A low credit score isn’t a death sentence for your financial future. While it may complicate loan applications and other money matters in the short term, boosting your score is certainly possible… and we can help you sort it out! Here’s a quick guide to begin rebuilding your credit today.

The first step to fixing your credit is also the easiest. If you don’t already, start making on-time payments for your credit cards every month. Consecutive late payments will negatively impact your score, but you can turn the trend around by remembering to pay before the deadline. It may take several months of being on time, but eventually your score will improve.

Hard credit inquiries occur when you apply for a credit card or loan (soft inquires, by contrast, happen as a part of background checks or preapprovals, and don’t affect your score). If you apply for several loans or cards at once, lenders will likely suspect that you can’t qualify. Not only will you be unable to get the credit you need, your credit score will take a hit.

As an alternative to applying for more credit to get the money you need, take a hard look at your budget instead. Figure out ways to cut back on spending, and see if you can make bigger payments to your cards or loans every month. If the money just isn’t available, can you pick up a part-time job to supplement your income? Larger payments will reduce your debt (and related fees) more quickly, and lower your credit card utilization. As a result, your credit score will improve over time.

Miami Firefighters Federal Credit Union can help with your budgeting. Our Fire Financial Assistant was designed with the sole purpose of helping you get better insights into your finances. This simple tool will give you a better view of how you spend your money. And the best part is, you don’t have to set up anything to start! It’s already done for you! 

Additionally, your credit union has Quicken/Quickbooks. This great tool will help you keep track of your personal or business finances. You can manage your money across desktop + web + mobile. It can help you manage your investments and – in the newest feature – track the value of your home. The latest add-on is called ‘Direct Connect’ to make the transaction import process easier. Using this feature for tax-time is icing on the cake!

Buying a home will be one of the most important purchases you ever make. And now is the time to make that move.

Whether it is your first home, your last home or improving the look from the curb, we’ve partnered with a leading credit union mortgage service provider so that we may offer affordable and appealing home loans to you!

With low, fixed and adjustable rates, lower closing costs and NO intangible tax, you can choose from:

Call Dixie (NMLS 625560) in our Loan Department at 305.324.4004 or stop by today.

Zelle^® is a great way to send money to friends, family and others you trust, right from the Miami Firefighters FCU app. With Zelle^®, money moves directly from your bank account to another person's bank account, typically arriving in minutes*.

We know getting money to friends and family quickly and safely is important, so we've provided some friendly reminders on how to "pay it safe" when you're sending money with Zelle^®.

1. Use Zelle^® to pay friends, family and others you trust.

Fast and convenient, Zelle^® is a great way to pay people you trust. Money is sent directly from your bank account to another person's bank account, and can't be canceled if the other person is already enrolled with Zelle^®. Because of this, you should only send money to people you personally know and trust.

2. Know when Zelle^® is a good payment option, and when another payment method is better.

Zelle^® can be used to pay many important people in your life, for so many different reasons! Use Zelle^® to pay your roommate back for takeout or split the cost of necessities with a neighbor. However, if you aren't sure you will get what you paid for (for example, items bought from an online bidding or sales site), or you don't know and trust the person you're paying, we recommend you choose a different payment option. Neither Zelle^® nor Miami Firefighters FCU offers a protection program for authorized payments made with Zelle.

One of the key benefits of using Zelle^® is the ability to send money directly to another person's bank account in minutes*. That said, it's important you enter your recipient's U.S. mobile number or email address correctly. Always double check your recipient's contact info before you hit "send"!

Please remember that the safest way to send Zelle is through the Touchbanking app on your online banking account.