How to Get a Loan

Most financial institutions across the nation will have a baseline of requirements, from examination of your credit report to seeking a detailed history of your employment, income and other debts. Beware of those that do not, such as payday lenders, who may charge extremely high interest rates with unreasonable terms. Working with a credit union means you are working with a team of local professionals who care about your financial health and that of the community. In summary, obtaining a loan from a bank vs. a credit union is likely a similar experience, but you reap more feel-good benefits when you work with a credit union.

As with many questions related to credit union personal loans, it depends largely on the type of loan you are seeking. Other than exploring our different loans on our website, we suggest you give our local lending team a call to see what options are available for your needs.

As detailed above, the eight steps to asking for a credit union loan are follows:

1. Determine loan needs
2. Check your credit score
3. Compare loan types
4. Decide whether a credit union is right for you
5. Can you meet the credit union membership requirements (not necessary for application, but for moving forward with the loan)
6. Gather pertinent documents
7. Call or apply online
8. Work with a consultant for guidance on next steps

While there is no set credit score to obtain a loan, generally speaking a score of 600 or higher is the minimum needed to borrow money from a reputable lender. Of course, the higher the credit score, the better your chances of getting a loan at a better rate.

The answer to this is a matter of opinion, but we humbly suggest that working with a locally-based community organization that puts its members first is a far superior experience to the alternative, which is to work with a corporation that answers to shareholders. In general, the interest rates and terms you find at a credit union are favorably comparable to what you will find at a traditional bank.