SEATTLE – Express CU is expanding into the underserved market with the help of 16 area non-profits groups that will provide their clients with on-site financial services through the credit union.
The program, which represents a whole new direction for the $9 million, 70-year-old institution, combines a credit union with a nonprofit arm and community outreach. The organization's new non-profit arm, Express Advantage, can receive foundation money and make grants for financial education, credit counseling and case management.
Under the program, Express will maintain regular hours at the non-profits, which includes YWCA, Catholic Community Services, Hopelink, Solid Ground, and Neighborhood House. Clients of the non-profits will be able to open accounts, deposit paychecks and apply for small loans, but the quasi-branches won't handle cash. The clients instead will go to the credit union's main office and a network of ATMs and/or BECU branches to get cash.
Express has raised $2.3 million in charitable support for the project from a variety of sources. Most of the initial funding comes from the Medina Foundation, a Seattle family philanthropy that funds local human-service organizations, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Seattle Foundation, the Safeco Foundation and Boeing.
BECU is providing logistical support, such as legal, accounting and IT services, at no cost for up to five years.
Express hopes to add as many as 7,500 members in King County in the next five years.
