, saving you a lot of interest over time. Consolidate your credit card debt to your Allegis VISA and then try to pay more than the minimum each month. Having home phone and multiple cell phones Basic phone service Eliminate the bells and whistles -- texting, data service, ringtones, music, voice mail, caller ID -- from home and cell phone services to save $20 to $100 per month. If you can, keep one cell phone only for emergencies and share it among family members. Choose a pay-as-you-go plan to save more. Buying everything new Repairing broken items or buying used Think before you replace something. If an appliance, accessory or other household item breaks, try to repair it before you replace it. Also, consider buying things used. Eating out Making food at home With a little preparedness, this change can be fun for your family. Include the kids in meal preparation to spend quality time together. You can make a dinner that would have cost a fortune in a restaurant for much President’s Report Fee Changes Easy e-Statements PagE Two Events allegis Recognized for Member Service Member Rewards Locations Congratulations Tim PagE ThREE Quick Reads PagE FouR When it comes to cutting expenses and changing your lifestyle to save money, every little bit helps. It may not be easy, but you may find some additional peace of mind -- and that can be priceless! Fall 2009 www.AllegisCU.com Holiday Cash you need! We’ve got the The holiday season is just around the corner and soon we’ll be offering our Holiday Loan & Holiday Skip-A-Pay program! Holiday Loan: Our low interest, 12-month fixed-term Holiday Loan can help you pay for your holiday purchases. Call or visit www.AllegisCU.com in November and December to find out rate information. VISA Credit Card: Take your Allegis VISA shopping with you and enjoy a low, fixed rate. Don’t have an Allegis VISA? Call, stop in, or go online to apply today! Skip-A-Pay: Skip your December loan payment! This offer is only good for consumer loans in good standing that were made prior to June 1, 2009. All mortgage and home equity loans, VISA, and lines of credit are not eligible. Go to www.AllegisCU.com for details and to download the Skip-A-Pay coupon. We’re ready to help you get the cash you need for the upcoming holiday season! Member Notice: Fee Changes You may have heard a lot recently about legislation, termed the Credit Card Act, which will change the way financial institutions’ credit card programs work. These changes will have little effect on your credit union, as we have always had your best interest in mind. Our credit card rates have been the same for years and an Allegis VISA is a great choice to have the convenience of a credit card without wondering if you are getting a good deal. One immediate change the Credit Card Act called for was more notice to pay monthly bills, so you will now get your VISA statement earlier, but your due date will not change. We did make a change to some of our loan due dates at the end of August. Openend loans are included in the Credit Card Act, so all open-end loan due dates were moved to the 30th of the month (February due date is the last day of the month) to give you time to make your payment after receiving your account statement. Please note that if you were already having your loan payment made automatically by either ACH or automatic transfer, you do not need to make any changes—it will continue to be made on the same day it has always been. The Credit Card Act targets irresponsible practices made by other credit card companies and banks such as soaring fees and sudden rate increases. Some safeguards that will go into place next year to benefit all credit card holders are: • The same due date each month • Clearer minimum payment requirements • Over-limit restrictions • Restrictions on increasing interest rates on existing balances • Advance notice before rates can be increased on future balances • Restriction on rates increasing during the first year an account is open If you have any questions, please just ask us and we will be happy to help. Thank you for your continued membership! Please note the following changes to the Allegis Credit Union Fee Schedule, effective November 1, 2009. You can always find an up-to-date fee schedule online at www.AllegisCU.com. NSF Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29.00 Per item for NSFs on Checks, ACH, Bill Pay, or Courtesy Pay Stop Payment Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29.00 For stop payments on checks or ACH ATM/Debit Card Replacement Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00 Fee waived for damaged or stolen cards SelectCheck55 Low Balance Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.00 Charged when balance falls below $500.00 Account Maintenance Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.00 Only applies to members 22 years and older who have less than $500.00 combined savings and checking balances during any day of the given month or have no active lending relationship with Allegis Credit Union. Your Member Rewards level may make your account exempt from this fee. Phone Operator Assisted Transfer Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.00 You may be charged less based on your Member Rewards level. Excessive non-checking electronic withdrawal fee (Federal Regulation D). