Frequently Asked Questions

If the member wishes to have a joint account with some other person, a Joint Share Account Agreement must be signed by the persons who are to be the joint owners with right of survivorship. Persons not within the field of membership may become joint owners but may not become members of the Credit Union. Such persons have no vote and cannot borrow. If the joint owner is within the field of membership, such persons may become a member by filling out an Application for Membership and by signing a membership card at the office.

When a joint account has been established, any one of the joint owners may make payments into the account, withdraw funds from the account, or pledge the shares as security for a loan, without the signature of the other joint owner(s).

The Joint Share Account is used to create a joint ownership of a member’s share account and to provide that upon the death of any joint owner, the surviving joint owner(s) retains ownership of the amounts represented by the account.

A joint owner who is not within the field of membership may not continue the share account in the Credit Union after the member dies. Such an account may be retained, at the option of the owner, in the Credit Union until the close of the current dividend period, at which time the account must be closed.

Yes, you can remain a member and retain all rights and privileges if you are a retired employee. Once a member always a member.

The field of membership is limited to those having the following common bond:
Employees of the BP Oil Co. (Ind.) and its wholly owned subsidiaries who work in Whiting, Hammond, East Chicago, or Merrillville, Indiana; all annuitants from the above employment; employees of this Credit Union; and persons related by blood or marriage to the above.

Sign a membership card at the office. Open your savings account with at least one share ($5.00).

Deposits to your accounts may be made by U.S. Mail, over the counter, and direct deposit. We can also take check deposit through the mobile app.

Either stop by the credit union, phone in a withdrawal to be mailed, or request a check to be mailed from the Home Banking platform.

Dividends are paid on a quarterly basis and earn interest from the date of deposit to the date of withdrawal. Dividends are paid: 3/31, 6/30, 9/30, 12/31. Note: On your income tax forms, credit union dividends are reported as “income from interest” and not as corporate (stockholders) dividends.

The following can withdraw your savings by presenting death certificate and/or administrator papers.
For SINGLE ACCOUNTS — your executor, if you leave a will; your administrator, if you leave no will.
For JOINT ACCOUNTS — the survivor

After membership is established, come into the office and complete an application. Or use our new on-line loan application. All loans are subject to review by the Loan Officers for approval or denial. Permanently employed members must have 6 months of service with their respective employers to qualify for a loan. Verification of income is required and must be submitted with each loan application.

Yes, you can refinance an existing loan (without penalty) before it is paid in full, if you need extra funds. It is also possible to obtain a second type loan before a previous loan is paid off.

With rare exceptions, the Credit Union offers the most favorable rate you can get. No extra charges — no minimum charges — no carrying charges. Your interest is figured only on the unpaid balance, not on the entire amount of the loan.

— go right along with low interest rates. The lower the charges, the lower the monthly payments. We work out financing to fit your needs and income.

There are no “hidden charges” on the Credit Union plan, and we give you a clear statement of the true annual interest, dollar cost of the loan, and the terms.

To see what types of loans and the current rates are, please visit our page on Loans.

To make check processing faster, federal law permits banks to replace original checks with “substitute checks.” These checks are similar in size to original checks with a slightly reduced image of the front and back of the original check. The front of a substitute check states: “This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check.” You may use a substitute check as proof of payment just like the original check.

Some or all of the checks that you receive back from us may be substitute checks. This notice describes rights you have when you receive substitute checks from us. The rights in this notice do not apply to original checks or electronic debits to your account. However, you have rights under other laws with respect to those transactions.

In certain cases, federal law provides a special procedure that allows you to request a refund for losses you suffer if a substitute check is posted to your account (for example, if you think that we withdrew the wrong amount from your account or that we withdrew money from your account more than once for the same check). The losses you may attempt to recover under this procedure may include the amount that was withdrawn from your account and fees that were charged as a result of the withdrawal (for example, bounced check fees).

The amount of your refund under this procedure is limited to the amount of your loss or the amount of the substitute check, whichever is less. You also are entitled to interest on the amount of your refund if your account is an interest-bearing account. If your loss exceeds the amount of the substitute check, you may be able to recover additional amounts under other law.

If you use this procedure, you may receive up to $2,500 of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) within 10 business days after we received your claim and the remainder of your refund (plus interest if your account earns interest) not later than 45 calendar days after we received your claim.

We may reverse the refund (including any interest on the refund) if we later are able to demonstrate that the substitute check was correctly posted to your account.

If you believe that you have suffered a loss relating to a substitute check that you received and that was posted to your account, please contact us at (219) 659-3254. You must contact us within 40 calendar days of the date that we mailed (or otherwise delivered by a means to which you agreed) the substitute check in question or the account statement showing that the substitute check was posted to your account, whichever is later. We will extend this time period if you were not able to make a timely claim because of extraordinary circumstances.

Your claim must include:

• A description of why you have suffered a loss (for example you think that amount withdrawn was incorrect);
• An estimate of the amount of your loss;
• An explanation of why the substitute check you received is insufficient to confirm that you suffered a loss; and
• A copy of the substitute check (and/or) the following information to help us identify the substitute check:
  • The check number
  • The name of the person to whom you wrote the check
  • The amount of the check