Affinity Becomes Iowa’s First CU to Reduce, Eliminate Fees

Add Iowa to the list of credit unions in Illinois, New Mexico, Florida, Wisconsin and Oklahoma that have either reduced or eliminated overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees this year.

On Thursday, Affinity Credit Union ($139.7 million in assets, 13,387 members) in Des Moines, Iowa said beginning Nov. 1, the credit union will reduce its ATM and debit card purchase overdraft fees from $25 to $15 and eliminate overdraft fees for debit card transactions of $5 of less. According to the credit union, the reduction and elimination of the fees could result in a projected annual revenue loss of $200,000.

This decision by the credit union made Affinity the first credit union in Iowa, and possibly the first financial institution in the state, to reduce or eliminate these fees.

In a statement, Affinity President/CEO Jim Dean said, “Our members should not have to worry about paying an overdraft fee just to buy milk for their child. Proactively eliminating fees is not what most financial institutions would do, but we are not most financial institutions.”

According to Affinity, the decision to reduce and eliminate the overdraft fees was based on an attempt to help members who are chronically financially struggling and stuck in a cycle of debt. Dean had wanted to make this change since his arrival in 2018, but technology and programming issues delayed the announcement.

“Excessive fees can lead to prolonged negative account balances, with each fee making it harder and harder to escape the cycle of debt. These fee adjustments reflect Affinity’s desire to help those who may be struggling to break that cycle,” the credit union said in a statement.

In an email to CU Times, a spokesperson expanded a bit more on the reasoning of the fee changes. “Affinity is a low income designated credit union (likely to receive CDFI status in a few months after applying for it for the first time this year), and we felt these changes would have a significant impact on the financial well-being of our membership. We looked at it from a human aspect, as members and consumers ourselves.”

“We’ve all struggled with finances at some point,” Dean said. “When money is tight, we want our members to be able to put gas in their car and buy groceries without having to worry about excessive fees. At its core, this is a decision that was made in the best interest of our members and community, not our bottom line.”

Earlier in October, U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union dropped all overdraft fees for personal and business checking accounts.

The Albuquerque-based U.S. Eagle ($1.3 billion in assets, 83,029 members) said roughly 10,000 to 20,000 of its members each year were having to pay some kind of overdraft fee or NSF fee. Eliminating the fees, which range from $29 to $33 per incident, will result in the credit union losing somewhere between $1.5 million and $3 million each year.

Other credit unions that have reduced or eliminated fees include:

• As of Oct. 1, the Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based Power Financial Credit Union eliminated all overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees for members with personal or business accounts.
• In September, the Oklahoma City-based WEOKIE Federal Credit Union reduced its fees from $27.50 per occurrence to $15 per occurrence.
• In August, the $14 billion Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union stopped charging members for overdraft fees or NSFs on all checking and savings accounts. Alliant remains the largest credit union to eliminate those fees.
• In July, the Madison, Wis.-based UW Credit Union reduced its overdraft and NSFs from $30 per occurrence to $5.

Dean added, “Ultimately our goal is to live our mission statement of ‘Building Better Lives’ and we are doing everything within our power to help our members do just that. By reducing fees, we are putting more money in our members’ pockets, helping them take care of their families and build wealth for the future.”