When are you open?
Our Ashley and Hazelton branches are open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday thru Friday.
The main office in Kulm is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday.
Our HCU Online web site allows to check balances and transfer funds any time, 24/7.

When do you start your next business day?
Transactions conducted after 4:00 p.m. are processed the next business day. The cutoff time for some transactions, such as wire transfers is 2:30 p.m.

Is there a service charge for IRA savings accounts?
No, there is no service charge to open or maintain an IRA account.

I forgot my Advantage PIN (personal identification number). Can you help?
Yes, please give us a call or stop by during business hours. You will need to provide positive identification.

What is a Credit Union?
A credit union is a cooperative, not-for-profit financial institution organized to promote thrift and provide credit to members. It is member-owned and controlled through a board of directors elected by the membership. The board serves on a volunteer basis and may hire a management team to run the credit union. The board also establishes and revises policy, sets dividend and loan rates, and directs certain operations.The result: Credit unions are a safe harbor for consumer savings. Members are provided with a safe, convenient place to save and borrow at reasonable rates at an institution which exists to benefit them, not to make a profit.

Savings at credit unions so far in 2008 have grown nearly 7%. In today’s economy, consumers are increasing their savings in response to concerns about their economic future. More people seeking to put their money in a stable source offering good rates are turning to credit unions. As not for profit cooperatives, credit unions typically offer higher savings rates than banks. Consumers saved $10.9 billion last year by using credit unions rather than banks. The savings come in the form of lower fees, higher savings rates and lower loan rates. That works out to about $126 per credit union member or $239 per household.

What is the minimum dollar amount that needs to be in my account?
Share draft - There is no minimum balance required and there is no monthly service charge for our share draft accounts. However, you will be accessed a transaction fee if we need to transfer funds from your share account to cover a share draft. To avoid a service charge, simply ask us to transfer funds before your account is overdrawn.
Share savings - You must maintain $25.00 in your saving account and $100.00 if you have a current loan. There is no service charge for your saving account.

How does Life Savings Insurance work?
As an added incentive for you to begin saving early in life, Hometown Credit Union provides life savings insurance to our members at no direct cost to you. All of our members are covered under a group term insurance policy. The amount of your individual benefit depends on the amount of savings in your account, up to a maximum benefit of $2,000. Here's an overview of how it works.
• The insurance benefit is paid to your beneficiary upon your death.
• The death benefit equals the total amount of all your savings account balances at HCU on the date of your death, or $2,000, whichever is less.
• You are automatically insured when you make a deposit in to your savings account.
• A deposit is not covered if you die from a pre-existing condition within 6 months of making that deposit. (Earlier deposits older than 6 months are insured).
• The amount of insurance on each separate deposit is determined by your age on the date you make the deposit:

Example 1: You made a deposit of $5,000 on June 29, 1988 when you were 57 years old, and never withdrew any of the money. You died in 2008 with $5,000 plus interest in your savings account. Your beneficiary would receive the maximum death benefit payment of $2,000.

Example 2: You made a deposit of $1,000 on October 2, 1998 when you were 53 years old, and another deposit of $1,000 in 2008 when you were age 63. If you leave these funds in you account your beneficiary will receive a death benefit payment of $1,500. (100% of $1000, + 50% of $1,000).

Life Savings insurance is a valuable added Credit Union benefit that is not available at other financial institutions. The information here is a summary of the Life Savings insurance offered by your Hometown Credit Union. For complete information please stop by one of our offices and ask to examine our Life Savings Group Policy.

Note: Don't mistake Life Savings insurance for the NCUSIF deposit insurance explained below which insures your deposits by the full faith and credit of the United States government up to $100,000 on individual and $250,000 on joint an retirement accounts.

Are My Deposits Safe?
The shares in your credit union are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), an arm of NCUA. The NCUSIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.Your share insurance is similar to the deposit insurance protection offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Individual accounts are insured up to $250,000. Retirement and joint accounts may have higher coverage. Check out the links below for specific details.

NOTE: Share accounts in federally insured credit unions are insured up to the Standard Maximum Share Insurance Amount (SMSIA), $250,000 as of October 3, 2008. The section of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which increased the insurance coverage on all accounts up to $250,000 has now been made permanent.

Not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a member of a federally insured credit union. The federal insurance fund has several programs to help insured credit unions which may be experiencing problems. Liquidations or failures are a last resort. If a federally insured credit union does fail, however, the NCUSIF will make any necessary pay outs to the credit union’s members. 

As a member of an insured credit union, you do not pay directly for your share insurance protection. Your credit union pays into the NCUSIF a deposit, and an insurance assessment, based on the total amount of insured shares and deposits in the credit union. Insured credit unions are required to deposit and maintain one percent of their insured shares and deposits in the NCUSIF.

Credit unions as a whole are healthy, with strong balance sheets, and are well capitalized. Their overall capital-to-asset ratio stands at a very solid 11.1% (compared to 10% for banks). In dollars, that’s a capital cushion of $90 billion. Nation-wide, credit union mortgage delinquencies at the end of the first quarter of 2008 stood at only 0.7%. First mortgage charge-offs were a miniscule 0.06%. Across the board, credit union loan delinquencies are at a very low 1.0%.

For more information on share insurance, checkout the following information from NCUA:

NCUA Share Insurance

NCUA Share Insurance Estimator

Increased Insurance For Retirement Accounts

What Is NCUA?
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is the independent federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions and insures savings in federal and most state-chartered credit unions across the country. NCUA, backed of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, operates the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) insuring the savings of 80 million account holders in all federal credit unions and many state-chartered credit unions.

Other Questions?
Do you have a question that is not answer here? If so, simply drop us an email and we'll answer it for you. If it is a question that other members need to know we'll add it to this question page.