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. On June 30th, I celebrated 25 years as President of GECU (32 years in total working here). While things have certainly changed over these past 25 years, our mission and core values have remained the same – something I am very proud of.
Our job is to improve the financial well-being of our members. If we can save you money, or time, or hassle in your financial dealings, then this has a positive impact on your overall well-being. So scratch that – our job is really to improve your total well-being, we just do this by helping you in the financial arena.
For us, this also means doing our very best in ALL areas of your finances -with our deposit products, payment products, and of course loans. Other credit unions may focus on one area - loans for example - and be very good and competitive with their rates and fees. But they pay very low rates on their deposit products and charge exorbitant fees there. Or some credit unions may decide to focus on deposits only, and get out of lending altogether. Yes, you can get a loan almost anywhere – at the dealer, or an online mortgage broker, or through any online channel. But how much more will you pay in rates, or especially fees? How much does the dealer charge for GAP coverage? How much more are you paying in origination fees with that online mortgage lender? We take great pride in giving back and saving you money in all areas – from our many loan products (auto loans, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans), to our savings products (CDs with great rates, our best in market Green² Checking Account, IRAs, Money Market Accounts, special savings accounts), to our many ways to access your account (online and mobile apps, remote deposit, shared branching).
As a credit union, we are owned by you, the members. We take that responsibility very seriously, as you are placing your trust in us to safeguard your finances. Which brings me to my final point. There may be bigger institutions out there, but I’ll put our service up against any of them. Convenience is important – many larger credit unions can offer that with their multiple branches and online offerings. But when you have an issue, dealing with a real person who can help is also important. And you often DON’T find that at larger places. We are far from perfect, but we try, and we understand that personal service, COMBINED with best in market rates, fees, and products, makes us among the best credit unions in the area, if not the country.
This is backed up by industry data. Of the 700 credit unions in our asset range in the entire country, we are ranked number 1 in member service usage. And we rank 11th overall for returning value to our members, according to Callahan & Associates. For ALL credit unions in the country, from the smallest, to those well over a Billion dollars in assets, we rank in the top 2% in member value. We are extremely proud of this rating, as it means we are returning value in ALL areas – not just loans, or deposits, or products – but in everything. Just as it’s been for 89 years, that will continue to be our mission.
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