It's holiday loan season, and credit union lenders across the country are joining the ranks of Santa's little helpers. Many of them are offering funds to help members fulfill their holiday fantasies, but often at surprisingly high rates. It's easy to find holiday loans priced at 8%, 12% and even 17.95%, but the true bargains remain as elusive as flying reindeer.

We found five credit unions that offered loans at rates of 5% APR or less. We asked them about their loans and terms and how the 5% rates affected their bottom lines. There were no Grinches among this lending group, and each one was happier than the next to tell us the secret of their low loan rate success for both the credit union and its members.

Click through to learn how and why each credit union was able to offer such a low rate on this product.

Riverset Credit Union

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Assets: $116.9 million          

Members: 13,860

Field of Membership: Community charter covering Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Our "5 for 5" loan program allows members to borrow $5,000 at 5% APR for 36 months. This is the second time we've offered this loan during the holiday season.

We initially offered this loan a few years ago as a summertime promotion.  Although we converted to a community charter in 2009, the largest segment of our membership is still comprised of area educators who are only paid 10 months out of the year. While some take advantage of our summer club savings product, many choose to borrow during this time. We found this offer to be wildly popular and felt it would be best to also offer the same product during the holiday season.

As a holiday program, it is extremely popular! Through December 15^th we have funded more than $270,000 in "5 for 5" promotional loans. The members ask for it when they apply.

The loan has a very positive effect for the credit union's bottom line as well as providing a great service to the membership. It prompts members to inquire about loans who otherwise might not be thinking of borrowing or are afraid to try to borrow. 

Often, we see that many members who apply have a deeper need for financial help and stability when we review their needs. In many cases we are able to offer even more solid financial help to the membership by consolidating nagging debt or alleviating other needs with a home equity product, many times at a rate even lower than 5%. 

Even if this isn't an option and the member doesn't qualify for the promotion, we can work to get them in a product with terms that will work for them and provide value to all parties.  So we have actually funded much more than the $270,000+ because members with greater financial needs applied who otherwise would not have.

We plan to offer the loan again because it opens the door to the membership to communicate their financial needs to us. It creates an atmosphere for communication and solid borrowing solutions for members who need them.

Mark Reynolds, director of lending

Lisa Florian, director of operations

Teachers Federal Credit Union

Hauppauge, N.Y.

Assets: $5 billion      

Members: 245,000-plus

Field of Membership: Nassau and Suffolk counties

 The TFCU Holiday Loan is a 24-month loan offered at 5%, with a maximum amount of $ 3,000.

The loan was offered in the past, but we pulled back during the economic downturn. We reintroduced the Holiday Loan this year as an opportunity to assist our members over the holidays. TFCU offers Vacation Loans , a similar product, over the summer months.

So far we have loaned out $283,000. While it is not a hugely popular product, we see it as one more way to provide service to our membership. The Holiday Loan is an opportunity to provide the membership with assistance during the holidays.  It does not generate a tremendous amount of loans for us.

Despite that we will offer the Holiday Loan annually.

Nancy J. Orlando, senior vice president, credit

Boston Firefighters Credit Union

Dorchester Center, Mass.

Assets: $207 million             

Members: 7,000

Field of Membership: Firefighters and their families throughout Massachusetts, but mostly in the Boston area

Our Holiday Loan program offers loans at 5% APR for a 12-month period up to $5,000. The same terms apply to everyone.

I've been at the credit union for 12 years and we've offered Holiday Loans for as long as I've been here, and even before that. So far this year we've written 460 loans for just slightly under $2 million. Compared to years past, the number is relatively typical, give or take a few loans and a few thousand dollars.

With more than $200 million on our balance sheet, our Holiday Loans comprise right around 1%, which doesn't have a dramatic impact one way or the other. But I would certainly rather have the money out in loans to my member than in overnight funds.

The loan program does make money, and over the course of the year brings in about $50,000 worth of interest income to the bottom line. It's not floating our boat, but at the same time it doesn't hurt. It makes a positive contribution to earnings and is a valuable resource to members this time of year.

It ties in with everything we do here. We provide simple and honest banking. This is a solution to allow members to finance Christmas purchase and that's about as straightforward as you can get.

Bernie Winne, president/CEO

CoVantage Credit Union

Antigo, Wis.

Assets: $1.1 billion               

Members: 82,195

Field of Membership: Anyone who lives or works in any of 18 northern Wisconsin or two Upper Michigan counties.

With our Holiday Bucks program, we offer rates from 2.95% to 8.95%, depending on credit score and loan amount, with terms as long as 48 months. These are consumer loans we offer at discounted rates with or without collateral. We have been offering holiday loans for more than 10 years.

The loan program is very popular and our members, and they start calling us in October asking when we will begin offering Holiday Bucks. The program begins Nov. 1, and in the past month-and-one-half we have lent out more than $22 million in consumer loans to our members.

The loan is very positive both in terms of the member benefit and income to the credit union. We serve many members of low to moderate means and this loan allows us to grant requests at exceptional rates.

As an example, in the month of November we granted 936 loans to members who borrowed $1,000 or less. In addition, our consumer loan balances have risen $5 million in the past two months alone, so we get a strong financial benefit as well. Many of our members transfer higher rate debt to us during this promotion.

Do we plan to offer holiday loans again? Absolutely.

Charlie Zanayed, senior vice president and chief retail officer

Community Financial Credit Union

Plymouth, Mich.

Assets: $597.5 million          

Members: 57,524

Field of Membership: Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in any 23 southern Michigan countries

Our loan is simply called a Holiday Loan.  It's a fixed-term personal loan with rates as low as 4.49% APR. We offer up to $3000 for a term of up to 12 months.

This is our fourth year offering the Holiday Loan.  We tried other loan promotions, but have settled on this Holiday Loan and really like getting it out there for members needing extra money during the holidays. 

Members do ask for it, usually around late October.  We like that we can offer something at a time of year that members need it and we can do it with a great rate that is still good for the credit union and overall membership.  Members like the flexibility of choosing the loan amount (up to $3,000) and repayment speed (up to 12 months.)

It's a loan that serves our member's needs, and that's what is most important.  It has good yield for us and losses are not substantial. We plan to offer the loan annually to members. 

Jill M. Johnson, vice president of lending