“Selected an Excellent Choice Credit Union, Maine Family Federal Credit Union located in Lewiston and Auburn Maine has a long history of providing high-quality financial services to its members."
By: Allan R Kirby
We review Credit Unions:
Mysmallbank.com feels compelled to find the best credit unions and community banks to write a small review. These reviews are to help you learn more about community banks, possibly one that's in your area that you might be interested in. In this review we are choosing the following local Credit Union:
Location: Lewiston
Headquartered: 555 Sabattus Street
Lewiston, ME 04240
Contact Maine Family FCU: (207) 783-2071 or Toll-Free 1-800-783-2071
Branches: 2
Year Established: 1938
Review:
Maine Family Federal Credit Union (Maine Family FCU) is a two-branch full-service bank that serves Lewiston and Auburn Maine. Our decision to name Maine Family FCU, Excellent Choice Credit Union, was based on our own research on reviews, services offered as well as their commitment to their membership and the communities they serve. What we found was a great community credit union that provides great services such as; the Free Wisdom Program that is designed to help members age 60 and over, with benefits to help them save on the cost of checks, money orders, photocopies, and more:
Wisdom Program Benefits:
One FREE box of checks or a discount of the same amount towards the check style of your choice in a 12 month period.
Free Photocopies
50% discount on money orders
10% discount on safe deposit box rental
.10% APY* bonus on share certificates (renewal, transfer, IRA, or new)
.10% APR** discount on loans
Seminars
In addition to the Wisdom Program, we also found the Maine Family Federal Credit Union provides great rates that are priced very competitively;
Great Rates
New/Used Autos APR as low as 2.75% Visa Balance Transfer APR 6.95% Snowmobile Loans APR as low as 2.75% 20 Year First Mortgage APR 3.011%
About Maine Family Federal Credit Union:
MFFCU currently has over $202 million in assets, 2 branches, and over 22,000 members. ibanknet. As per the website; Maine Family Federal Credit Union was originally named Sainte Famille Federal Credit Union and was founded on March 28, 1938. Rev. Vital E. Nonorgues was assigned Ste. Famille Parish in Lewiston and founded the credit union to help his parishioners with their economic struggles at the time. It was the first credit union in Lewiston/Auburn and the first parish credit union in the state of Maine. Office hours were held after Sunday masses. In 1942, the credit union had 482 members.
"Lewiston was founded in 1795 is the second largest city in the state of Maine with a population of approximagtely 35,000."
We will now provide you some additional highlights of the Maine Family FCU credit card, youth accounts, club accounts well as their commitment to their community.
Visa Credit Card:
Maine Family Federal Credit union provides a great Visa Credit Card that allows you to
Transfer any balance at 6.95% APR* for the LIFE of the balance transferred. Other benefits include:
No Annual Fee
25 Day Grace Period
Verified by Visa® security
13.90% APR* for all other purchases
Local Service
Club Accounts are available:
Although not popular with major banks, club accounts are still available at most credit unions like Maine Family Federal Credit Union. These types of accounts are great to help you save for something such as vacations, holidays, or buying gifts for Christmas without having to go into debt. The following are the club accounts available and described on MFFCU website:
A Special Savings for Planned Expenses
Whether you want to prepare for the holidays, taxes, a vacation, or a special purchase, a Club Account is the easy way to put away the money you need. You can use Payroll Deduction or auto transfer to deposit funds throughout the year to help you save.
Holiday Club
How can you avoid the annual anxiety of not having enough money for the holiday season? The secret is to open a Holiday Club Account and make regular deposits throughout the year. Your balance builds up, and on October 1st it’s transferred directly to your savings or checking – right when you need it.
Vacation Club
Vacation Club Accounts can help cover travel costs. Start making deposits now, and the credit union will deposit your balance on May 1st, or transfer right when you’re ready to pack your bags!
Tax Club
Avoid the stress of tax season and set aside money so it’s there if you need it when taxes are due in April.
Commitment to Younger Generations:
We always like to highlight any credit union that provides opportunities for younger generations to learn about banking and MFFCU does not disappoint with the Monty Moose Club account:
Requirements:
Eligible for credit union membership.
For ages 12 and under.
Minimum $25 balance.
