Merry Christmas from NAECU

Merry Christmas from your friends at

North Alabama Educators Credit Union.

Best wishes to you and your family

for a joyous and safe Christmas.

Christmas Loan

If you find yourself coming up a bit short on cash for the holiday season, our Christmas Loan is a nice gift. Qualified members can borrow up to $1,000 at a low fixed rate as low as 5.99% Annual Percentage Rate for a term up to 12 months. Consumers have been doing a much better job of reducing debt and increasing the amount saved throughout the year. The key to borrowing money is try to avoid it if possible. Shopping with your own cash is always more preferable than shopping with someone else's money and paying interest for the use of those funds. If you must borrow money, shopping for a good loan rate is worth the time and effort. Some credit cards, especially department store cards, have increased their finance rates considerably during the economic downturn over the past few years.

Our Christmas Loan will be available through the end of January 2012. The joys of Christmas shopping in December can often be soured by the credit card bills that arrive in January. Our Christmas Loan as well as other loan programs for higher balances could be used to greatly reduce finance charges being paid on outstanding debt.

Members of North Alabama Educators Credit Union who are interested in the Christmas Loan can review the rates and terms available on this and other loans at http://www.naecu.org/rates/loanrates.html.

PTA Members & Students Eligible for Membership

People often associate North Alabama Educators Credit Union as a financial institution available only for teachers or school employees. While we do serve many school employees in the area, we also offer credit union eligibility to students and PTA members. Specifically, all students living within the Alabama counties of Madison, Morgan, and Limestone are eligible for membership. PTA groups (also PTO's and PTSA's) of our eligible school sponsors are also eligible. The eligible public school systems are Huntsville City Schools, Madison City Schools, Madison County Schools, Limestone County Schools, Athens City Schools, and Decatur City Schools. PTA's themselves can open an account with North Alabama Educators Credit Union. (Some PTA accounts have moved to North Alabama Educators Credit Union to avoid the fees being charged at their previous banking institution).

For PTA officers, membership eligibility in North Alabama Educators Credit Union is a great additional benefit to relay to current and potential PTA members. Consumers have become largely dissatisfied with the larger traditional banking institutions. North Alabama Educators Credit Union is truly locally owned and operated since the credit union is owned by the members who use the services of the credit union. Our members have not seen the rising fees and account restrictions that have been highlighted by the media stories on banking over the past few months.

North Alabama Educators Credit Union would love to provide credit union literature and information to the eligible PTA groups in the area. We have staff available, myself included, who can attend PTA meetings and briefly announce the additional benefit of credit union membership through North Alabama Educators Credit Union. In short, PTA members can save money with an account at North Alabama Educators Credit Union and we can demonstrate specific examples of those savings.

Any PTA officers interested in additional information can send an email to feedback@naecu.org or contact our Market Coordinator at 256-534-2423.

Home Break-ins on the Rise

A weak economy breeds an increase in criminal activity. The Huntsville Police Department (HPD) and the Huntsville Community Watch Association (HCWA) are trying to get the word out about home break-ins taking place within the City of Huntsville. Similar criminal activity is no doubt taking place outside of Huntsville in the surrounding cities and counties.

Huntsville is reporting that there have been 241 home break-ins between September 30, 2011 to October 31, 2011. People are advised to watch their neighborhoods closely and look for suspicious activity. If you see a stranger backing into a driveway, popping a trunk, and/or wearing a backpack, please contact your local police non-emergency number. In Huntsville city limits, the number to call is 256-722-7100.

Criminals are approaching front doors, ringing door bells or knocking, and if NO answer they are going to the back of the house and kicking in a door to gain access to the home. Common items being stolen include flat screen TVs, laptop computers, and video game systems. These break-ins are occurring between 7:00 AM and 2:00 PM.

If you do see suspicious activity, contact the police and remember to note description information on the people involved (clothing, appearance, race, hair color, gender) and vehicle (color, make/model, tag) if possible.

