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NCCU earns 5-Star Superior Rating

Northeast Community Credit Union is honored to announce it has once again earned BauerFinancial’s highest 5-Star Superior rating.

A 5-Star rating indicates that Northeast Community Credit Union is one of the strongest financial institutions in the nation, excelling in such areas as capital, loan quality, profitability and much more.

Bauer Financial is the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating and research firm since 1983. The 5-Star rating is the highest ranking the banking industry research firm can assign a financial institution and denotes the highest level of financial performance.

NCCU has also earned the placement of being on Bauer Financials “Recommended Credit Union Report.”

“The 5-Star Rating by BauerFinancial indicates that Northeast Community Credit Union excels in nearly all measurable areas,” said NCCU President/CEO Teresa Arnold. “The rating places us in the top tier of financial institutions in the United States. We are honored by the ranking and are committed to continue providing the highest level of service to our members every day. The credit union has maintained its top-tier status for decades. What this means for this community is that our institution is safe, financially sound, and consistently operating well above all regulatory capital requirements.”

Northeast Community Credit Union has been serving the community since October 1952 when it was chartered as a credit union by the State of Tennessee. Northeast Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. It is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Carter, Johnson, Washington, Unicoi and Sullivan counties along with their immediate family members.

For more information, visit www.BeMyCU.org or call 423-547-1200.

The Money Tree – October Edition

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NCCU gifts goody bags to all Carter County school staff

Northeast Community Credit Union recently gifted goody bags to all school staff in the Carter County and Elizabethton City school systems. Bags were delivered to all staff at each school in both school systems.

“Staff in all our schools are facing some unique challenges this year, as are parents and students,” NCCU CEO/President Teresa Arnold said. “This was a way to show our support and appreciation to all those workers.”

The bags contained assorted back-to-school supplies, including pens, lanyards and hand sanitizer. School staff were also given information on loan specials designed uniquely for school system employees.

Northeast Community Credit Union also offers the Helping Teachers Teach grant to teachers in Carter, Johnson, Washington, Sullivan and Unicoi counties. The $300 grant is awarded to teachers to help cover the cost of classroom projects or supplies. Applications can be found online at www.BeMyCU.org

NCCU began in 1952 as Elizabethton Teachers Credit Union to provide financial services to area educators. NCCU now serves all those who live, work, worship, or attend school in Carter, Johnson, Washington, Unicoi and Sullivan counties and their family members.

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NCCU donates to RM Volunteer Fire Department

Northeast Community Credit Union donated $150 to the Roan Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

Roan Mountain VFD will use the donation for maintenance on trucks, facilities and equipment; and to drill a well at their Station 2 near Roan Mountain State Park. The fire department will also work toward educating youth and the community on fire safety.

The Money Tree – September Edition

 

 

 

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NCCU Donates to Main Street Triangle Project

Northeast Community Credit Union donated $1,000 to Main Street Elizabethton’s downtown Triangle Project.

Main Street Elizabethton leaders have developed a plan to revitalize the small triangle median at the entrance to downtown near Dino’s Restaurant.

Pending Elizabethton City Council’s approval, Main Street will add a water fountain and new landscaping to the grassy area.

The Money Tree – August Edition

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NCCU donates to school backpack programs

Northeast Community Credit Union is helping to support students as they prepare for a new school year by sponsoring both of Carter County’s backpack programs.

NCCU donated $1,000 to both the Elizabethton City School Back-to-School Bash and the Carter County/Harmony FWB Back-to-School Bash in the county. Both programs distribute thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies to students in the Carter County and Elizabethton City school systems each year.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the bashes will look a little different this year. The Elizabethton City Schools will be distributing the backpacks when students return to classes.

Harmony will host a drive-thru event this Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to noon at Hampton High School, Valley Forge Elementary, Hunter Elementary, Cloudland Elementary, and Little Milligan School (the five schools where summer lunches were served) and also at Harmony FWB Church in Hampton.

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How do Certificate Accounts work? Learn to save smarter

Certificate accounts lock up your money for a set period. In return, you earn higher interest than what’s available on most savings accounts.

What Is a Certificate Account?

