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Gambling Activity Block
We have recognized substantial financial risks to the Credit Union in the use of VISA Credit/Debit cards for gambling. The exposure exists for VISA Credit/Debit cards used on internet gambling Web sites and for face-to-face (card present) casino gambling.Effective immediately, the Texaco Federal Credit Union prohibits use of VISA Credit/Debit cards for all gambling transactions. |
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Two Shell Plaza Branch Office Closure
The leasing company at Two-Shell Plaza building in Houston will not renew our office lease. On November 30, 2000, the office will be closed. We are now working to obtain space in another building in the downtown area to better serve you. Please visit one of our other three offices in the Houston area for all your financial needs.
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Northborough Branch Grand Opening Winners
To celebrate the relocation of our new office at Northborough, four grand prize drawings were held. Congratulations to Tom Farrell, a current credit union member, and new member, Gregory Guerreiro. They both won $100.00 each. Also, congratulations to Bernard Lang, current member and Ben McGuire, new member. They both won $50.00 each. |
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Internet Home Banking/Bill Paying
Make yourself at home with our online banking system. Now you can log on to the Credit Union website (www.texacoefcu.org) and access your account. You will need:
- IBM compatible or Macintosh personal computer
- Modem (minimum modem speed recommended is 28.8 baud)
- Internet access through an Internet Service Provider or Online Service
- For Windows 3.1 users: Netscape Navigator version 3.0 or higher
- For Windows 95 users: Netscape Navigator 3.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 32 bit or Higher AOL
To log on, click on our website, click on home banking, enter your account number and password. After you log in, you may browse through the options listed. If you need any assistance, click the help button. If you do not have the password that was mailed to you, please call our main office toll free at 877-833-2800.
To ensure security, change your password frequently, do not share your password, and close your browser software before leaving your computer.
With Internet Home Banking you can change your password, and check our rates. In addition to home banking access, you may also pay bills. The bill paying capability is free for the first three months. After the initial three months, the fee will be $4.45 per month. Try us out; see what you (3147) are missing in convenience. Pay bills from the comfort of your home or office, save postage and supplies. Bill payer is as flexible as it is convenient. For example, if the amount and due date of a bill is always the same, you can easily set it up as a recurring payment and have it paid automatically . If the amounts or dates vary, it's just as simple to schedule it for payment when you receive the bill. Either way, you're always in control of this very secure service, and it's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Loan Promotion
Are you aware of our low loan rates? Effective immediately, we will work to assist you with your particular loan needs. Our many loan programs are available including loans secured by signature, VISA credit card, new and used automobiles, and various mortgage loan programs. Our loan process is simple and quick. We can refinance existing automobile loans with other financial institutions, or we can finance purchases of used automobiles 1-5 years old at 85% of NADA retail value and new automobiles at 100% of purchase price at an interest rate of 7.9%.
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Holiday Closings
The staff at Texaco Employees Federal Credit Union would like to wish you the happiest of holidays. We will be closed November 23 and 24 for Thanksgiving.
The Main Office in Atlanta will be closed on Monday, December 25, and will resume operations on Tuesday, December 26. The Main Office will resume operations on Wednesday, December 27.
The Main Office will be closed on New Year’s Day. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, January 2, 2001.
Please check with your local branch office for dates and times of its holiday closings.
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Blocking Can Tie Up Your Accounts
Everyone's nightmare: You're at a restaurant with a business client or a date and your debit card is declined. No one wants it to happen to them, but it can--even if you have enough money in your account to cover the bill.
It's called "blocking" and it's perfectly legal. It works similarly to the way credit card blocking works. For example, if you check into a hotel or rent a car, the clerk usually contacts the company that issued your card to give an estimated total. A hold then is placed on your card for an amount that is sometimes greater than the actual purchase amount. This hold can block your use of the money for up to three days on a debit card and possibly 10 to 15 days on a credit card.
For debit card users, blocking happens most often at gas pumps, but can occur whenever you use your card before knowing how much you'll be spending. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), merchants use blocking to make sure you don't exceed your account balance before leaving a gas station or checking out of a hotel, leaving the merchant unpaid.