Unfortunately the upcoming holiday season will most likely intensify criminal activity. Remember to not leave large boxes from new electronics on the street for trash pickup. An empty box from a new flat screen TV only serves as a carrot to a thief canvassing a neighborhood for likely targets.

Hardest Hit Alabama Program

Earlier this year Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced the creation of Hardest Hit Alabama (HHA), a new consumer relief program providing $162 million for the prevention of foreclosures in Alabama.

The U.S. Department of Treasury's "Hardest Hit Fund" awarded the $162 million to the Alabama Housing Finance Authority to provide targeted assistance to Alabama's unemployed homeowners. The fund itself was authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Eligible owners can receive assistance to pay their current mortgage payments and all other mortgage related expenses, including payments on any subordinate liens, while unemployed. HHA will provide up to 12 monthly mortgage payments not to exceed $15,000, per household.

Alabama homeowners who receive unemployment compensation benefits may apply. To qualify, applicants must have a total annual household income of less than $75,740, and the unpaid principal balance on their home's mortgages must be less than $258,690.

HHA funds have also been extended to Alabama victims of the 2011 April tornadoes. Storm victims who have been unable to return to work following the April tornadoes may be eligible for increased assistance of up to 18 consecutive monthly payments, or $25,000, through Hardest Hit Alabama.

North Alabama Educators Credit Union has signed on as a registered financial institution participant in the program and we encourage any unemployed Alabama residents to contact Hardest Hit Alabama for possible relief assistance.

For more information on the Hardest Hit Alabama program, visit http://www.hardesthitalabama.com/ or call 1-877-497-8182.

Retailer Victory on Interchange Rates

The recent Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Bill that is now law greatly reduced the debit card interchange fees paid by merchants to financial institutions. Lost in all the media discussions and consumer backlash over new banking fees has been the considerable financial windfall to merchants and retailers who accept debit cards as a means of payment.

Since October 1st, merchants and retailers have been enjoying reduced costs when consumers use their debit cards. Are we seeing lower prices with these merchants and retailers yet? An informal review of the prices of milk, bread, and cereal both before and after October 1st do not reveal that any cost savings are being passed along to the consumer. Consumers should look closely at 4th quarter earnings later this year for major retailers as there will be a significant increase in net incomes being reported as a result of the debit card interchange fee reductions.

The retail industry is the group who lobbied hard for the debit card fee reductions. They won that fight and are now enjoying the fruits of that victory. It remains to be seen however if the consumers will share any benefits of that retailer victory. Time will tell on that issue.

Those banking institutions most affected by the reduced income of the debit card interchange changes are passing along those costs to their consumers. North Alabama Educators Credit Union has not been forced to initiate new checking and debit card usage fees because our income has not been affected yet by the changes. Legislators in Congress were fully informed of probable new banking fees to consumers if the Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Bill became law so it is quite disingenuous for legislators to now appear surprised by new banking fees.

Celebrate Credit Union Day

North Alabama Educators Credit Union will be celebrating Credit Union Day on Friday, October 21st. Register to win a $75 cash drawing during the entire week of October 17 -21 at each of our office locations. (One entry per day max). The drawing for the $75 will be held on the afternoon of Friday, October 21st. Complimentary refreshments will be available all day that Friday.

In conjunction with the Credit Union Day activities, North Alabama Educators Credit Union is also sponsoring a free "Shred-it Day" on Friday, October 21st. There is no cost for the shredding service. Please limit your shred items to 40 pounds or less of paper records. Document Destruction Services will be on-site at the following times/locations;

Sparkman Office - 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

2100 Sparkman Drive

Huntsville, Alabama 35810

Main Office - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

2309 Whitesburg Drive South

Huntsville, Alabama 35801

Shredding personal items is a very important tool in preventing identity theft. Take advantage of this free shredding service and protect your good name and reputation!

The theme of this year's Credit Union Day is "Credit Unions Build a Better World". We also believe that our credit union members build a better credit union. We appreciate our credit union members and invite the membership to stop by during the week and on Friday, October 21st as we celebrate Credit Union Day.