At Delta Community, membership means more. When you become a member of our Credit Union—not just a client or a customer, but a member—you become part of our family, and family members take care of each other. During this year, as we've managed through the quarantine and social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made additional efforts to be safely available to our members. This required us to be flexible, as we have adapted to health concerns and the special needs of members who have been adversely affected by the U.S. and personal economic consequences of the pandemic. Below are details explaining our programs to help members with financial problems.
If you’d like to know what members have said about their experiences with us during this tough year, please check out their video testimonials. We want our members to know that we deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve you and remain committed to providing you consistent, excellent service. Credit unions were always there to help in the past during rough times, and Delta Community is here to help now and in the future.
Special forbearance and loan programs for the pandemic
For members who suffered financial hardships due to illness or a layoff from work due to COVID-19, Delta Community already had in operation several member assistance forbearance and other programs available to help qualifying members overcome these hardships. Forbearance temporarily allows you to pay your mortgage (or other loan) at a lower payment or defer paying your mortgage for a time. Specifically, these programs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Fee Waivers. As with almost all financial institutions, Delta Community does charge fees in certain circumstances and for some services, ranging from stop payment, returned deposited or cashed items, late payment, non-sufficient funds, to rush delivery and account research, among others. For members, Delta Community may waive certain fees incurred because of demonstrated financial hardship.
- Deferrals. Deferred payments (deferrals) are payments (usually for paying loans) that are completely or partially postponed because of financial difficulties. When you request, negotiate, and agree to a loan deferment with Delta Community, you're allowed to temporarily stop making payments on the loan. During this deferral period you will not incur late payment fees and we will not report missed payments to the credit bureaus.
- Payment Holidays. A Payment Holiday is an option to skip—for a limited time—a consumer loan payment on loans that have been opened for six months. Interest will continue to accrue and the original term of the loan will be extended, if applicable. Real Estate Loans, Business, Overdraft Protection, Holiday Loans, Visa® Young Adult and Secured Credit Card Loans are not eligible for Payment Holidays. For all Consumer Loans except Line of Credit and Visa Platinum Rewards, two Payment Holidays may be taken per loan per calendar year with a maximum of five for the life of the loan. Line of Credit and Visa Platinum Rewards may only take two Payment Holidays per calendar year. Payment Holidays may not be requested for consecutive months.
- Reduced Payments. With reduced payments, you will work with us to calculate ongoing lower, but still regular, loan payments that are practical within your budget. Interest will continue to accrue to the loan principal.
- Short-term Personal Loans. On a case-by-case basis, we may provide members with a short-term Personal Loan for a period of a few weeks or months; this loan could be used to pay off outstanding bills. Personal loans are loans that are approved without collateral based on credit worthiness. This loan allows you to borrow money on your signature, although your Personal Loan may be subject to cross-collateralization, which is when the collateral for one loan is also used as collateral for another loan. Examples of these loans include Personal Loan, Personal Line of Credit, etc. There is no minimum loan amount required for a Personal Loan.
- SBA Loans and the CARES Act. Earlier in 2020, Delta Community made loans to members with commercial accounts under the Paycheck Protection Program as administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). During the loan application period, we accepted as many applications as we could, since the total amount of applications was limited and dependent on the finite amount of funding created by the CARES Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in the first quarter of 2020.
Changes in branches to assist members and protect their health
While we are helping you manage your finances during this challenging time, we also very much care about the personal well-being of you and your family. That's why throughout most of this year, we dynamically evolved the way we work to sustain the exceptional, consistent personal support you rely on and deserve, while taking precautions to protect the health of our members and employees. These adaptations included:
- We changed how our branches operated. Temporarily, we closed our branch lobbies, and our community branches operated on a drive-thru and appointment-only basis in accordance with federal and state guidance to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
- We provided online scheduling for appointments. We added an online scheduling tool to the homepage of our website and in our Mobile App so you can quickly and easily make an appointment at your preferred branch when you require assistance with a complex financial transaction or loan.
- We implemented new safety measures in our branches. After re-opening our branches to walk-in traffic, we implemented several safety measures in our branches, including social distancing markers on the flooring, cough guards at concierge desks and teller windows, and our employees wearing face masks. We also increased our internal housekeeping efforts to more frequently wipe down surfaces.
If you need special assistance because of the pandemic, please contact us
We are available to try to work through your unique needs during the pandemic. Please walk in to one of our branches or schedule your branch appointment with us.
Additionally, we encourage you to take advantage of Delta Community's self-service channels such as Online Banking and our Mobile App to check balances, pay bills, deposit checks, transfer funds, or securely email us. As always, we have our dedicated, 24/7-member care assistance by phone through our Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system at 800-544-3328.
