COVID-19 Relief

Our Response To COVID-19

Even though COVID-19 seems to be rapidly changing many aspects of our daily lives, America's Christian Credit Union (ACCU) remains deeply rooted in our faith in Christ. Our prayer is that God will continue to give you and your family all you need to be well and have peace.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13 (NIV)

Safety & Security

We want to reassure you that ACCU remains well in excess of what regulators call "well-capitalized." This has solidly prepared us for economic challenges such as these. All funds at ACCU are Federally insured to $250,000. As an additional member benefit, ACCU has had a long-standing relationship with American Share Insurance (ASI) to provide additional deposit insurance for balances above federal limits.

Individual Retirement Accounts Required Minimum distributions (RMDs) 

The CARES Act temporarily waives required minimum distributions (RMDs) from qualified retirement plans and IRAs for the calendar year 2020.  This relief also applies to beneficiaries of inherited retirement accounts taking only the yearly required minimum distributions.  If you would like to forego your 2020 RMD please contact our IRA Specialist at 626-208-5559.

Financial Hardships

Our Banking, Membership, and Lending teams have been working tirelessly with federal & state regulators to extend the breadth of services and options we have to serve you. Our goal is to provide you with any additional information we can to ensure your banking experience is seamless, and you get the support you need during these challenging times. Below are a couple of actionable steps to help you navigate your specific needs.

• Contact an ACCU representative as soon as you run into any hardships - Or even better, if you get a sense you may be in the near future. First, so we can pray with you and over your financial situation - then so we can tailor a solution that will work best for your specific situation. Sometimes the best - and most proactive course of action is to get sound advice to derive an action plan. This will help in avoiding decisions that are rash, emotional, or made in a vacuum. This includes, but is not limited to loan payment deferrals, fee waivers, and interest-free emergency loans. There is a whole host of options available, and they vary by state - we can guide you through them.
• Take account of your cash outflows from your current loan obligations. The first practical step is to assess your current budget and see where there is room to trim expenses to limit cash outflows that are not deemed a need right now. Accruing additional debt, or extending your loan terms is generally not ideal in the long term. However, assuming budgeting has already happened, and you still need to further lower monthly obligations to make ends meet, you may want to assess the size of your existing loan payments. In many cases, we can help reduce them. For example, if you have an existing auto loan (even outside of ACCU) we can refinance it to restructure it in a way that makes sense for your current budget. This may include lowering your interest rate (if possible), or re-amortizing the loan, so your monthly payment is reduced. Also, when you refinance auto loans or take out another form of a personal loan with ACCU, you have the option to defer your first payment up to 90-days, which can help significantly in the short term. Finally, many of our personal, auto loans or lines of credit have an available "skip-a-pay" feature, which allows the borrower to skip a limited number of payments should they decide they need too.
• Limiting uncertainty and making funds available to you when you need it. Maximizing the return on all of your funds is key to ensuring that cash is available to you when you need it - and so is stability in your savings portfolio. If you find yourself looking to exit some of the volatility of the current stock market and converting some of your portfolio(s) to liquid cash, we may be able to help you balance return, stability, and add a bit of peace of mind. Currently, savings rates to our members exceed that of most well-known banks (up to 16 times). All funds at ACCU are federally insured with the NCUA (which is the credit union equivalent of FDIC) up to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. In addition, our members' accounts are also additionally insured in excess of federal limits through American Share Insurance. We can help you organize your accounts to maximize your return and insurance coverage.

Social Distance Banking

During these unprecedented times; we are working to keep you, our members, as well as our staff, healthy and safe while ensuring you have easy access to your accounts. Limiting trips to the branch and getting set up with online & mobile banking is the best way to accomplish this for everyone involved.

Our online and mobile banking platforms are the easiest means to access your account. Upon logging in, you can accomplish any number of banking functions, including: reviewing account balances, transferring money, paying loans, depositing checks, and much more. This is especially important as we are being given "distance banking" recommendations by national and local authorities.

Branch Locations & ATMs

Whenever possible, and in accordance with "distance banking" recommendations, we encourage members to take advantage of drive-thru banking services and ATMs for cash transactions. ACCU is part of the Co-Op, and Shared Branch Network, which grants access to tens of thousands of shared branching and surcharge free-ATM locations nationwide. Due to staffing limitations at many of these shared branch sites, services may be limited or temporarily suspended to shared branch members. We advise calling each location to ensure shared branch services are available prior to arrival. The most up-to-date information about branch lobbies and potential closings is available on our website at co-opfs.org.

All ATMs including those within the Co-Op network will continue to operate as normal as will your debit and credit card transactions. There will be no disruptions to these key processes as we all seek to get through this outbreak together. As a friendly reminder, please be sure to use hand sanitizer or wash your hands for a full 20 seconds as soon as possible after touching ATMs and before touching your face.