A certificate account is a type of savings account. They can also be called time deposits, fixed deposits or term deposits.

Unlike a traditional savings account that lets you withdraw money from at any time, a certificate account has a fixed term and:

  • Requires a minimum deposit amount that is higher than a savings account.
  • Allows you to withdraw money at the end of the term, or maturity date. Earlier withdrawals can be made only by paying a penalty.
  • Don’t let you add money after your initial deposit unless it is a special type of certificate account, like our Nest Egg Certificate Account.

In other words, by opening the certificate account, you agree to leave your one-time deposit in the account for a fixed amount of time. In an emergency, you can withdraw funds early, but you will pay a penalty to do so. In exchange for agreeing to a set term length, you get a fixed interest rate, typically one higher than a traditional savings account. The longer the term length, the higher the interest rate you earn.

How do Certificate Accounts work?

A traditional certificate account is essentially a time-bound deposit. A certificate account almost always earns more interest than a regular savings account. Banks and credit unions pay extra for the right to hold a lump sum for a period of months or years, known as the account’s “term.”

The credit union rewards you by paying you a higher interest rate than it does for a savings account or money market account. You make a higher annual percentage yield (APR) on the money you deposit in the certificate account. Some certificate accounts compound interest daily. The credit union pays more to you because you’re giving them money for a longer period of time. They then can use your money to earn more money. For example by extending other customers long-term like loans.

The National Credit Union Association insures your certificate account up to $250,000, just as with any deposit account. So the only risk to you is the penalty you’d have to pay if you withdrew the money before the certificate account term was up.

Some certificate accounts allow you to choose to take the monthly interest earned out. Others require you cash out the certificate accounts only at the end of the term length.

When opening a certificate accounts, you choose how long you want to give our money to the bank, known as the term length. Common term lengths for traditional certificate accounts include 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months and 3, 4, 5 and 6 years. Some banks and credit unions will also offer a custom term length.

As a rule, the longer the term, the higher the interest rate. Putting more money into your certificate accounts can also boost your annual percentage yield, the effective return on your deposit that comes from compounding the interest over the course of a year.

You’ll earn interest on the deposit until it matures, at which point you can collect the full amount. But if you need funds in a certificate accounts before the maturity date, there’s generally a penalty.

When should I get a certificate account?

Certificate accounts work best for savers who have the financial breathing room to sock away money for years at a time. You’ll also need to be able to meet any minimum deposit requirements, typically $500 or $1,000.

But you might consider short-term certificate accounts too, especially if you want to take advantage of high rates now.

When deciding on a deposit amount and a term length, consider your other financial commitments and your time horizon. Make sure you’ve already banked enough emergency savings — ideally three to six months’ worth of living expenses that you can access easily in time of need. By contrast, any money you put into a certificate accounts will be locked down until the end of the term; withdrawing it ahead of time means you’ll pay a penalty.

Considerations Before You Open a Certificate Accounts

By now, you are probably thinking of opening a certificate account with the longest term possible. But having a very long-term may not be the best thing to do. For example, you may need your money before the time period is up and if you choose to remove your money before that happens, you can be penalized by the bank or credit union. Some don’t allow you to make partial withdrawals and require you withdraw the full account balance. When you do, you can put two or more months of interest.

Bottom line, before you invest in a certificate accounts, either make sure you’re confident that you won’t need the money before the maturity date or that you’re comfortable paying a penalty if you need the money earlier. If you’re not sure, consider choosing a savings account or money market instead.

When Your Certificate Account Matures

When your certificate account reaches the end of its term, it matures. Toward the end of your term, your credit union will inform you about its impending maturity and present you with options, including taking your money and walking away or renewing for another term length.

Are Certificate Accounts Safe?

Certificate accounts are as just as safe as the money you have in your savings or checking account with the bank, assuming none of those accounts—or the combination of accounts owned by you at the same bank—has more than the insured maximum of $250,000.  With NCUA insurance, you’re guaranteed to get your money back—up to the insured maximum—if your credit union goes under for any reason.

