Some Credit Union Members Get a Break
Some credit unions in Southern California are starting to ease loan terms for members facing pay cuts or layoffs.
The Los Angeles Teachers Federal Credit Union last week slashed the rate on personal loans by more than one-third, and offered to drop the fixed rate on outstanding first trust deeds to 8.75% on request. At Hughes Aircraft Employees Federal Credit Union, members who lose jobs may defer loan payments for up to three months and renegotiate terms to reduce monthly payments. The Hughes credit union will also help members prepare budgets.
The moves aren’t purely altruistic. The teachers credit union hopes lower rates will not only help current members, but attract new ones. Dennis Hull, a senior vice president at the Hughes credit union, said its programs keep loans from going sour.
Credit unions can’t give financially troubled members too much slack, though. Bill Hempel, economist with the Credit Union National Assn., an industry group, said regulators are concerned that credit unions might ease loan terms to disguise bad loans.
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Chain letter: The chain letter asks help “toward making a little boy’s dream come true.” A 7-year-old with an inoperable brain tumor is trying to build the world’s largest collection of business cards, the letter says, urging executives to send cards to an Atlanta foundation and to pass the letter to 10 business associates.
The touching letter is making the rounds in executive suites throughout the country, landing on desks at GTE, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Blue Cross, Metropolitan Life and Nordstrom--to name only a few. There’s only one thing wrong here. The letter isn’t true.
Turns out the boy named in the letter, Craig Shergold, is alive and well. His “inoperable” brain tumor was removed last year. An Atlanta foundation, Children’s Wish Foundation International, was collecting get-well cards for him, but the campaign ended nearly two years ago.
A hoax? The Atlanta foundation says it is a big mistake. Spokeswoman Stephanie Smith said somewhere along the letter-writing chain, greeting cards became business cards. And apparently, word of Craig’s recovery didn’t spread far enough.
Smith says the foundation isn’t using the cards to solicit donations, or develop a mailing list. “We wish it would stop,” she said.
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Air fare: Northwest Airlines is taking some of the mystery out of airline food. The airline has started telling passengers how much fat, sodium and cholesterol is in some of the meals served aboard.
Northwest is revealing the nutritional data only on “special” meals, those prepared in advance for people on restricted diets. About 5% of passengers now order special meals, intended for people watching their intake of sodium, cholesterol, fat or carbohydrates, or who are diabetic. A card with a nutritional breakdown now accompanies every special meal.
The airline says that if the program proves popular, it may disclose the nutritional contents of other meals. At least we’ll be sitting down when they do.
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More on the GM card: Half a million people have applied for the month-old General Motors Mastercard, which allows them to earn rebates on GM cars of up to $500 a year, based on credit purchases.
Suppose they’d rather have a Ford?
Ronald N. Zebeck, general manager of GM’s card operations, says there is nothing to stop Ford or Chrysler dealers from matching the GM rebates. Though GM’s competitors haven’t announced such a move, it wouldn’t come as a surprise.
“If you watch the Big Three, they tend to follow each other in their marketing,” he said. “The potential for matching is there.”
Zebeck says it would be costly for competitors to match the rebates, though. The cost of GM’s rebate program is expected to be offset by revenue from the credit card. In any case, Zebeck said, GM can always up the ante. “For example,” he said, “we can double the rebate on certain models.”
