On Thursday, September 16th, you can help Washington CASH continue their life-changing work by providing a small investment of your own at the inaugural Cocktails for CASH Happy Hour. For a suggested donation of $10 and a few hours of your time you can enjoy music, free appetizers and discounted happy hour cocktails at The New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square.

Proceeds from the event will allow Washington CASH to fund important programs and continue to make the business ownership dreams come true for people who would not otherwise have those opportunities.

Cocktails for CASH runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. If would like to attend, email your RSVP to Sonia@washingtoncash.org.

The Sipping Streams Tea Company in Fairbanks, Alaska sells more than a dozen varieties of tea and offers complimentary wi-fi. You can log into SMCU’s Online Banking to pay your phone bill while lounging and sipping from your cup of Imperial Mao Feng Tea.

Whether you live in Arlington, Washington or Arlington, Texas, you can find a 7-Eleven Vcom®ATM where you can deposit checks to your SMCU checking account. You can use your SMCU Visa®or debit card to buy dinner at the Space Needle in Seattle or the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In the not-so-old days, you had to get in your car, hop on your bike or put on your shoes and physically go to the credit union to transact business on your account. That wasn’t so bad, since SMCU branch reps are really nice, smart people who love to help. Still, it wasn’t always convenient to take time from your day to make that trek.

Nowadays, it’s easy to use SMCU no matter where you are. Whether you are vacationing halfway around the world or moving to a different city, your SMCU accounts travel with you. You can do virtually all of your credit union business without ever having to set foot in a branch. SMCU is available by phone, on the internet, through ATMs and, when you use your Visa® or debit card, in the gift shop where you’ll buy your soon-to-be-favorite souvenir snow globe.

You can also leverage the power of shared branching, which allows you to go to a participating credit union anywhere in the U.S. and do business on your account just as you could standing in the SMCU branch in downtown Seattle.

In case you are wondering, the SMCU branch reps are still here, smiling and helpful. Whenever you are ever in Seattle, they would love to have you stop by and say, “Hi.”

Notifications

You can set up an email notification to let you know when your balance goes under or over a certain amount, when an important check has cleared, when a loan payment is due, or when a CD is about to mature. To set up an alert, log into Online Banking and go to Notifications. You can create periodic reminders that go out weekly, monthly, quarterly or other intervals. You can even customize your own personal reminders and send them to multiple addresses.

PLEASE NOTE: Notifications are sent once a day at 10:00am. Payment due and past due notifications for VISA accounts cannot be processed.

Scheduled Transfers

Performing one-time transfers from one SMCU account to another is fast and easy, and now you can set up a recurring transfer just as easily. Send a payment from your checking account to your auto loan, mortgage or Visa once a month, or move some money from checking to savings every week. You can send money to any shared joint account to easily send money to other SMCU members.

We will be rolling out an all-new Web site this year, with easier navigation, more information and more convenient features. Your credit union is focusing on making your accounts easy to access at any time, no matter where you live. Watch for future announcements on smcu.com.

Fresh off an amazing Saturday of volunteering at Food Lifeline, employees of Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union tried their hand at fund-raising as part of Food Lifeline’s Food Frenzy Summer Funds Drive. Between July 12 and July 23, 2010, SMCU employees participated in an in-house auction the proceeds of which benefited Food Lifeline.

At the same time the auction was happening, SMCU members were donating to Food Lifeline in the branches and through Online Banking. Adding the totals from member donations to the proceeds of the auction, SMCU will be able to cut a check to Food Lifeline for over $1,400.

Donations are a vital part of Food Lifeline’s work. For every dollar donated, Food Lifeline can feed a family of four. If you want to make a donation, you can do so online at Food Lifeline’s web site. If you open a Feel Good Checking account, SMCU will donate $20 to Food Lifeline.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 4 women in the United States have experienced some sort of violence by a spouse or boyfriend. This inexcusable tragedy cuts across all areas of age, race, income and education and leaves indelible marks on everyone it affects.

New Beginnings is a Seattle-based organization dedicated to providing shelter, advocacy and support for battered women and their children; and to changing attitudes and social institutions that foster and perpetuate violence.

