North Alabama Educators Credit Union

3 NAECU.ORG NOT FOR PROFIT, NOT FOR CHARITY, BUT FOR SERVICE THE PROBLEM IS that many borrowers are not able to repay the loan when payday rolls around—which is exactly what payday lenders count on. The vast majority of their profit comes from extending the loan, allowing the borrower to pay the minimum amount and move the loan forward to the next payday. The borrower ends up paying more interest at a very high rate. Payday lenders in Alabama can charge their customers a whopping 456.25% annual percentage rate (APR)! Repeat borrowers can soon find themselves forced to skip paying bills or delay buying necessities just to break the cycle of a payday loan. The National Consumer Law Center reports that personal loans from credit unions are among the most sensible alternatives to payday loans. With reasonable interest rates and realistic repayment plans, a credit union loan can help you solve the cash crisis you're experiencing today and maybe even help improve your future financial standing. North Alabama Educators Credit Union offers personal loans with affordable fixed interest rates, loan terms up to 60 months, and payments as low as $50 per month. TO LEARN MORE, VISIT NAECU.ORG/RATES.PHP. SECRET SHOPPER COMPANIES have flourished during the past 20 years as a way for retailers and service providers to gain a better understanding of their customer experience. Before signing up as a secret shopper, though, be on the lookout for telltale signs of a scam. These include requests for you to pay a registration fee, o en to a website, or in another common, more elaborate scam, to "evaluate" a money transfer service. In the money transfer scheme, the scammer sends the mystery shopper a check for a large sum of money. The shopper is instructed to cash the check and use a wire transfer service to send the bulk of the funds back to the company. As payment, the scammer tells the shopper to keep a portion of the money from the cashed check. In reality, the check turns out to be counterfeit, the shopper is out the transferred money, and the scammer is long gone. FINDING THE REAL DEAL If you want to work as a mystery shopper for a legitimate company, know what to expect. Mystery shopper jobs pay on a per-item basis, so think of it as an occasional job. Legitimate secret shopper companies reimburse their mystery shoppers for the purchased goods or services and allow the mystery shopper to keep the products. Some companies also pay a small amount— between $15 and $20 per job. In return, you provide a detailed evaluation form to the company before being paid. Keep Your Pay IN YOUR POCKET WHEN YOU NEED CASH QUICKLY FOR AN EMERGENCY, A PAYDAY LOAN MAY SEEM LIKE A GOOD SOLUTION. BUT FOR MANY BORROWERS, THAT SHORT-TERM LOAN CAN TURN INTO LONG-TERM DEBT. IF YOU ARE TEMPTED BY MYSTERY SHOPPER ADS OR EMAILS, READ THIS BEFORE YOU COMMIT. SOME SECRET SHOPPER PROMOTIONS ARE SCAMS THAT CAN LEAVE YOU FOOTING THE BILL. Skip the Scams

• Cover