SALT LAKE CITY-Will Beehive CU convert or won't it?
That is the question its members are asking in the wake of a contentious conversion vote early in 2008 followed by silence. One member, Lori Christian-Chavez, told Credit Union Journal she has heard from a Beehive CU employee that management is reconsidering conversion "because now is not the time to be a bank-especially a small bank."
"Their financials aren't that good because they spent a lot of money on the conversion, then people pulled their money out," Christian-Chavez alleged.
Beehive showed $171.7 million in total shares and deposits as of Sept. 30, down from $173.7 million as of March 30. The $89.8-million CU reported net income of $365,938 and net worth of 9.27% as of Sept. 30, according to its 5300.
Beehive's management did not return numerous telephone calls seeking confirmation. On the "Company History" page on Beehive's website is the following pro-credit union statement: "Beehive puts our members' needs first. After all, the members are the owners and the reason we are in business! Beehive is a member-owned full service financial institution. Since its establishment in 1954, Beehive's sole purpose for being in business has been to provide our members with sound financial services. Any profits we make are returned to our members in the form of more convenient branch locations, more advanced online services, higher interest paid on savings, lower rates on loans and other affordable, convenient financial services. It makes good sense to save with and borrow from a credit union that you own!"
Teri Dial, a Beehive member for 30 years, had told Credit Union Journal in the spring she would be moving her accounts to another credit union because she did not want to be part of a bank. Reached recently, Dial said she did open accounts with another CU, "but there's no reason to leave Beehive as long as it is a credit union."
Dial said Beehive hosted a meeting on Nov. 25, but only gave members two weeks' notice.
"That was Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, so I was unable to attend," she said. "No one knows when they will convert. As far as I know it is not a bank and I don't know what is going to happen next."
Christian-Chavez said she still has "a couple of small accounts" at Beehive, but has moved the majority of her accounts to another credit union.
"My family had 20 accounts there, and the bulk of those have moved as have most of the people I know who banked there," she reported. "The whole conversion was done for the wrong reasons, and it looks like they are getting their just desserts. It looks like they might not get any money out of it. But we've moved on."
Originally Reported In CU Journal: Oct. 10, 2007
Search At cujournal.com
Beehive
