This spring, Army Veteran Cassandra Clouse was concerned about the impact a possible government shutdown would have on her finances. Now an engineer at the Air Force Research Lab in Ohio, Cassandra feared an indefinite furlough, which would leave her without income she needed to pay regular bills.
At the time, Cassandra had taken out a car loan with Navy Federal but had no other accounts with the credit union. When she learned about Navy Federal’s government assistance program offering eligible members whose pay might be affected 0% APR loans, she took action, moving her accounts into Navy Federal to meet eligibility criteria.
“I switched everything over to Navy Federal,” she says. This was not only because of the credit union’s shutdown assistance program but also because it offered better credit card rewards and consistently good customer service. She also alerted colleagues to the program, which Navy Federal has offered during previous shutdowns, when nearly 20,000 members received support.
“It takes away a little bit of the fear, for sure,” Cassandra says. “The idea that it could be a while before I see a paycheck is scary. … This is not something [Navy Federal] has to do. [Navy Federal] chooses to do it for members of the military community, a lot of whom live paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s a big deal.”
Read Cassandra Clouse’s story.
This story was submitted by Allison Stevens, Senior Corporate Communications Strategist IV, Navy Federal Credit Union.
