Credit Union re: Auto Loans: "We have money" Updated w/Poll

Mr. Maven has been wanting to trade in the old SUV for a hybrid and we've been on the Prius waiting list for months at our Toyota dealership. This morning, with a wary eye on the TV monitoring the downslide, I called our Northeastern PA credit union. When I asked if they were still making car loans, the loan representative said with enthusiasm, "Certainly! We have money!" She gave me the rate of 5.49% for 60 months with a credit rating of 725 or better. After this I checked with our New York credit union and got similar information, but an even lower interest rate of 4.95% for up to 66 months.

More after the jump.

I had expected a much more negative response, and was frankly happily surprised. In fact, almost giddy.

MSNBC said this last week, about banks and credit unions (italics mine):

Most banks are expected to continue functioning normally. Still, it pays to take a few simple steps to protect your assets in the event of a bank failure.

First, make sure that your bank is backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., better known as the FDIC. Under the changes approved in the bailout package, if your bank is a member of the FDIC then the amount of money insured would increase to $250,000 until at least the end of 2009.

Under previous rules, individual accounts were insured for up to $100,000, and joint accounts were insured for up to $200,000.

If you bank with a credit union, make sure that it is insured under the National Credit Union Insurance Fund, which provides similar protections for credit union account holders.

Our credit union reports that holdings are NCUA insured up to $250,000. That's encouraging. I looked for a little more.

The Journal News serving Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York said this recently (italics mine here, too):

The turmoil that has ripped through the U.S. financial system has seemingly touched every sector, from investment banks to savings and loans to mortgage companies.

Credit unions, however, have remained unscathed, even as concern about the fallout has pushed the National Credit Union Administration, which administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, to assure credit union customers that their money is safe.

Last week the NCUA, which is to credit unions what the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is to banks, opened a call center to respond to an increase in calls by credit union members about the safety of their funds.

"We experienced a high influx of calls related to share insurance, more than what could be handled by the normal call center," said spokeswoman Katie McDonald. "Obviously, there's a need for answers."

Part of NCUA's mission is to get out the message that institutions and funds insured by NCUA are just as secure as those backed by the FDIC. Just like FDIC insurance, NCUSIF insures depositors' accounts for up to $100,000. Also like FDIC-insured deposits, that amount was raised to $250,000, with yesterday's passage of the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout legislation.

As of March, nearly 89 million Americans are members of the nation's 8,215 credit unions, according to statistics from Cudata.com. Combined, credit unions hold assets of $805.2 billion.

On the window of one of the new Toyotas we saw today were the words, "We have millions to loan!" They're offering 0% interest on almost everything they've got.

Now, if only they'd had been as encouraging about our Prius. They said another 6 to 8 weeks before we can hope to get one. BTW, we have a 2007 Prius and we love it. 47 mpg or better is nothing to sniff at!