NIH Federal Credit Union
Is This Your Business?1.0
1.0
Author: Kaitlyn Short
LAST UPDATED: May 10th, 2023
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Federal Credit Union serves the biomedical industry through affordable loans and banking options that save members time and money. In 1940, the NIH Federal Credit Union was created by the employees of the NIH. They currently have 43,000 members within the states of North Carolina, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia and West Virgina.
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The Good
- Loan rates
- Technology
Loan Rates
NIH Federal Credit Union rises to the top in one particular area, their loan rates, specifically automobile loans and personal/unsecured loans. NIH Federal has by far some of the lowest interest rates we have seen. The auto loans range from 1.49-2.24% when the average for most credit unions is anywhere around 2.75-4.5%. Their personal loans start at 5.99%, and we see most rates start at at least 10%. You are getting a killer deal with NIH Federal Credit Union.Technology
Another great thing about NIH Federal Credit Union is that they offer some of the best convenience factors for their customers. This including a mobile app, mobile check deposits and mobile wallet features. Many other credit unions are moving towards offering all of these options, but some are slower than others. NIH Federal is one to quickly offer these great options to their customers. Another great feature is that they offer the cards with chips implemented in them. It is also referred to as EMV technology, and the purpose is to help secure transactions. This will hopefully lessen the chances of fraudulent activity.The Bad
- Membership
- Account rates
- Locations and ATMs
- Initial deposit
Membership
Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible to become a member of NIH Federal Credit Union. Most members have to have specific affiliations with NIH, whether they are a direct employee or a family member of one. It is also limited to a handful of states including Maryland, North Carolina, Virgina and a couple more.Account Rates
Even though NIH Federal Credit Unions excels in loan interest rates, they definitely fall short when it comes to account interest rates. Customers won't see anything in return in their checking account which is almost unheard of! With savings accounts, NIH Federal only offer 0.02% APY on the money in the account. This is one of the lowest we have seen in the industry. A lot of customers hope to see some kind of earning when they decide to open an account with a new credit union. If this is one of your main interest, we highly suggest seeking out another credit union that offers at least triple the rates NIH Federal does.Locations and ATMs
One major setback to NIH Federal Credit union is that they have a very limited amount of locations and ATMs available to their customers. They only have 8 branches that customers can visit and only 5 ATMs. This equates to almost one to two branches and ATMs per state! This is not good because it does not give customers the easy access to a real person if they have questions on complicated issues. Some people even prefer to visit a branch than talk on the phone. For a federal credit union, we expected there to be more physical locations.Initial Deposit
In the case that someone is interested in opening a savings account with NIH Federal Credit Union, it requires $25 to start the account. When comparing this to other credit unions in the area, this is quite high. We find that a lot of credit unions will allow people to start accounts with only $1-5. This is another area NIH Federal could improve on.The Bottom Line
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Shandra Stringer West Palm Beach, FL
I originally applied for a personal checking account as a means of expanding my business accounts in the future.
They originally approved me for credit card of a $3,000 limit they asked for everything under the sun that went through underwriting. Originally, they asked for business tax returns, 2 previous years, and current balance sheets. Two days later they asked for personal tax returns. 2 days after that they claimed specific documents were missing from the tax returns both personal and business. I then reviewed email sent and specifically described which page of each document where they were located.
I asked the representative is this standard practice for credit card. Her response they need to verify my identity since they were getting an usual amount of credit request. I asked could she provide me a copy of the policy, she told me she could not and her wording in the email would have to suffice.
After a week, she finally came back to say underwriting is denying the credit card request.
Rather their reason where valid or not when they first pulled my credit they should have made that determination not 3 weeks later and asking for everything but my first born.
I would NEVER recommend this credit union to anyone.
Customer Service, Integrity, and Honesty is not the values that they practice.
4 years ago
Celeste Columbia, MD
I tried getting a personal loan from NIH FCU and believe me they were asking for too many paper work and I decided to try some other company and I got the exact loan faster and at a lower interest rate than NIH FCU. Secondly I made a credit card payment through my savings account and it’s 2 weeks and after speaking to three different customer service rep on three different occasion I am still getting the same answer that I am not the only one affected. They claim the exact day I made the payment they had a cliche in the system and they are still trying to fix it. My issue is, what is wrong in updating the affected members weekly or every few days just to give us the assurance that you are actually doing something about it and not leaving us in the dark. Once this is sorted out I am closing my account with them and closing my credit card also. I will stick to one credit card.
4 years ago
Review Source
Annette Cruz Pink Hill, NC
You might have great customer service. But your bank practices are scary as hell don't open an account . You will be paying lots and lots of fees. Then your saving or checking will be in their accts.
1 year ago
