The work we do with credit unions allows them to make real differences in the lives of their members and communities. This could be through CDFI certification or grant funding, assisting with business plans, product design, partnership creation or any of our other many services. And as part of this work, we get to hear the wonderful member impact stories that illustrate what credit unions are doing to unlock opportunities in the communities they serve. We will be highlighting some of these stories here.
This story is about a long-time Financial Partners Credit Union member who had recently applied for a new auto loan. This member had a great payment history, but wasn't approved for his requested loan amount due to his elevated debt-to-income ratio.
In reviewing his credit report and discussing the response to his loan application, the credit union representative noticed that this member was paying over $600.00 per month in minimum payments to high interest credit cards. The rep learned this debt was a result of his spouse’s costly medical procedure.
The member expressed that having such high credit card balances was especially frustrating because he couldn’t get his balance down — even though he was making all of his payments on time, and even making additional payments on top of the minimum. He felt stuck with this debt.
Financial Partners was able to restore this member’s peace of mind and improve his financial state with a debt consolidation loan. He’s now on the road to get out of debt faster with a single monthly payment that improves his cash flow by almost $200 a month, and in the long run he’ll save thousands in interest.
So the member was able to start reducing his total debt and lower his debt-to-income ratio. Once he did that, the credit union was even able to approve his auto loan for the full amount requested.
CDFI Certified credit unions have countless stories like these to share; we’re proud to highlight a few from our clients.