Some tips to avoid blocking are
- Use credit cards, not debit cards, for hotel bills and car rentals.
- When you're traveling, stop at stations of major gasoline brands instead of older, rural, or off-brand stations. Newer, better-known gasoline stations process debit/credit cards faster because of updated technology.
- When you choose a credit/debit card, ask issuers how long they block accounts for transactions involving hotels, rental cars, and gasoline stations. Typically credit unions lift a hold automatically after a few days even if the transaction has not cleared.
Copyright © 2000 Credit Union National Association Inc.
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Win $10!
If you find your account number hidden in this newsletter, call one of the Credit Union offices. We’ll deposit $10 into your account.
For every quarter that no one claims their prize, we will increase the amount by $5. |
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MSRP May Become Price of the Past
To keep up with Internet auto retailers, major auto makers are considering ditching their decades-old pricing strategy of advertising only "manufacturer's suggested retail price" (MSRP) in favor of posting invoice or street prices--what vehicles really sell for--on their Web sites.
Manufacturers are considering eliminating the MSRP in hopes of keeping Web-shopping consumers, who often leave manufacturers' Web sites to search for price information and closing car-buying deals.
According to The Wall Street Journal, many dealers already are abandoning the practice of negotiating down from an MSRP, as more consumers arrive at showrooms with invoice price information that they've downloaded from the Internet.
Dealers can't afford to lose sales to Internet retailers. In 1998 alone, about two million consumers used online car information. Analysts at J.D. Power and Associates estimate that 55% of buyers will use the Web this year to get vehicle-purchasing information, and according to Forrester Research, the Internet will influence almost eight million new vehicle purchases in 2003.
Whether you've done research on the Internet or not, Texaco Employees FCU can help with your auto-loan financing needs. Call the TEFCU branch nearest you for information about your financing options.
Copyright © 2000 Credit Union National Association Inc.
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| A 3% dividend was declared for the third quarter by the TEFCU Board of Directors. |
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Loan Rates
| Type of Loan |
Maximum Amount |
APR |
Maximum Term |
Requirements |
| 1st Mortgage (*1) |
Up to $203,000 |
For current rates, and more info, call 1-800-503-6855 or (770)723-1382. |
30 years only
15 years only
7/23 years only
5/25 years only
Call Credit Union
30 years only
15 years only
Call Credit Union
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Creditworthy subject to terms of secondary mortgage market; call Credit Union for an application |
| 2nd Mortgage & Home Equity (*5) |
$200,000 |
Prime plus 1/2% (9.00%) |
15 years |
Creditworthy; 80% of appraised value minus mortgage balance |
| New: Auto, Truck, RV, Camper, Boat, Motorcycle (*2,5,6) |
100% of sticker price |
7.50% |
1-5 years (*6) Longer terms available Call Credit Union |
Title |
| Used: Auto, Truck, RV, Camper, Boat, Motorcycle (*2,3,5,6) |
85% of NADA retail value |
7.50% |
1-5 years (*6) Longer terms available Call Credit Union |
Title |
| Share Secured |
Amount of Shares |
Variable Passbook Rate plus 1% |
5 years |
Shares |
| Signature (*5) |
$7,500 |
1 year 11.00%
2 years 12.00%
3 years 13.00%
4 years 14.00%
5 years 15.00%
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5 years |
Creditworthy; past credit record; reviewed annually |
| VISA |
$10,000 |
13.56% |
Unpaid Balance |
Creditworthy |
| CD Secured |
100% of CD face value |
1% above rate on CD |
Terms of CD |
Certificate |
*1 Conventional mortgages up to 90% of appraised value with private mortgage insurance. Loan amounts of $80,000 to $100,000 have discount, origination and closing costs of 3.5% loan amounts of $100,000 to $159,000: 2%. Buy downs available. Call for details.
*2 TEFCU auto loans cannot be refinanced to get a lower rate.
*3 Refinanced auto loans are made at loan values in current NADA book.
