New Credit Union Program Aimed at Visiting Fellows

NIH welcomes thousands of scientists and clinicians from around the world to participate in fellowships and advance their careers. However, many who arrive internationally do so with restricted access to financial services and a limited understanding of the U.S. banking system. 

To address the situation, the NIH Federal Credit Union has launched its Fellows Advantage Program, a customized suite of products to help fellows gain access to needed credit and build a credit history that will make it easier for them to succeed financially in the future. 

“The NIHFCU is here to serve the entire NIH workforce, including those visiting the NIH as fellows,” said Rick Wieczorek, NIHFCU president & CEO. “We have recognized a real need within the NIH community and with support of our board of directors are proud to now offer the Fellows Advantage Program with unique borrowing opportunities to help visiting fellows with many of their basic financial needs.”

The Fellows Advantage Program intends to allow fellows possessing a Social Security number but no credit history to borrow from NIHFCU for a variety of basic needs including Visa credit cards (up to a $2,500 credit limit), mortgages, auto loans and unsecured loans.  

“With the Fellows Advantage Program, we hope to make the financial lives of NIH fellows just a bit easier so they can remain as focused as possible on their training goals,” said Steve Levin, NIHFCU vice president of marketing. “In addition to the loans we are making available, the program offers free multilingual financial counseling and online financial education tools. We are also excited to be working with our friends at FAES and elsewhere at the NIH to create seminars on various financial topics of importance to NIH fellows.”  

To learn more, visit nihfcu.org/fellows, call (800) 877-6440 or stop by an NIHFCU branch.