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GVL/Brian B. Sevald
Lake Michigan Credit Union on Lake Michigan Dr. at Collingdale

Money Matter$

2/3/2010

Lanthorn: What services does your credit union offer that would be especially helpful to college students?

Smith: I would say a max checking account. Max checking is our free checking account -- no minimum balance, no monthly fees. It pays 4 percent interest on your balance. It refunds up to $15 per month on ATM charges that you may get from somebody else's ATM besides ours.

Probably the best thing going for the students at Grand Valley (State University) is we have five ATMs on campus, which are in: Kleiner, lower level of Fresh Foods, Kirkhof, the Rec Center and the drive up by Papa John's. We also have just opened up our newest branch location, which is right on Lake Michigan Drive, just west of campus. That new branch also offers the Lake Michigan Credit Union PERK, which is our own in-house coffee shop and free Wi-Fi.

We're very proud of our Money Matters program. Lake Michigan Credit Union offers a Money Matters financial literacy program: protecting your credit and yourself. Classes are offered every year. Sometimes it's (by) an RA in one of the residence halls, sometimes it's one of the teachers putting on a program. These are held in different locations on the GVSU campus.

Lanthorn: Does LMCU offer any special student loans students should consider?

Smith: We have a full range of products from overdraft protection to special deals on car loans through our own auto center that's located in Hudsonville.

The full range of lending products is available for very competitive rates. All services are available either at one of our 27 branch locations, online or through our call center at (616) 242-9790.

Lanthorn: What are some advantages of belonging to a credit union instead of a bank?

Smith: Well we don't bash banks. The bottom line is fees: lower rates on loans, higher rates on savings and little or no fees on our products. That's what makes Lake Michigan Credit Union stand out from the rest. We are the largest credit union in West Michigan.

Students find the debit card to be a really nice product to use because they can use it anywhere worldwide, as well as the electronic banking. We have a lot of students who join when they're on campus and then when they move back home or off to start their careers, they continue doing business with us because they love the rates, they love the max checking and we do the direct deposit and online banking, so they don't really have a need to go into a branch. They continue banking with us even after they move away.

Lanthorn: Do you have any general tips for college students about managing money?

Smith: Probably the most important thing for college students to remember is they don't need three credit cards. You should be very careful of how you manage your money. One of the biggest things is to do a little inventory of your finances, which means simply take stock of how much money you have coming in so you can figure out your budget.

Unfortunately, a lot of times, people don't have a real good grasp of how much they have to work with ... So take an inventory of how much money you've got coming in and what your obligations are, every month what you're going to have to pay. Figure out how much, every pay period, you're going to allow for spending, and when the money's gone, stop spending.

Lanthorn: How can a student open an account at Lake Michigan Credit Union?

Smith: Membership is a $5 deposit into a savings account and then you can open anything else that you want from checking account to Christmas club to money market accounts to all of our loan products.

Lanthorn: Is there anything else students should know?

Smith: When you start talking about what college students should know about their credit is one of the reasons we do that Money Matters program. One of the things that's really eye-opening for students when they do the class, is that they don't know that an employer will use your credit report when they offer you a job. More and more employers are making that their last step before they offer jobs. They run a credit report and if you've got blemishes on your credit, many companies' policy will not allow them to hire you. It doesn't matter how your interview went, it doesn't matter what your skill level is. If you've made a mess of your credit, it could stop you from getting a loan, getting an apartment, your insurance will be higher and it could keep you from getting that job. We really try to make sure young people understand how important their credit score is.

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