State Employees CU Introduces 'InterestDaily' Mortgage

RALEIGH, N.C. - (04/06/05) -- State Employees CU has begun a newmortgage program which allows members to choose when they want topay their mortgage and credits them for the interest paid from thedate of payment. The special offer, designed to save borrowers oninterest payments, is being made available on the credit union'stwo-year ARMs, for which all late fees are being eliminated, aswell, according to Jim Blaine, president of the nation's secondlargest credit union. "Members can pick their own payment schedule;they can pay bi-weekly, semi-monthly or weekly," Blaine told TheCredit Union Journal. "If they decide to pay a day early, they savea day's interest." The offer is restricted to the 80,000 or soborrowers of the credit union's two-year ARMs because fixed-ratemortgages are sold on the secondary market and must meet conformingpayment schedules, he explained. "This is an example of where acredit union can structure something to benefit its members,"Blaine said. The credit union has also slashed closing costs on allof its mortgage costs by half, to just 0.5%, with a maximum paymentof just $750, and eliminated all closing costs for first-timehomebuyers.