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General News

Youth Scholarship Program
First American Credit Union takes pride in supporting the educational goals of our members and their families. We believe education plays a critical role in the future strength of our community.  Our youth scholarship program is designed in a way to provide support to the student as well as the high school they are currently attending (Homeschooling WI/IL for students who participate in home schooling), by providing a “Class of Excellence” award to the scholarship winners’ nominated High School Teacher to purchase necessary classroom supplies.  This teacher, in the opinion of their student, was an outstanding mentor providing guidance and leadership.

We are committed to building lifelong relationships with our members.  Giving back through the scholarship program is just one small way to keep that commitment. We will reinvest $21,000 into the educational growth of our members and area schools with (30) $500 youth scholarships and (30) $200 “Class of Excellence” teacher awards.

Applications are available in any branch location or online. Completed application packets are due by March 15, 2012. Eligibility criteria and application requirements can be found on the application. Winners will be notified on or before April 30, 2012. Have questions? Send us an email.

Winners Announced - Payments for One Year!
Michael & Michelle Kosak of Roscoe, Illinois (pictured at right) took advantage of our Drop Everything Loan transfer offer … and were recently selected as one of 3 GRAND PRIZE Winners – one from each of our regions throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.  In addition to saving members in excess of $4 Million in transferred loan interest payments, 3 winners were randomly selected to have their Drop Everything loan payments made for one year! Michael and Michelle are planning a trip to Hawaii with the added savings they’ve enjoyed by taking advantage of the Drop Everything campaign, along with their 1st year payment winnings. 

Michael was recently stationed in Afghanistan for one year, and promised Michelle a trip to Hawaii upon returning to celebrate their 10 years of marriage.  Michelle was home with their four children and Michael commented, “I’ve always said she (Michelle) did the hard part being home taking care of our family.  I was just over there doing my job.”

Robert & Caroline Logan of S. Rockwood, Michigan are also thrilled with their winnings of having their loan payment made for one year, due to upcoming daycare expenses … they are expecting a new baby towards the end of January!  They really appreciate the friendly, one-on-one service they receive every time they come into the branch. 

Choose to Opt In for Future Overdraft Protection
From time to time, an ATM or Debit Card purchase may cause your account to overdraw the available balance.  A new regulation has gone into effect requiring you to “opt in” in to continue overdraft coverage on your account in the case of an ATM or Debit Card overdraft.  

If you choose to not opt in for this continued coverage, we will not be able to authorize to pay overdrafts on your behalf for every day ATM or Debit Card transactions. Checks you write or other pre-authorized ongoing automatic bill payments that you have withdrawn from your account will continue to be covered, at our discretion, when Overdraft Privilege is eligible on your account or when any one of our other overdraft protection options is available on your account. Click HERE if you would like to opt in for future overdraft protection.

Federal Benefits via Direct Deposit Requirement
Did you know that more than 540,000 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks were reported lost or stolen in 2010, and an estimated $93 million in checks issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury were fraudulently endorsed?

If you're retiring or otherwise applying for federal benefits after May 1, 2011, your payments will be delivered electronically - paper checks will no longer be an option. Some information you will need to know when applying for federal benefits includes:
 
•  Routing transit number (275977049)
•  Account type - checking or savings       
•  Account number 

If you are already receiving federal payments via paper check, you will need to switch to electronic payments by March 1, 2013. For help, go to www.GoDirect.org or call 800-333-1795.

Security Bulletins

Fraudulent Debit Card Phone Calls
We occasionally receive inquiries from members stating they received a phone call informing them that their debit card is being deactivated if they do not call the specified number and input their information. If you receive a call like this disregard and DO NOT provide your information. First American would not contact our members regarding debit card deactivation and request your personal information to reinitiate your debit card.

Star (our debit card processor) would only call First American members to verify information on their debit card purchases, but they would not ask for a PIN number.

This scam has been going around for some time now. If you are suspicious of any phone calls regarding your accounts with First American, please contact us IMMEDIATELY.

Debit Card Text/E-mail Scam
Text and email scams are ongoing. Scammers send messages to members as well as non-members asking the recipient to call a phone number because their card has been deactivated. The text message generally looks something like what is listed below.

FIRST AMERICAN C.U. ALERT:
YOUR CARD HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED. PLEASE CALL: 608-237-6021

When we find out about these, we work to get the phone numbers disconnectioned. However, if you are a member of First American Credit Union, and called any of the scam numbers and gave your card information, we urge you to call 800-327-8622 and take the steps necessary to report a possible compromise on your card.

This scam has been going around for some time now. If you are suspicious of any phone calls regarding your accounts with First American, please contact us IMMEDIATELY. You can also do an internet search (i.e. Google) of the phone number. Generally if it is a scam, you can confirm it this way.

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