Autonomy is one of Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union’s guiding principles, so SMCU is proud to be a major sponsor of New Beginnings’ “It’s Everyone’s Business to Stop Domestic Violence” Lunch on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at the Downtown Nordstrom Store. At the 2009 lunch, New Beginnings was able to raise more than $120,000 toward programs and services.

If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic violence or you are interested in learning what you can do to help put a stop to this blight on our community, please make plans to attend. Tickets are complimentary, but reservations are required. Contact New Beginnings at benefit@newbegin.org for reservations or more details.

Everyone deserves to choose their own road. Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union is excited to help New Beginnings create this reality.

Other resources
New Beginnings Help Line: 206.522.9472
New Beginnings online: http://newbegin.org/
King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.kccadv.org
Family Violence Prevention Fund: http://www.endabuse.org/

Get the Facts and Dispel the Myths

1. Myth: It’s a bad time to buy a house.
   Mortgage rates are at historic lows, creating lower payments and long-term savings. Home prices have also fallen and the dramatic increase in foreclosures has created an abundant housing supply that is outpacing demand. For many, these factors result in greater affordability, making now a good time to consider homeownership.
2. Myth: Buying a house is just too risky; I’ll end up in foreclosure.
   The risks are present. Losing your job, or suffering an illness could make paying your mortgage more difficult. While you can’t predict the unexpected, there are things you can do to decrease your chances of ever facing foreclosure:
   • Buy only as much house as you can afford.
   • Look at your current expenses, and consider ways to reduce your monthly spending.
   • Build an emergency fund in the event of the unexpected.
   • Talk with your lender if you are having difficulty making payments. They’ll have programs to help get you back on track.
3. Myth: I need perfect credit to buy a house, but I can’t do anything to improve my credit rating.
   Lenders are not expecting you to have perfect credit, but having a good credit score and credit history that shows you intend to repay your loan obligation will help you get better interest rates. If you are concerned that your credit may not allow you to qualify for a loan, looking at your credit report and understanding how your score is calculated could help reveal the areas that need improving. According to the Fair Isaac Corp., your FICO score is 35% payment history, 30% amounts owed, 15% length of credit history, 10% new credit, and 10% types of credit used.
4. Myth: I need to put 20% down.
   While there are instances when a 20% down payment is required, that is not the rule, even by today’s standards. Generally, putting 5 or 10% down is a reasonable expectation. Every situation is different and the amount of down payment required will depend on:
   • The value of the property
   • The amount you are financing
   • Your credit rating
   • Your debt-to-income ratio

Take the Next Step Toward Owning Your Own Home

There are many variables to consider about the home-buying process, so let SMCU help you get all the facts. If you are ready to start the home-buying process or if you have questions, give us a call at 206-398-5888 or email us at relending@smcu.com.

The truth is, getting an auto loan at 0% is very difficult; very few auto buyers actually qualify. Most of these financing plans require a minimum credit score of 750 and apply only to certain cars at the dealership, not the entire stock. Zero-percent loans also typically offer shorter terms, 36 months instead of 60, which means the monthly payment will be considerably higher and out of the price range of the average, debt-ridden American. In many cases, qualifying for 0% also means forgoing any manufacturer rebates that may have been associated with the sale.

So, back to the question at hand. Qualification aside, is zero-percent financing a good deal? Let’s look at a comparison between 0% and a 3.99% SMCU auto loan with a manufacturer rebate of $2000:

Zero-percent financing deals can work well for those who have a high income and excellent credit—but in most cases 0% really isn’t as great as it appears. Even if you were to stretch that same 3.99% loan over a more traditional 60-month term, you would still come out ahead of its 0% counterpart.

If you do qualify for zero-percent financing and elect to pursue that option, pay attention to the price of the car. Dealers often make up for lost finance charges by raising the price, knowing the buyer will be so thrilled with the zero-percent financing that he/she will forget or overlook they are paying too much for the car.

