To All Members of the Shelby County Federal Credit Union:

In these trying times, we know how difficult and uncertain life can be, so we at Shelby County Federal Credit Union know that access to your finances shouldn’t be that way.  Due to the issues we are all facing and our desire and need to keep both you and our employees healthy, we will be closing the interior of our branches on Monday, March 23. To keep access to your finances, Credit Union services and lending opportunities as easy as possible, we are implementing the following steps:
​

• Branch Locations
  • The Drive-Thrus at our 2 stand-alone branches at 1160 Sycamore View and 3245 Poplar Ave will remain open for normal business hours Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm and Saturday 9:00am-1:00pm.
  • The branch at 160 N Main St will remain open at this time from 8:30am-12:00pm.  Only teller transactions will be done at this location as it will be without a loan officer.
• Loans
  • To apply for a loan, go through our website at www.shelbycountycu.com  A Credit Union employee will contact you within 24 hours of receipt of your internet loan application.
  • To request an increase to your SCFCU Credit Card or Line of Credit, please call 901-930-0757 and a Credit Union employee will assist you.
• Loan Payments
  • To make a payment on your current or delinquent Loan, Line of Credit or Credit Card, you can pay through the Drive-Thru, call 901-930-0757 to speak with a Credit Union employee, pay via online (home) banking or through our mobile app (available through Apple app store or Google Play.
• Account Transactions
  • Any Deposits can be completed through our drive-thru tellers at either SCFCU location, our ATM at 3245 Poplar Ave, through night deposit at 1160 Sycamore View or any of our Shared Branching offices listed on our website www.shelbycountycu.com
  • Any Withdrawals can be completed at any of our ATMs or drive-thru tellers at either SCFCU location or any of our Shared Branching locations.
  • If you want to open a new account or have a transaction dispute, call us at 901-930-0757 to set up an appointment to where we will meet with you in our branch lobby.
• Financial Hardship
  • If you are experiencing a financial hardship caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and need to speak to someone about your Shelby County Federal Credit Union account or loan, please call 901-930-0757.
• If you have any questions regarding any of your Credit Union business that you are not sure how to handle, or if you are interested in setting up your online (Home) banking or mobile app access, please call us at 901-930-0757 before making a possibly unnecessary trip.

 
Stay in touch with us for more information through our website www.shelbycountycu.comour Facebook page facebook.com/shelbycountycreditunion, or our Twitter account @ShelbyCountyFCU.
 
Thank you again for being the most important part of Shelby County Federal Credit Union.
 
Lin Winkler
President/CEO

I​t’s a fact of financial life that if you want to borrow money, your lender will look at information about your credit habits before deciding how to price the loan.

If you’re a good risk, you won’t have to pay as much interest for the privilege of borrowing. If you’ve been a credit screw-up, expect a lender to charge you more. That’s only fair, not only to the lender but to other borrowers the lender serves. It wouldn’t be right to expect responsible borrowers to subsidize careless borrowers.

This is where your credit score comes in. It’s a three-digit grade for your credit behavior to date. It changes all the time, based on your improving or deteriorating credit habits.

No surprises here, but it’s worth reviewing habits that will trash your credit score:

• Being careless about paying bills on time—An occasional slip likely won’t hurt too much. But a pattern of letting due dates slide, even if you catch up eventually, will take a toll.
• Not bothering to pay bills at all—If that slippery slope of late payments turns into outright default, the damage to your credit score ratchets up.
• Maxing out your credit cards—You might think it’s OK to carry high balances as long as you keep up with minimum payments, but not true. One element of your score is credit utilization, or the percentage of your available credit in use. Say you have three credit cards with a combined total limit of $10,000, and you owe $9,500 among the three. Your utilization is 95%, a number that will seriously damage your score.

The antidotes to these problems are straightforward: Always pay all your bills on time. Make this easy by setting up automated minimum payments for your loans and credit cards. It might take longer to accomplish, but get your credit utilization to less than 25%.

Your payment history, combined with your total debt, accounts for two-thirds of your credit score, so these three big factors require serious attention.

Not-so-obvious credit errors
Even if you clean up your payment act and pay down your total debt, you still can lose cred with other behaviors:
Always pay all your bills on time.

