SF Fire Credit Union

Each year, the departments within the Credit Union compete for “bragging rights” for who can create the best, most creative pumpkin for Halloween.

This past Spring the Obama Administration passed legislation affecting issuers of credit cards which will come into effect in February 2010. The Act is designed to improve transparency on the part of issuers and introduce consumer protections that limit the ability of issuers to modify interest rates and fees on their credit cards whenever they wish.

While many understand the Credit Union business model of being a financial cooperative with the goal of returning as much value to members as possible – they might be surprised at the level of cooperation and partnerships that exist amongst Credit Unions to bring enhanced services to all 90 million members across the United States.

The CAR Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is a government program that helps consumers with a $3,500 or $4,500 rebate from the car dealer when they trade in their old vehicle and purchase or lease a new one.

The fundamental principal of any financial cooperative is that by pooling resources, everyone benefits. At SF Fire, our mission is to operate with efficiency and return as much of our earnings as possible to members in the form of affordable loan rates, lower fees and higher returns on deposits

More than 100 years ago, in a response to avoid being charged excessive costs on loans from lenders, the first laws were passed in Massachusetts recognizing the creation of member-owned credit unions. The idea caught on and helped the growth of the credit union movement across the country.

Recently, some credit card issuers have taken measures to turn credit cards into a burden by arbitrarily increasing rates and penalties or lowering limits. Here are four basic issues to examine closely when looking for, or using, a credit card.