GECU Blog 

If you have watched the news recently, you may have seen the announcement that the President would like to cap credit card interest rates at 10% APR*. While as a general rule, we are not big fans of government overregulation, we do appreciate the intent behind this announcement. We agree that institutions or stores charging rates of 20% APR*, 25% APR* or even over 30% APR* is outrageous, but that has never been the case at GECU. And it’s one more reason that you should value your membership (and convince others to join to share in the benefits).

We performed an interesting exercise at a recent staff meeting that opened our eyes a bit with regards to member service. In looking at our member transactions on a monthly basis we discovered the following...

Scams have been around forever (Ponzi scheme, anyone?), but technology and the internet have made them proliferate exponentially! We face a difficult balancing act, wanting to offer you all the ease and convenience of electronic services and keep you safe from scammers. Some days, it feels like we are losing this battle.

I’m the first to say I may be just a bit biased. Let’s get that out of the way right from the start. With that being said, I still think GECU is the best credit union in the area, and one of the best in the entire country. The issue is that consumers have many different opinions on what makes an institution great, and different reasons for where they bank. This month, I’d like to make the case for GECU.

At our last annual meeting, we were just a week removed from our core system upgrade. That first week was unlike anything I, or anyone on our staff, has ever experienced. The phones rang off the hook from the opening minute to closing time, as we helped members enroll in the new online banking, and were learning the new system ourselves. I know I’ve said it before, but thank you for your patience during that time. Conversions are never easy, but we are happy to have the hard work behind us, so that we can focus on the future.

1935. The country was coming out of the great depression and the credit union movement in the United States, thanks to the recent passage of the Federal Credit Union Act, was taking off. Included in that group was the People’s Power Employees Credit Union.

What is our mission as a credit union? Why do we exist? While you may not spend a lot of time thinking about this topic, this thought often fills my mind.

It’s been a whirlwind here at GECU as we have been working through our recent upgrade. This project has been in the works for over two years now, and our hard work has paid off with a successful implementation, minus a few minor snags along the way! So, forgive me if I haven’t found the time to blog for a while...

We take great pride in a lot of things at GECU – our exceptional member service, our low fees, our great rates on loans, and more. But one area where we have always stood out has been our savings rates. Whether it’s our Green² Checking account paying 3.00%, or our Money Market Account, or CDs, we have traditionally paid among the best rates in the nation. Even when interest rates were at record lows for much of the past decade, our average dividend rate has been higher than every other peer group – whether it’s other credit unions in the Quad Cities, credit unions in our same asset size, or all credit unions in the entire country. We have always made sure to give back to our members on both sides of the balance sheet – savings AND loans. And in those years where we have been able, we’ve even paid out a bonus dividend to members, totaling over $1.2 million.

One of the many things we have prided ourselves on over the years is staying on the forefront of technology. We’re definitely not the biggest credit union out there, nor have any desire to be, so we may not be the first in the marketplace when a new service arrives. But we’re usually not too far behind, and sometimes, we even beat our bigger brethren to the punch.

One of the many responsibilities I have as CEO of GECU is to keep abreast of industry trends, economic cycles, and what our competition is doing. We want to make sure that our rates are always competitive and that we are offering the products and services that you need and want.

While there have been scams out there since the beginning of recorded time, the internet and social media have it easier than ever for the bad actors to take advantage of good people. And it seems like the past few years, we have seen a huge uptick in these online scams and members falling victim. As your financial institution, and trusted partner, we want to do everything in our power to prevent our members from being taken advantage, and it all starts with education.

When financial institutions, banks and credit unions both, advertise, we promote our great CD rates, or low loan rates. GECU is no different, other than we really do pay better rates on our savings products, and offer lower rates on loans. But that’s for another post. What financial institutions don’t promote or emphasize are our fees. And that’s a shame, because in this day and age, I would argue fees can have a much bigger impact on your financial well-being than a small difference in an interest rate in most cases.

If you watched or read the news these past few weeks, you are no doubt aware of the recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank, a $209 Billion bank headquartered in California. This is the largest bank failure in the US since the financial crisis of 2008-09, and has sparked a lot of questions about the safety of your deposits, and the health of the banking industry. We wanted to take this opportunity to address your concerns and put to rest any questions you may have.

At GECU, our annual meeting has always been a big deal. Held on a Saturday night, with a buffet dinner and a cash bar, with drawings and trivia and an all-around good time. This year, we had over 200 members attend the annual meeting at The Stern Center in Rock Island (if you’re looking for a great venue, give them a call!) Of course, we could save some money if we scaled this back. But for us, the annual meeting is more than just a requirement. It’s a celebration of our members and of our success.

There’s many things we take great pride in here at GECU, but chief among them is communicating with our members. After all, you are the owners of the credit union, and have a right to know what’s going on and to understand our operating philosophy. Deciding to add a blog to our website is just one more way for us to communicate our mission and core values, and to keep you informed.