Money & Banking Tips
SIU Credit Union offers a variety of tips to help with your financial matters. The following information has provided to assist you with general financial questions and banking issues. Check back periodically for more money and banking tips!

• Prevent Credit Card Fraud
• Credit Debit Quiz

Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Protect Yourself from Credit Card Fraud
It seems no matter where you look, fraud is making the news. Read enough articles on card fraud and you may be tempted to cut up your cards. While the media may present a discouraging case, don’t give up on the convenience of your card account just yet. If you
carry an SIU Credit Union VISA credit or check card you can rest a little easier. We take your business very seriously and do everything we can to safeguard your account.

How does SIU Credit Union protect you?
SIU Credit Union is looking out for you. To protect your card account, we use a variety of fraud fighting tools such as monitoring your account and sending owner-activated accounts. VISA watches your account for suspicious behavior with powerful neural network technology.

How can you protect yourself?
While SIU Credit Union fraud prevention techniques are very effective in catching and preventing card fraud, nothing can guarantee that your account won’t get into the wrong hands.

Here are a few simple precautions to reduce your risk:

• Report lost or stolen cards immediately
• Sign your card as soon as you receive it
• Treat your cards as you would cash. Do not leave them unattended.
• Make sure that you get your card back after every purchase.
• When making Internet purchases, make sure that your merchant has proper security measures in place
• Close all unused card accounts and cut unwanted cards into several pieces.
• SIU Credit Union and You- together we can reduce your card fraud risk.

Take Control of Your Debt - Before It Takes Control of You

You are like a lot of people. You work hard. You collect a paycheck, pay your bills, and try to save. But somehow, something always goes wrong. No matter how hard you try, there’s never anything left at the end of the month.

As your credit union, SIU CU would like to offer a way to determine where you might stand with your financial situation. The National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC) and its member agencies can help. They are a nationwide, not-for-profit organization that specialize in helping people with their debt problems.

To find out if your debt is keeping you from moving ahead, take the NFCC Debt Test for more information.

National Foundation for Consumer Credit Debt Test

• Are you only able to make minimum payments on your credit cards?
• Are your unsure about how much you owe?
• Do you skip some bills to pay others?
• Do you have insufficient cash saved for emergency?
• If you lost your job, would you be able to pay for living expenses?
• Do you find yourself arguing with your spouse or others about money?
• Are you near the limit on your credit cards?
• Are you borrowing from one credit card to pay for another?

If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, or you feel uncomfortable with your answers, we recommend that you visit www.nfcc.org to be connected to the NFCC Agency nearest you. They’ll set up an appointment and work with you to create a realistic budget and repayment schedule. They can even provide free or low-cost confidential debt counseling and budgeting sessions.

Our loan officers are always willing to help you regarding your debt situation. If you qualify, we can offer ways to avoid financial hardship and even bankruptcy. When you take control of your debt, you’ll feel on top of the world.