Veridian offers members loans to soften impact of shutdown

Iowa's largest credit union is offering its members interest-free loans to soften the impact of the government shutdown on their finances.

Veridian Credit Union is making the 30-day loans available to customers whose scheduled direct deposits from the federal government are disrupted by the government shutdown. The amount of the loan will be equal to the member's last direct deposit amount from the government.

Veridian members also can extend their loan payment for 30 days if they do not receive a regularly scheduled federal government payment. Members will have the option of receiving the interest-free loan or extending their loan payments, but they can not take advantage of both options.

"Our members have been asking how the government shutdown might impact their personal finances," said Monte Berg, Veridian senior vice president of finance. "We want to put our members' minds at ease."

Veridian, with assets of $2.5 billion, has offices in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Coralville, Iowa City, Independence, Marion, Oelwein, Waterloo and Waverly.