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.00 Fee applied after the sixth electronic withdrawal transaction per non-checking suffix. VISA Gift Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.00 Foreign ATM Withdrawals, Balance Transfers, or Inquiries . . . . . . . . . . $2.00 Foreign ATMs are any ATM outside of the Co-op Network. First two of each are free each month. You may get more based on your Member Rewards level. What is Regulation D? Regulation D limits electronic withdrawals on non-transaction accounts to six per month. A nontransaction account includes: Shares, Money Market and the Vacation Accounts. The types of electronic withdrawal transactions that are limited on nontransaction accounts are CU*Talk or Online Banking transfers, ACH withdrawals, and automatic transfers for overdraft purposes. eSTATEMENTS ARE SO eASY TO USE Free online banking with e-Statements help to save the environment, clear up some space in your filing cabinet, and reduce your risk of mail fraud. E-Statements have all the same information as paper statements, but with a handy analysis tool that lets you look at transaction types all together. They are securely stored in your online banking account. E-Statements are better than paper statements in so many ways! • onvenience—Statements can be accessed anytime, anywhere you can log into your online banking account C • Statement Records—Your e-Statements will be archived for 13 months • Security—Avoid having your information stolen from your mailbox or delivered to the wrong mailbox • Printing or Saving—You can print your statement or save it on your computer • Control—You can opt out and have your paper statements mailed to you E-Statements at Allegis Credit Union means there’s no more waiting for your statements to arrive by mail. Sign up for e-Statements today—a fast, convenient, and reliable way to receive your Allegis CU account information! Haven’t had time to sign up for e-Statements? Don’t worry! Starting with your October statement, online banking users will be automatically enrolled in e-Statements! TIP To make changes to your e-Statement enrollment status, simply log in to your account in online banking, click on Preferences, then on e-Statement Options. Community Corner • People Helping People Mark your calendars and join us for these great events! 10 MAking StrideS CAnCer wAlk AgAinSt BreASt Saturday, October 10 at 7:30 a.m. Registration starts s 8:30 a.m. and the walk begin val Site, Arcadia Festi oo Downtown Kalamaz to fundraise and If you would like is Treasure walk with the Alleg ntact Tif fany or Chests, please co azoo of fice. Deana in our Kalam 13 t SeMinAr ColdwAter retireMen Sponsored by Pat Gilber t of Registered Representative ial Corporation INVEST Financ s Credit Union Financial Advisor for Allegi Tuesday, October 13 en Martell’s Tavern on the Gre . Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Lunch: 12:30 p.m Seating is limited. to RSVP. Please call (517) 278-6579 21 Mp zoo ey C A Mon the Kalama s y Union ore d b Spons er of Credit ask Force Chapt wareness T r 21 ial A to b e Financ nesday, Oc m. Wed 0 -8 :30 p. 5:3 om lassro zoo K AR C rk, Kalama ails. G d et e Pa r r o m fo Ventu 5830 AllegisCU.c . se call . ww P . Pl ea See w mited 24 4 to RSV li ting is 55, ext. S ea 4 372- 4 (269 ) M or e an d mor e p e ople ar e discovering what you already know-that they can choose to be a member of a credit union, where they can save more money and get better service than they might have at a bank. E v e r y y e a r, w e c e l e b r a t e International Credit Union Day, and you’re invited to be part of it. Join us on Thursday, October 15 for donuts and cider in the lobby all day. Member Rewards Revisions The Allegis Credit Union Member Rewards program has undergone some changes that will take effect on November 1, 2009. We will no longer offer the bonus on CD rates or the discount on installment loan rates for Gold and Platinum members. Some of the other changes will affect the number of foreign ATM withdrawals, transfers, and inquiries and also the fee for phone transfers. Please see the Member Rewards page at AllegisCU.com for details. You can also see the entire list of point values for all the ways you use your Allegis account. Check for ways to earn more points and grow your account. Allegis Credit Union nAmed top performer in member serviCe Allegis Credit Union ranked in the top 6% for “Return of the Member” in a study of similarly asset-sized credit unions nationwide by Callahan & Associates, a company that performs research on financial institutions. The study shows how Allegis measures up based on a rating of 16 different member service ratios. We are proud of this accomplishment and hope you enjoy the many ways Allegis goes above and beyond to serve our most important asset—YOU! LOCATION…LOCATION…LOCATION Congratulations Allegis Credit Union is part of the Co-op Network of ATMs and two shared CU Shared Branch branching networks, Service Centers and Xtend, that give you access to over 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs as well as 4,000 shared branches across the country. Whether you have moved or are just traveling, you can use these ATMs and branches to make loan payments, make deposits and withdrawals, transfer funds, and much more! For a complete list of ATM and shared branch locations, go to www.AllegisCU.com and click on any of these logos on the right-side menu. Tim! Did You Know…? Forget your password?. Online Banking Tips & Hints If you forget your online banking password, you don’t need to call the credit union to reset it. After you enter your account number or user name, you can click the “I forgot my password link.” Answer all three of your security questions and click Submit. You will be able to change your password on the next screen. We’re very serious about guarding your personal information. If you call and ask us to reset a password, we might require that you bring proof of your identity to a branch office. We