• Closing old cards or cards with balances— These actions sound like prudent behavior if you’re trying to curtail credit use. But, your length of credit history counts for 15% of your credit score. Closing a card that still carries a balance will hurt that key credit utilization segment of your credit score, because it reduces your total credit limit while raising the overall percentage of credit in use.
• Applying for several credit cards or loans—Expanding the number of cards or lines of credit you can access makes it look like you’re in trouble financially and trying to supplement your cash flow with credit.
• Having too few kinds of credit—Lenders like to see you have diversified your credit sources—a few credit cards, a car loan, a mortgage—and handle them all responsibly. You don’t acquire this mix of credit all at once, of course, but over the span of a few years or more. New credit and your mix of credit each account for 10% of your credit score.

Why it matters
You know that your credit score influences what you pay for loans and credit cards and affects other significant slices of your life: Jobs, housing, and insurance rates.

A potential employer, landlord, or insurer could use information based on your credit history and score to decide whether to hire you, rent to you, or insure you.

You can check your credit report—the summary of your credit activity that generates your credit score—from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once a year for free. Always make your requests from the annualcreditreport.com website, the only site sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission. Or, you can call 877-322-8228.

Make one request every four months in rotation among the three credit agencies so you can monitor your credit report year round.

While some items should be found in every trunk, not every emergency road kit is built the same. Tailor it to the type and condition of your vehicle, as well as the weather where you typically travel. With the unpredictability of winter weather, even drivers in traditional warm-weather states may want to consider adding safety items for snow and ice. It’s always wise to err on the side of caution and include certain items just in case.
Here is the essential emergency car kit list:
1. Flares & Lighting
The first and most important safety items to include in your auto emergency kit are flares or reflective triangles, which warn other drivers of the roadside hazard. In case of a breakdown they should be spaced out evenly along the roadside behind your vehicle. For a reusable, longer-lasting option, invest in battery-operated LED flares. A flashlight is also a necessity, especially a multi-use version that flashes.

2. Jumper Cables
Jumper cables are another essential to include in the car emergency kit. Batteries can die or lose their juice at the least opportune moment; jumper cables, with a jump from another motorist, can at least get you to the next service station. You should also consider carrying a separate battery pack for starting your car when no one else is around to help.

3. First Aid Kit
A first-aid kit is an must have item to include in any emergency road kit, indispensable for addressing smaller, everyday injuries and more serious wounds from an accident. You can purchase them pre-packed with all the essentials or assemble one customized to your needs. Families with small children should include medications that are age appropriate.

4. Car Fluids & Tools
Flat tires are one of the most common causes of roadside trouble, but it’s not always possible to change a tire. Including a can of tire inflator and sealant in your kit can get you back on the road at least to the next stop. Other items that may help avert a roadside crisis and keep you going: a quart or more of motor oil, a gallon of coolant and a toolkit with screwdrivers, pliers and adjustable wrench.
It’s essential your emergency road kit include specific items in case you end up spending several hours or more in your disabled car. Bottled water and long-lasting food items such as granola or energy bars can be rotated out over time. Blankets, a sleeping bag or a heat-retaining emergency survival blanket are critical for making it through a cold night, especially in wintry climates.

5. Winter Items
​If you know you’ll be driving in snowy weather include an ice scraper, a spray bottle with washer fluid and a set of snow chains for your tires. Store all your items together in a box or carrying case in the trunk, making sure it’s easily accessible in case you need it in a hurry.
Cars aren’t the only place you should have an emergency kit ready to go. Learn about what you should have in your home emergency kit to keep you and your family safe.

Shelby County Federal Credit Union has a new convenient and enhanced online bill pay system. Our new system includes features that will make this valuable tool more efficient including:

• Full integration within online banking
• Ability to configure email alerts
• Real-time access to checking account balances
• Reminders if the balance isn’t sufficient to pay bills
• A more intuitive and user friendly experience

 
All current payments will process through August 15, 2018. Any payments scheduled after August 15, 2018 will need to be scheduled using the new bill pay provider. 
 
* You must use your Shelby County Federal Credit Union checking account to pay bills using this system* 


HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Be sure you are set up for on-line banking. Please sign up for online banking after August 15, 2018. SCFCU will need an email address on file. If you need assistance please call 901-930-0757 for additional support. 