Your response was amazing and made a big difference in the number of new memberships opened during the promotion. Because of your efforts, new SMCU membership increased more than 30% from previous months. Nearly 250 new members joined SMCU because you told them how happy you’ve been with the products and services you get at your credit union.

You know that SMCU follows the 7 Principles, and Principle #3 is that our rates and fees should benefit our membership. The more people who use SMCU, the more there is to go around to all members. By helping your credit union grow, you got to see that principle in action. A big thanks to everyone who participated in the promotion and to all those members who refer their friends and family to SMCU all year round.

SMCU employees and their families spent the morning of Saturday, July 10^th, at the Food Lifeline distribution center in North Seattle helping re-pack food collected by letter carriers during the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive.

As part of SMCU’s involvement in Food Lifeline’s “Food Frenzy” Summer Funds Drive, SMCU volunteers arrived at 9:00am, ready to sort food donated by the generous residents of the Puget Sound. After a short orientation session, the group got to work sorting through enormous bins full of food. Some of the volunteers were tasked with determining which items were fit for distribution and which had to be discarded. Other volunteers re-packed the approved donations into empty banana boxes to be sent to area food banks.

By the time the shift ended at 12:00 noon, SMCU volunteers had repacked 8,100 pounds of food, which will be turned into more than 6,200 meals for hungry families in Western Washington. Everyone from SMCU who participated had a great time and felt honored to be able to assist this amazing organization.

In addition to volunteering time, SMCU is trying to raise $5,000 for Food Lifeline to help them to continue their important work and needs your help to reach that goal. If you would like to donate, you can stop by any SMCU branch or, if you are an SMCU member, you can donate through Online Banking via the “Online Forms” tab. Donations will be accepted through Friday, July 23.

Tips on donating food

Some of the things SMCU volunteers learned during their time at Food Lifeline can help you decide what food items to give the next time you participate in a food drive.

• Canned goods should be free of rust and not show any visible signs of bloating.
• Cans can be very dented but should not have any creases or areas where metal is folded over on metal.
• Undamaged canned goods can still be used significantly past their expiration date, often several years.
• Food in vacuum-sealed, glass jars must have the seal intact, i.e. the button on the lid should not pop back up when pressed.
• Individual items must have a complete, legible list of ingredients or be in a package with the ingredients listed for the individual contents.
• Food items may not be homemade nor require refrigeration.
• Baby food and diet items should be donated at least two months prior to their expiration date.
• Baby food should not be in glass jars.
• Boxed items, like cereal, must have their inner liners intact and unopened.

SMCU’s partnership with Food Lifeline and participation in Food Frenzy is part of a commitment to giving back to the community. SMCU is always on the lookout for opportunities to help small groups who need assistance. If you know a group or organization that could use volunteers, send an email to voice@smcu.com.

See SMCU’s photo album on Facebook for additional pictures from the event.

For thousands of children in Western Washington, summer can be a tough time. When school is out, free lunch programs are not available and organizations like SMCU’s partner, Food Lifeline,
must step in to help.

This summer, help us support Food Lifeline’s noble efforts by making a donation to our summer funds drive. We’ve set a goal of raising $5,000 between July 12 and July 23, 2010. As part of Food Lifeline’s “Food Frenzy” event, Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union has joined dozens of other Seattle-area companies who are all challenging each other in a friendly competition to raise money and awareness for this great cause. Please join us and together we can make a difference. As with most things, the more that people participate, the better it gets.

Five easy ways to donate!

1. Open a new Feel Good Checking account!
   When you open a new Feel Good Checking account, we make a donation to one of our non-profit partners on your behalf. Just select Food Lifeline when you open a new account between July 12 and July 23, and that donation will be counted toward our Food Frenzy funds drive.
2. Easy Online Transfer
   Log into Online Banking and go to Online Forms to fill out an easy donation form. Funds will be transferred from your SMCU account.
3. In Person
   Drop off a donation at any SMCU branch.
4. By Phone
   Call our Contact Center at 206-398-5500 or 1-800-334-2489 to make a donation from your SMCU account.
5. By Mail
   Please mail donations to:
   SMCU Food Frenzy
   PO Box 780
   Seattle, WA 98111-0780