don’t want someone pretending to be you to gain access to your accounts! Tim Willis has been promoted to the position of Branch Manager in the Kalamazoo office. Tim has been a Financial Services Officer with Allegis for over eight years. Many of you may know Tim— he may have even opened your account or helped you get a loan. Please join us in congratulating Tim! Deposit and loan rates effective September 23, 2009. All rates are subject to change weekly. Check www.AllegisCU.com for the most current rates. Kalamazoo 5713 Venture Park (269) 372-4455 fax (269) 372-4485 Are you Moving or going Somewhere warm For the winter? Please be sure to update your address information before you go! It is very important that we always have a current address where you can be reached! Just print and fill out the address change form at AllegisCU.com or log into your account online and change it in the Preferences section. Important note: The post office will not forward mail from Allegis Credit Union, even if you have forwarding information set up. Savings Rates Share Savings ...............................0.20% APY* Vacation Club ................................0.20% APY* Christmas Club ..............................0.20% APY* IRA Club.........................................1.05% APY* SelectCheck55 (Over $1,000) ........0.20% APY* *Annual Percentage Yield. The dividends listed above are determined and received at the end of each quarter. Coldwater 621 East Chicago Road (517) 278-6579 fax (517) 278-2012 Paw Paw 422 S. Kalamazoo Ave. (269) 655-0000 fax (269) 657-2616 Christmas Club reminder Don’t forget that your Christmas Club savings will transfer to your 000 savings at the end of October! If you don’t have a Christmas Club and would like one to save for your 2010 holiday expenses, just call 1-800797-3281 or open one in your online account at www.AllegisCU.com. We can even set up a payroll deduction from your direct deposit right into your Christmas Club! Money Market Savings $2,500-$14,999 .............................0.50% APY* $15,000-$49,999 ...........................0.75% APY* $50,000-$99,999 ...........................1.00% APY* Hours All Allegis Locations Lobby: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Drive Thru: Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Friday 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) & IRA CDs $1,000 minimum. Compounded monthly. Please call or go online for current rates. All funds federally insured by the NCUA. read your newsletter online You can always find this and older issues of the Member Connection newsletter online. Just go to www.AllegisCU.com and click on the Info Desk. Loan Rates Auto (New & Used) New Autos 5.29% 5.29% 5.29% n/a 6.29% Used Autos 5.29% 5.29% 5.29% 6.29% n/a Term 36 Months 48 Months 60 Months 66 Months 72 Months ViSA e-Statements Coming Soon Soon members with VISA will have the option of getting their VISA statement online! Watch the website for information on VISA e-Statements. Portage Credit Union Family Service Center 6286 S. Westnedge Ave. (Southland Mall) RV/Boat/Motorcycle 36 Months ...............................................8.49% 48 Months ...............................................8.49% 60 Months ...............................................8.49% 61-120 Months ........................................8.99% e-notices let you know now! Did you know you can receive the paper notices you get in the mail faster with e-Notices? When things happen on your account, such as an overdraft, e-Notices go right to your Message Center in online banking. You can even get an email telling you an e-Notice was sent! E-Notices, along with e-Alerts, can help you keep on top of your account activity, such as ACH deposits and withdrawals, low balances, and overdrafts. It can also help you protect yourself from Identity Theft because you will be notified of activity that you may not have authorized. Just log in to online banking, click My Messages, then e-Alert Subscriptions. Starting in November, online banking users will be automatically enrolled in e-Notices! Log in to add your email address to your e-Notice subscription. Hours (Lobby only) Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Basic transactions only at this location. HomeLine Home Equity Rate adjusted quarterly based on the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate. Please call or check www.AllegisCU.com for the most current rate. VISA Credit Card (no annual fee) Platinum ..................................................8.99% Classic ...................................................13.92% Home Mortgage Rates Call our mortgage specialist, Terri Loud, at extension 240 for current rate information. All loans stated by Annual Percentage Rate. Subject to approval. Actual rate based on credit history. Equal Housing Lender. Holiday Closings Columbus Day – Monday, October 12 (for employee in-service) Thanksgiving – Thursday & Friday, November 26 & 27 Christmas Eve – Thursday, December 24 at 1:00 p.m. Christmas – Friday, December 25 New Year’s Eve – Thursday, December 31 at 1:00 p.m. New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1 Your Volunteer Board of Directors Scott Carter, Chair Tim Hoyle, Vice-Chair Dana Slocum, Treasurer Deborah Jager, Secretary Gil Guzman, Director Rod Olney, Director Richard Atwell, Director www.AllegisCU.com Visit us on the web for other shared branch locations. It’s Me 247 Online Banking Your personal Internet branch (PIB). CU*Talk 1-866-267-4722 Toll-Free 1-800-797-3281 www.AllegisCU.com Your savings federally insured to at least $100,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Equal Housing Lender.