Love the Credit Union

I've been with Affinity Plus Credit Union ever since it had a former name. I always feel sorry for people who do their financial work with a bank. A bank exists to make money for the shareholders. A credit union exists to provide financial services for its members and that is huge difference. Some of my fellow Fulbrighters had bank charges for using their credit or debit cards while in Europe. The only charge I got was when the Fulbright office wired money to my account.

Last week I needed a document in association with a former car loan. I knew it probably existed somewhere in my apartment, but just where was that box since my move from a house. Rather than going crazy trying to find something, I simply stopped by the credit union and explained my problem. In 10 minutes the staff there provided me with the information needed, plus the signatures on it were notarized so that there was no question about whether it was an official document.

Last evening I went to an event at the Minnesota History Center. Before it started I went to the Museum Shop as was delighted to find a puzzle that is a map of the United States. The ones we have at Reymontowka have been used and loved too  much and new ones are needed, and actually this kind of puzzle is hard to find. When I went to pay for this, I realized my debit card was missing. I thought for certain I'd left it in an ATM on Monday evening. While getting some cash things dropped out of my wallet and I was certain that distraction caused me to forget picking up the debit card. This morning I went to the credit union with my sad story. We verified that no one else has been using the card. I was also told that since I had not removed it from the machine, the ATM would suck it back in and destroy the card. I walked out from the credit union with a new card in about five minutes. I really hate to think what might have happened had I had to go to the one of the banks in this community.