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Tips and Tricks

Amherst Federal Credit Union is dedicated to equipping our members with the tools and resources to make the most of their membership. Use this page to educate yourself about the evolving world of personal banking, obtain valuable information to help keep your accounts secure, learn about the various products and services the AFCU offers, and how to take full advantage of them.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Beginning July 7th, 2025, we are adding enhanced security features to our Online Banking platform including support for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). There’s a good chance you’ve heard of MFA and may already be using it when logging in to other platforms such as your email, social media, or bank accounts elsewhere. Enjoy these quick tips about MFA and how to use it with AFCU:

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Visa Travel Cards

Like it or not, plastic rules the banking world. While most people have at least one credit or debit card in their name, that may not always be the best option for every person or situation. If you remember Travelers Checks from days of old, get ready to learn about their evolution and multitude of modern uses.

Visa Travel Cards

How to Pay Your Loan

Congratulations! You just scored financing through Amherst Federal Credit Union. Whether it’s an auto loan, personal loan, or home equity line of credit, you might be wondering how you can make payments.

There’s a lot of ways to pay, here’s a few common methods.

  1. Pay with cash or check over the counter. One of the simplest ways to pay your loan is to stop into the AFCU office and pay via cash or check. These payments are applied immediately. Unfortunately, we are not currently capable of accepting payments with a credit or debit card.
  2. Pay with an automatic transfer. If you have funds coming into your AFCU checking or savings account regularly via payroll or otherwise, we can get you set up on an internal transfer. As long as the funds are available in your account on the agreed upon date of your transfer, you won’t have to worry about a thing. You may also take control over your automatic transfer by setting it up yourself through our Online Banking Platform.
  3. Pay using Online Bill Pay with an account elsewhere. If AFCU is not your primary financial institution, that’s okay! You can set up a recurring payment to come from your main account using that bank or credit union’s Online Bill Pay function. Note that these payments are typically sent via mail as a physical check, so be sure to set the payment date slightly earlier than your due date to allow time for the check to arrive in the mail.

Additional Tips: We will soon be integrating a new payment system called Fed Now. This will allow members to make real time transfers from external accounts to their AFCU accounts, which will make paying your loan that much easier. Stay tuned for updates on that.

Published May 1, 2025

Credit Building Basics

Your credit score can play an important role in determining not only how much credit certain lenders will extend to you, but also your interest rate, term limits, and other conditions. Unfortunately, there’s no quick, cheap way to magically build or fix your credit.

Instead, here’s some helpful tips to start building your score up.

  1. Start with an AFCU secured Visa Credit Card. If you’re just getting started on your credit journey, it may be beneficial to apply for a secured credit card. A secured card works just like a regular credit card, except you’ll have to secure a deposit for the limit of the card as an act of good faith. Make purchases, pay the balance, and build credit.
  2. Apply with a co-signer. Some lenders may be hesitant to do business if you have limited or poor credit history. Applying with a co-signer can help get your foot in the door. That being said, remember a co-signer is equally responsible for repayment of the loan, so only co-sign with someone that you have a stable, long term relationship with like a partner or family member.
  3. Keep an eye out for better rates to refinance or transfer balances. If you’ve already started your credit journey with a credit card or auto loan and you have been making consistent, on-time payments, it may be worthwhile to refinance your auto loan or transfer your credit card balance onto a different card. This can help lower your monthly payment, and/or reduce the amount of interest you’ll pay in total.

Published April 1, 2025

Spotting Scams

In today’s fast-paced and constantly changing world, more and more usually savvy consumers find themselves falling victim to scams. Even the most informed members can be caught off guard or misled by sophisticated scams that can unfortunately result in thousands in lost funds.

Spotting Scams