FSU Credit Union
FSU Credit Union
There is a place where only Seminoles can go to bank the Florida State University Credit Union, a not-for-profit financial institution for members of the FSU community.
According to the vision statement on an FSU Credit Union brochure, “Florida State University Credit Union will strive to create a sense of community where the common and individual financial needs of each member-owner are uniquely met at a level of quality no other entity can achieve.”
According to the same brochure, these member-owners can include FSU students, faculty, staff, alumni, boosters, companies that conduct business with FSU, family of existing FSU Credit Union members and residents and staff of Edenbrook Senior Living Services.
“Anyone that is a student, faculty, staff (or) alumni (and) anyone that has something to do with the University can join,” said Harmony Nagy, the marketing director of the FSU Credit Union.
According the Nagy, the Credit Union currently has over 10,000 members nationally. People can join the credit union by picking up an application at one of the FSU Credit Union branches or by accessing the application online. These members can access the Credit Union’s services online and also at the same branches. There are 2,000 FSU Credit Union branches nationwide and 11 located in Tallahassee.
According to Nagy, the FSU Credit Union offers the typical banking services like checking, savings, credit cards, loans and mortgages, in addition to other benefits.
For students, Nagy said, the Credit Union offers an account that is not only free, but also earns money for students.
“We’ll pay FSU students to have their account with us up to $5 a month,” explained Nagy.
According to Nagy, the Credit Union also offers student credit cards that they can apply for and receive without having any previous credit established, providing that interested students don’t already have bad credit. These credit cards begin at a $500 amount for freshmen. That amount increases incrementally by $500 with each year so that by the time a student graduates, he or she will have a $2,000 credit card.
Nagy also explained their not-for-profit status allows the FSU Credit Union to provide their members with other benefits.
“Since we’re not-for-profit, we have lower rates on our loans and higher interest on our savings accounts,” said Nagy.
According to Nagy, one goal of the FSU Credit Union is to focus on helping people learn about finances and banking in a way that can help them.
“(The FSU Credit Union) is important because we have a big focus on education,” said Nagy.
The Credit Union often hosts seminars that educate people on aspects of finance like the meaning of credit scores and how having a credit card might help or hurt a person’s credit.
“We really walk people through,” said Nagy. “We hope that once they join, they’ll stay with us for life, and we can teach them to make wise financial decisions in each stage of their life.”
Comments
Leave a Reply