*4 Titles are accepted as collateral at NADA retail value and stock at 80% of current value.
*5 Texaco Employees Federal Credit Union will pay off any new or used auto loan held with another financial institution. Above rates would apply to refinancing in the absence of any special loan promotion. Note: Auto loans currently held by Texaco EFCU not eligible for refinancing.
*6 Longer terms are available. Please call nearest office for more details.
*For current first mortgage rates, please call 1-800-503-6855.
The following is required by the Truth In Lending Act - Regulation Z: You pay a FINANCE CHARGE for all money borrowed from the Credit Union. The FINANCE CHARGE is computed at the time each payment is made. For each day since the previous payment, the unpaid balance of your loan is multiplied by the daily periodic rate. The sum of this product equals the FINANCE CHARGE.
How we compute loans: Texaco Employees Federal Credit Union calculates simple interest based on a 365-day year. For example, take your loan balance from the last date of payment or day of a new loan, multiply times the number of days elapsed from that date to present, multiply by the interest rate (10%:.1), divide by 365 days and that equals the current interest due. Example: Your last statement was 1/1/95, loan balance $5,000.00, interest rate is 10% today's date is 2/25/95. The calculation is $5,000 x 56 days x .10 365: $76.71 interest due. Standard repayment procedure is payroll deduction, but a cash pay schedule is also available to members without access to deductions. Additional payments or total payoff of a loan may be made at any time without any prepayment penalty. Interest is computed only on the unpaid balance.
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Tune Up Your Car Loan
"Refinancing can be ... the most profitable legal act many humans are capable of performing," says consumer author Andrew Feinberg.
Think about it: At a time when it's hard to earn as little as an extra half a percentage point or more on your savings, you might be able to "earn" two or three percentage points by improving your auto loan rate.
Buying a new car or truck is a thrill. Many buyers will do just about anything to acquire the vehicle they want. Sometimes, that includes going for a "right now" loan instead of the best loan rate. If that happened to you, don't passively suffer buyer's remorse. Call your nearest credit union branch office. If the vehicle's still fairly new, and you qualify, we'll help you trade in that costly loan on one that won't dent your fenders.
How much can you save? Say you've had a 60-month car loan at 10% annual percentage rate (APR) for about a year, and you financed $15,000, close to the national average. At monthly payments of about $319, your balance is about $12,565. If you can refinance at 7.90% APR for the remaining four years of your loan, monthly payments will go down slightly, to about $303. But you'll pay about $601 less in total finance charges for the remainder of the loan. That's a deal with real road appeal.
Copyright © 1994 Credit Union National Association, Inc.
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Savings Rates
| Type of Account |
Annual % Rate |
Annual % Yield |
Rate Changes |
Charges & Dividends |
| Passbook Savings and IRA's ($100 minimum balance) and Christmas Club ($10 minimum) |
3.00% |
3.03% |
90 day account, interest accrued and paid quarterly.* |
Rates adjusted quarterly based on market conditions.
Fees-None |
| CD's & IRA's*** $500 minimum balance) Rates fixed at time of purchase |
6.70%
6.75%
7.00%
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12months
6.96%
7.23%
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Rates subject to change weekly
30 months
60 months
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Rates subject to change weekly based on market conditions. |
| Money Market Accounts** ($1000 minimum balance) |
1.50% |
1.51% |
No service or per-check fee Interest paid monthly |
Rates subject to change monthly based on market conditions. No monthly fees or service charges except for check order charges. |
| Regular Checking Accounts** |
1.00% |
1.02% |
No service or per-check fee Interest paid monthly |
Rates subject to change monthly based on market conditions. No monthly fees or service charges except for check order charges. |
| Super Money Market Account |
6.00% |
6.17% |
No service or per-check fee |
Rates subject to change monthly based (minimum balance $10,000) |
*Rates effective 1-1-00 through 3-31-00. Call the Credit Union for current rates. For current rates call the branch nearest you.
**Rates effective 1-1-00 through 3-31-00.
***Rates effective 3-31-00 and are subject to change.
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