Frequently Asked Questions

In late 2006, the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign formed a new 501C3 charity to help employees facing an immediate crisis in their family.  Through the donations of employees to the Virginia State Employee Emergency Fund, grants were made to employees facing an unplanned financial need caused by serious illness of a loved one, storm damage to their home, or funeral expenses.

It became obvious that some employees needed a different form of assistance caused by events that that were non-emergencies but required some financial help to weather tough times.  This new program is designed to help employees fill the financial gap through short term loans.

The Virginia Credit Union, CVC’s partner in the loan program, has been assisting state employees with their financial needs for more than 80 years.

To be eligible for Virginia State Employees Loan Program you must be an active full-time state employee who has been employed with the Commonwealth for at least 12 months. Employees should be paid semi-monthly or monthly.  Employees on other pay schedules or without a state-issued ID number are not eligible at this time.  Employees at Independent agencies, wage employees, and independent agency employees are not eligible at this time. As the program grows, we hope to add more employee groups to the program.

If you are not currently eligible for the loan program, you may be eligible for other types of personal loans offered by the Virginia Credit Union.

Employees must agree to direct deposit for loan payments once the loan is approved. When completing the application, be sure to use your state-assigned employee ID number, not your Social Security number.  Your Employee ID number may be found on your health benefits card directly below your name.  You will need to type in two zeros and then your seven digit ID number on the application, to make it a nine-digit number. Enter the zeros and only the seven digits of your ID number, and not any letters.

The Annual Percentage Rate on the Virginia State Employee Loan Program (VSELP) Loan is 24.99% and there is no loan fee on top of that, such as those charged by some other lenders.  Interest is calculated daily on the declining loan balance. This means an employee could pay the loan off at any time and reduce the total amount of interest he or she would pay. See comparison chart.

The loan payments are spread over an approximate six-month term to enable a state employee to pay off the loan through small regular payments, rather than having to come up with a lump sum to pay the loan at one time.

On a $100 VSELP loan repaid each semi-monthly payday over a six-month term, an employee would pay approximately $8-$9 in total interest depending on the number of days between their payments. Total repayment would be approximately $108-$109.

On a $500 VSELP loan repaid each semi-monthly payday over a six-month term, an employee would pay approximately $40-$45 in total interest depending on the number of days between their payments.

The total amount of interest paid on a VSELP loan is much less than the total cost an employee might pay some other lenders for a short-term loan. Depending on the type of loan an employee might get from a lender, the Annual Percentage Rate could be considerably higher. Virginia law allows some lenders to charge interest plus a loan origination fee of not more than 20% of the loan proceeds, and a $5 verification fee. For a $500 loan, this would result in paying $112 in interest and fees plus the repayment of the loan amount of $500, yielding a 584% APR cost. See comparison chart.

In addition to paying a lower cost for a VSELP loan, this loan program gives the employee an opportunity to repay the loan over a longer period of time while gaining financial education that will help them in making future financial decisions.

This program will not allow employees to receive more than $500 per loan. However, state employees who have great financial need may want to consult their local social services department, area nonprofits/religious organizations, or call 2-1-1 (which is a referral service for those in need).

No more than two loans per calendar year. You may have only one program loan at a time.

The purpose of the loan will be requested but details are not required.

There is no credit check, however; Virginia Credit Union will report the loan and payment history to the credit reporting agencies.

The Virginia Credit Union, our partner in this program, is making this loan program (and the funds to loan) accessible to state employees across the Commonwealth.  No money that was designated to charities or gifts to charities or are being used.  VACU is the lender.

Being a credit union member is required to receive any type of loan from a credit union.  Credit Unions operate in the not-for-profit financial arena and depend on deposits from members to have money available for all types of loan products.  It is simple to become a member of the VACU.  Go to www.vacu.org.

Applicants may be declined for the Virginia State Employees Loan Program loan if you are not a member in good standing with the Virginia Credit Union or if you do not meet other requirements for the loan. (See Loan Check List) 
Funds will not be made available to you if your payroll direct deposit has not been confirmed by your payroll officer.

You may have another VACU loan outstanding while applying to Virginia State Employees Loan Program but your loan cannot be delinquent. Employees can only have one open Virginia State Employees Loan Program loan at a time (two loans maximum per calendar year)

When your application is approved and you have delivered (or faxed) your direct deposit form to your payroll office, someone at the payroll office will send an email to the loan processor acknowledging that you have completed the direct deposit form.  This email may be sent by payroll immediately and does not have to happen after the direct deposit information has been entered into the Payroll system.  Sending the email confirmation and entering the data into a payroll system do not have to occur in the same day. 

Funds will appear in your VACU account within 24-48 hours of Payroll sending a confirmation notice to the loan processor.  If you provided an email address when you completed the application, you will receive an email notification when your loan is approved.  Once payroll has emailed the loan processor that she/he has the direct deposit form, funds are generally placed in your account within 4 to 48 hours. 

Once applications are submitted, employees will sign and submit their Virginia State Employees Loan Program direct deposit form (generated by the online application) to their payroll officer.  Your payroll officer will then notify the Virginia State Employees Loan Program administrator via email that the form has been received. Loan funds will be deposited to the employee’s VACU account once all requirements are fulfilled.

The program allows employees up to six months to repay funds via direct deposit.

You must sign and complete a Virginia State Employees Loan Program direct deposit form. This form is pre-filled for you during the online application to help employees with the process.  You need to take (or fax) the direct deposit form to your payroll office before the loan amounts will be posted to your account.

If your loan is funded (loan funds placed in your VACU account) prior to the 15th of the month, your first full payment will be due on the 18th of the following month. This means if you are paid on the 1st and 16th of the month then the first half of your payment should arrive on the 1st and the second half of your payment arrive on the 16th to ensure a full payment by the due date. If you are paid monthly then the full payment must arrive prior to the due date. If the payments are not received the loan then becomes in default on the 19th of the month after which you received the funds.

Yes. Since interest is calculated on the outstanding daily balance, the sooner you pay off the loan, the less interest you will pay. To repay the loan early, go to a VACU branch so they can calculate the payoff amount for you.

When an employee with a VSELP loan is separated from their agency for any reason, including termination, resignation, separation, and furloughs, the total balance due on the loan will be immediately due and will be subtracted from your next paycheck.

Yes.

Email fsprmb@dhrm.virginia.gov and indicate your name, daytime phone number, and your employee ID number so your loan can be researched before you receive a response.