Municipal Credit Union personal loans: 2023 Review

Name: Municipal Credit Union
Item: Municipal Credit Union
Rating: 4.4
Author: Raija Haughn

Written by

Updated on Jan. 1, 2023

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At a glance

4.4

Bankrate Score

Availability

3.6

Affordability

4.8

Customer Experience

4.7

Municipal Credit Union, the largest credit union in metropolitan New York, was founded in 1916 to help city workers avoid loan sharks. It now has 16 branches, more than 500,000 members and more than $4.2 billion in assets.

Loan amount $1,000 – $50,000

APR from 8.20% – 15.70% (with autopay)

Term lengths 12 to 72 months

This lender is best for borrowers looking to consolidate debt.

Municipal Credit Union is best for consolidating debt

When looking to consolidate debt, it is best to find a lender with the lowest possible costs and associated fees. Municipal Credit Union offers low APRs starting at 7.95 percent for personal loans and 2.99 percent for share-secured loans. According to Bankrate, the average APR for borrowers with excellent credit is 11.08 percent as of October 2022. This lender also has low fees, only charging a $25 late payment fee.

These factors and its low minimum loan amount of $1,000 make Municipal Credit Union a favorable option for borrowers looking to consolidate their debt.

Municipal Credit Union pros and cons

PROS

In-person branch presence for those who like in-person options
Few fees
Low APRs

CONS

Membership requirements
Eligibility criteria not disclosed
Slower approval process and funding times

Do you qualify?

You must be an MCU member to qualify for a loan. Membership is restricted to certain employees within the state of New York or employees of companies that offer health-related insurance or hospital supplies in the state of New York. You may also be eligible if you have a family member who qualifies for membership. Unfortunately, credit score or income requirements are not disclosed on the website.

What Municipal Credit Union doesn't allow loan funds to be used for

Borrowers can use the funds however they see fit as there are no usage restrictions.

Municipal Credit Union versus Achieve Personal Loans

Achieve lets you borrow up to $50,000 to consolidate debt, make a big-ticket purchase or meet other financial goals. Its minimum loan amount is $5,000, which may be too high if you seek a smaller loan. However, a major upside is the rapid approval process and funding times - some borrowers receive loan proceeds as soon as 24 hours following approval. But Achieve does offer an origination fee of up to 6.99 percent, which must be considered when comparing the two lenders to determine which is best. Furthermore, its maximum APR is 29.99 percent, so you could be better off with a loan from Municipal Credit Union if you have a stellar credit rating since the maximum APR is capped at 9.75 percent.

Municipal Credit Union: in the details

Loan Amount

$1,000 – $50,000

APR from

8.20% – 15.70% (with autopay)

Term lengths

12 to 72 months

What we like and what we don’t like

What we like

In-person branch presence. If you prefer face-to-face interaction with a loan officer, Municipal Credit Union could be an ideal lender for you. There are 14 branches throughout New York you can visit to apply for a loan.
Few fees. MCU does not charge origination fees or prepayment penalties.
Low APRs. The APR you’ll receive on a personal loan is quite low to what many other lenders in the industry are charging.

What we don't like

Membership requirements. Personal loans are only accessible to MCU members. But if you’re not eligible to join, you must seek funding elsewhere.
Eligibility criteria not disclosed. There’s no mention of minimum credit score or income requirements on the website. Plus, it’s unknown if the lender allows co-signers or co-borrowers on personal loans.
Slower approval process and funding times. Municipal Credit Union might not be right for you if you want to get money fast. Many online-only lenders offer same-day application approval, but this lender does not specify on its website how long the process takes.

How to contact Municipal Credit Union

Call MCU at 212-693-4900 to speak with someone from the Member Solutions team. Representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7 am to 7 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm EST.

How to apply for a loan with Municipal Credit Union

To borrow from MCU, you must have an account in good standing with MCU — meaning at least $5 in your account without any unpaid charge-offs or outstanding bankruptcies.

The application process is straightforward and can be done at a branch, over the phone, through the MCU online banking platform or the credit union’s mobile app.

The application will ask for the loan amount, the terms you’re seeking and the general purpose of the loan. You also have to provide employment and monthly income information, which MCU will verify. The site has a loan payment estimator so you can get a rough estimate of what your monthly payments will be.

If you’re set up with direct deposit at MCU, you can choose autopay, which gives you the lowest rates and automatically deducts loan payments biweekly.

Online applicants can electronically sign and finalize their documents. MCU will contact you if you need to upload any supporting documentation.

Fees and penalties

MCU does not charge origination fees or prepayment penalties, but there is a $25 late fee if a payment is more than 30 days late. Additionally, your APR will increase by 0.5 percent if you cancel automatic payroll deduction or direct deposit.

Municipal Credit Union FAQs

- MCU does not disclose a minimum credit score requirement. However, a good or excellent credit score is usually most ideal if you want access to a competitive interest rate.
MCU doesn’t indicate an approval or funding timeline you can expect. But you can gather the documents they’ll need before applying and ensure the information you enter on the application is accurate to avoid hiccups in the review process.
You can get a lower interest rate when enrolling in automatic payments. Plus, MCU makes it easy to pay your loan directly from your paycheck with payroll deductions.

How Bankrate rates Municipal Credit Union

	Score	Explanation
Overall	4.3
Availability	3.6	Low minimum loan amount but many details are not available
Affordability	4.8	The minimum and maximum APRs are low and the only fee is a late fee
Customer experience	4.6	Online and in-person options as well as 24/7 customer support but low rated mobile apps

Methodology

To select the top personal loan lenders, Bankrate considers 15 factors. These factors include credit requirements, APR ranges, fees, loan amounts and flexibility to account for a wide range of credit profiles and budgets. Bankrate reviewed 41 lenders and gave each a Bankrate rating, which consists of three categories:

Availability: What the minimum loan amounts are, its eligibility requirements and loan turnaround are considered in this category.
Affordability: The interest rates, penalties and fees are measured in this section of the score. Lower rates and fees and fewer potential penalties result in a higher score.
Customer experience: This category covers customer service hours, if online applications are available, online account access and mobile apps.

Editorial disclosure: All reviews are prepared by Bankrate.com staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Check the data at the top of this page and the lender’s website for the most current information.

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