Certificate Accounts and Your Credit

Certificate accounts in themselves won’t help you build your credit history. However, some financial institutions offer a certificate account secured loan if you open a certificate account. This is a loan that uses your certificate account deposit as collateral. If you default on your loan payments, your certificate account will be taken to pay the loan. Making timely payments on the loan can help you build your credit, if your bank or credit union reports your payments to all three credit bureaus. Not all do, so if you chose this path as a way to build credit, ask your credit union. The certificate account itself won’t impact your credit one way or another.

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Important Scam Warning: Don’t Find Yourself on The Hook

URGENT ALERT:  Do YOU want to pay back thousands of dollars somebody else stole?  You may find yourself on the hook with law enforcement, FBI, or the IRS.  Here’s how it typically happens:

  • A new ‘friend’ you met online or by phone or email, after getting to know you, asks you for a favor…
  • He tells you he has ‘an inheritance’ or ‘grant money’ or ‘wants to come meet you’, but is having some sort of difficulty accessing his money or getting his check cashed to get the funds.
  • He says he’ll send you the money electronically so you can actually see it in your account & can then send it to him by transfer, mail, or UPS.
  • You give him your account # so he can send the funds to you, agreeing to help him out since he’s having such a problem.
  • He may say you can keep a little of the money for ‘your concern’ (usually around $500 to $1000).
  • For example, a $5,000 direct deposit goes into your account, but the cashier checks you’re told to send him total only $4,500.
  • You think to yourself, “Where’s the harm? I’m just helping someone out who’s having a tough time. And I’ll get $500 for myself, for doing nothing!”
  • So you check your account history at the credit union a couple days later and see that the money he sent has reached your account – perhaps $thousands$!
  • When you see your new balance, you’re a little skeptic because after all, this is a person you’ve gotten to know online or by phone but have never seen in person. But, you think you can’t be held responsible if it does turn out to be something shady, right?  (WRONG!)
  • So after the money shows up in your account, you come to the credit union and withdraw a couple of cashier checks, made payable to him or to someone else – he may say it’s for a friend he’s buying something from or for an acquaintance who’s paying for supplies or fees – he may even give you a sad story to go along with his request.
  • Little did you know, he hacked an innocent victim’s account somewhere, stole the account information, and STOLE the money from the victim’s account to divert it to YOUR credit union account so that you would willingly send it to him.  This happens every day and it starts first with you falling for a stranger’s story & giving out your account information, and secondly by thinking you’d get to keep $500 for doing nothing.  IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT USUALLY IS.

FACT:  Your new friend STOLE the money he/she sent to your account by hacking an innocent victim somewhere. The rightful owner will eventually contact the police, FBI, and perhaps the IRS when the money disappears.  The paper trail will lead to YOU – after all, YOU gave him your account number and allowed the money to go into YOUR account.  YOU pulled the money out & shipped most of it by cashier check, money order, or cash to where the hacker (your new ‘friend’) instructed you to. YOU withdrew the funds and YOU are now responsible – it doesn’t matter if you kept a little of it or none of it; you are now an accomplice to the crime and your name is on those withdrawals.

The rightful owner of the funds will proceed with legal action against both you and the hacker, who you mysteriously can no longer reach after the transactions are done…now you’re on the hook alone.  Recently, one of our members, after being caught up in one of these scams and being investigated by law enforcement, provided FBI agents with his new ‘friend’s’ email address, photos, phone number, and copies of text messages. But the woman who had deposited money to his credit union account has seemingly disappeared.  Our member is now on the hook for the $18,000 stolen from the real victim & sent to his credit union account electronically. He didn’t keep the money but is being considered by law enforcement as guilty of fraud.

This is sometimes known as a type of Sweetheart Scam.  YOU are not considered the victim in this – you willingly gave someone your account information so he or she could deposit money, you willingly followed instructions to withdraw the money and mail or deliver it.  You are no longer in possession of the money, yet you are liable for the theft of thousands of dollars.  Is it worth being sued or facing jail time?  Please – ASK yourself this before giving out your account number or trusting a sad story from a stranger.

If you have questions about this or other suspicious activity, please call the NCCU Fraud Department immediately at (423) 547-1232 at our main office on 980 Jason Witten Way, Elizabethton.