Using Bill Pay

1. From the Bill Pay Dashboard select Payees and Add
2. Enter the Payee Name and follow the prompts                      
3. After all needed fields are entered select continue 
4. If all information is correct click okay

 
Q. Why did you change to the new Bill Pay service provider? 
A. We updated our service provider to make access to your account quicker and easier. The new system will deliver an online experience with more flexibility, control and reliability.  
 
Q. Will “repeating” or “automated payments” features convert?
A. No. You will have to re-enter your Bill Pay data since this will not convert to the new system, so you will need to enter payees and payments that you would like to pay.  In advance of the Bill Pay going live, we encourage you to go into our current bill pay system and save or take notes on your payee and payment information.
 
Q. Do I need to re-register for Bill Pay?
A. Yes, You will need to register for Online Banking.   For first time users please use your account number as your username and the last four digits of your SSN as your password. You will be prompted to change both. Also, you will need to add an email address to your profile.  
Follow the steps below to get started.

• Step 1: For your initial sign-on, you will use your account number and the last four digits of your Social Security number inside the login boxes.
• Step 2: Review and Agree to Terms and Conditions when prompted.
• Step 3: Create a new username and password.
• Step 4: Enter your email.

Q. Will I be able to see my payment history?
A. No, your bill pay history will no longer be available after August 15, 2018 at 11:59 pm. It will not convert over to the new bill pay provider. 
 
Q. Will my payments still process during the upgrade?
A. Yes. During the upgrade window, your payments are still expected to process as normal through the end of day August 15,2018.
 
**To avoid scheduling duplicate payments, be sure to document your payments scheduled through the above date (08/15/18) as they will not display within the new system on August 16,2018, however they will still be paid.  
 
Q. What is different about the Bill Pay Upgrade?
A. There are some exciting changes with this upgrade. Online Banking features a simplified portal where you can review all checking accounts, balances and recent transactions, and pay important bills. 
 
Q. Do I need to re-register for Bill Pay?
A. Yes, You will need to register for Online Banking.   For first time users please use your account number as your username and the last four digits of your SSN as your password. You will be prompted to change both. Also, you will need to add an email address to your profile.  
Follow the steps below to get started.

• Step 1: For your initial sign-on, you will use your account number and the last four digits of your Social Security number inside the login boxes.
• Step 2: Review and Agree to Terms and Conditions when prompted.
• Step 3: Create a new username and password.
• Step 4: Enter your email.

 
Q. Has Bill Pay information converted with Online Banking, or do I now have to re-enter all of my information?
A. No, once you sign up/re-sign up for online banking you will have access to the Bill Pay Center. It is a single log in application. 
 
Q. How will my payments be processed? 
A. You will select the day that you want your payment to be processed. The screen will display an estimated delivery date for your convenience. Example: If your payment(s) is due on 8/27/2018; you must login before your 8/27/2018 and schedule your payment. 
Option #1: Electronic Payment - You must log in and submit your payment request on or before 8/26/2018.  Note:  Funds will automatically deduct from the account by the end of the business day
Option #2: Check Payment - You must log in and submit your payment request on or before the 8/20/2018.  See Bill Pay Key Terms Below for more details.  Note: Funds are deducted from your account when the check clears with the merchant.

Q. How will I receive pay notifications?
Email Notification:
You will receive an email notification from our bill pay system. The communication will be sent by noreply@billpaycustomerservice.com. We encourage that you add this email address to your address book to ensure that it is correctly delivered to your inbox.  

Online Banking Notification:
You will receive an alert that the money has been withdrawn from your account as long as you have selected to receive the alert that a withdrawal has posted to your account above the selected amount. ​

Bill Pay Key Terms:
ELECTRONIC PAYEE: Merchant allows payments to be processed electronically. (Processing Time: 1-2 Business Days)
 
PAPER CHECK PAYEE:Merchant will receive a physical check in the mail delivered by the United States Postal System (USPS). (Processing Time: 5 Business Days)

MANAGED PAYEE:The bill pay vendor and the payee have established a relationship to better deliver payments on behalf of the member. The payment address is not displayed to member because the information is considered proprietary information to the vendor.

RECURRING PAYMENTS:User-defined request for automatic payments for a specific payee. The member will define the payment amount, frequency, start date, and end date.

EBILL:Payment (bill) information will display within your Bill Pay Dashboard. This information will provide you with the important items such as Payment Date, Amount Due, and Available Balance (if applicable).