Continental FCU: ‘We Want People With Grease Under Their Fingernails’

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – In staving off a hostile takeover from the much larger Wings Financial FCU, management of Continental FCU sees the embattled credit union’s future closely intertwined with its airline sponsor’s blue collar workers. That’s where a variety of new products, including a low-balance money market fund, is targeted, according to Tom Glatt, president of the $180 million credit union. “We want people with grease under their fingernails,” Glatt told The Credit Union Journal. “We want people who work outside, who get their hands dirty.” He described them as baggage handlers, maintenance people, and ramp workers. The new money market fund, to be introduced in the next two weeks, will have minimum balances starting at $100, not the $2,500 required of many such funds. A recent CD promotion helped bring in $6 million in new shares in the first two months of the year. “We’ve got several other kinds of promotions planned,” said Glatt. “We’re doing a lot of the right things because we listen to our membership.” Glatt is trying to convince Continental members that the board of directors made the right decision in rejecting the takeover offer from Wings Financial FCU and committed to a strategy of expanding services, including full-service brokerages, additional ATM access, and shared branching. “We want to make it a value proposition for everybody,” said Glatt.