Some of the benefits include:
Each deposit is rewarded with “Monty Moose Bucks” which can be saved and redeemed for toys or store Gift Cards. $5 deposited earns 1 Moose buck; $10 deposited earns 2 Moose bucks, $15 deposited earns 3 Moose bucks, $20 deposited earns 4 bucks and $25 deposited earns 5 Moose bucks. There is a 5 Moose buck limit per deposit.
Commitment to Community:
Another area we like to look at is a credit unions commitment to their community and Maine Family FCU is very active, as found on their website we found:
During Thanksgiving, MFFCU collects non-perishable food and buys pies to help support needy families during the Thanksgiving holiday.
MFFCUs' Annual Holiday 50/50 is used to help donate to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. In the three years that it has been run the credit union has been able to donate $10,806 for kids in Maine.
Maine Family also supports local events and non-profits. Maine Family staff donates weekly to support local agencies as well as give yearly $1,000 scholarships to three members in the community.
The credit union also supports 4 local sports teams a year as well as actively support the Special Olympics of Maine and their fundraising efforts and events.
Excellent Choice Credit Union:
When looking at reviews, we found that although there were not very many reviews, Maine Federal Family CU did receive very high ratings with the ones we found. This of course comes as no surprise to us given their great service offerings. As a result of our review, Mysmallbank.com believes Maine Family Federal Credit Union is well deserved to receive the designation of Excellent choice, Credit Union [2]. So if you're looking for a great community-based credit union and you live or plan to live in the areas of Lewiston and Auburn Maine where MFFCU operates this could be a great financial institution for you.
Finally, we found that the Maine Family Federal CU is a federally insured credit union through NCUA [1].
Who is Eligible:
As per their website: To qualify for membership, you must live, work, worship, or attend school in Androscoggin County, or have a family member (spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, children, or grandchildren) who is currently a member. To be become a member, simply by opening a Share Savings Account with a minimum deposit of $25.00.
Apply Now to become a member.
The following provides additional information on Maine Family Federal CU services, branches as well as hours of operation.
Services Offered:
Maine Family FCU Full-Service Credit Union: Yes
Maine Family Federal CU Routing Number: 211287913
Personal Banking:
Share Accounts
Club Accounts
Certificates of Deposit
Money Market Accounts
Individual Retirement Accounts(IRA)
Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
Youth Accounts
Wisdom Accounts
Credit Union Loans:
Auto Loans
Recreational Vehicle Loans
Signature/Personal Loans
Fuel Loans
Technology Loans
Lifestyle Line of Credit
Student Loans
Credit Builder Loans
MFFCU Credit Card: Visa Credit Card
Maine Family FCU Online:
Online and Mobile Banking: Yes
Maine Family FCU Branch Locations:
Lewiston Branch Location:
555 Sabattus Street
Lewiston, ME 04240
Auburn Branch Location:
831 Minot Avenue
Auburn, ME 04210
Lobby Hours
Mon-Thurs 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Fri 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sun Closed
Drive-Through Hours
Mon-Thurs 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Fri 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat 7:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Sun Closed
Maine Family Federal CU Phone Number: (207) 783-2071
Fee Schedule: Yes
About Community Credit Unions:
Are Community Credit Unions Better vs Banks?
Community Credit Unions are local banks that provide financial services to smaller communities and tend to be better than major banks for several reasons which include:
Better rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposits.
Competitive mortgage rates.
Fees tend to be lower at community banks.
Local deposits are used to make loans to local businesses.
Community Credit Unions tend to have a better understanding of the communities they serve.
Community Credit Unions tend to have a more personalized customer service experience and have higher customer satisfaction rates.
Community Credit Unions provide local jobs and support local charities.
Notes:
1. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions. NCUA's standard maximum share insurance amount at $250,000.00.
2. Periodically Mysmallbank.com will name a credit union as a top choice (Top credit union) based on several criteria such as customer and employee reviews, complaints, satisfaction, growth, locations, brand, and social responsibility. We only select the best credit unions, so they must meet minimum standards of excellences (Excellent Choice) to be reviewed by Mysmallbank.com
In Review is a segment of the MySmallBank.com blog written by Allan R Kirby, who writes and produces Personal Finance articles and videos.
Disclosure: mysmallbank.com nor the author received any compensation from the mentioned credit union reviewed for this article (Maine Family FCU) or for products and services such as credit union loans, credit cards, and other financial services. The article is our opinion only and is written to help readers learn more about local credit unions. #maine #bank #banking #creditunion #creditunions
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