CINCINNATI - Walk into Cincinnati Interagency FCU and head to CEO Karen Anderson’s office and you’ll see a pile of paperwork on her desk. But don’t let that fool you about her intent to run the credit union as environmentally friendly as possible.
“My employees and husband can verify that I practice what I preach with regard to our credit union’s mantra to be environmentally conscious,” said Anderson. “I’m just not sure it’s always evident!”
Located within the Cincinnati Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, the $16.5-million credit union’s philosophy is that it’s good business–for the CU, the sponsor, and members–to go as “green as possible.”
The credit union has been running green-friendly programs for years, including reduced loan rates for fuel efficient cars and home improvement projects that save energy. It’s also making sure technology is reducing paper transactions and saving members time.
“We had a major push for e-statements last year that was extremely successful,” Anderson said. “We have 2,900 members and we now have 50% using e-statements. That’s up from 20%.”
Part of the reason for the high adoption rate is that employees of the eco-friendly EPA understand the importance of protecting the environment “and saving trees,” Anderson said. Cincinnati Interagency members are heavy home banking users and the credit union was able to recently institute electronic bill payment from savings generated by e-statements. The credit union’s data processor is Users, Inc.
“We save $6,000 to $8,000 annually by reducing our statement mailing costs,” Anderson explained. “That gives us the money we need to pay our costs for e-bill pay.”
Not all of the credit union’s green efforts are tech related. Its Green Loan auto loans give members a 1.5 percentage point reduction on its standard auto loan rate for hybrid cars and autos that get more than 30 miles per gallon. That same discount applied to a home improvement loan during 2006, but the CU ended that program after problems with home improvement contractors.
“Our program provided discounts based on guidelines in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gave tax credits for home improvements that were energy efficient,” Anderson said. “Things like air condition units rated at a certain level, geothermal heating and cooling, new windows and doors... A lot of the contractors and home improvement companies would tell members that the improvement they wanted a loan for met the government criteria but would fail to give them the paperwork that certified that.”
Direct deposit, check imaging, optical storage, and recycling ink cartridges and paper are more of the CUs many efforts to protect the environment. And soon to come, Anderson says, is a credit card made from recycled plastic.
“Our intent was to use recycled plastic with our new debit card, but MasterCard has not certified that process. Once they do, we’ll follow up,” Anderson said.
The new debit card, which caries an image of the Earth, will launch soon. Getting ready for the card’s introduction, Anderson admits, is taking time away from preparation for the credit union’s typical over-the-top Earth Day celebration.
“Earth Day is a big day for our sponsor,” Anderson said. “They look at it as a holiday. And while they don’t close–and neither does the credit union–they use it as a day to celebrate.”
Members can be sure they’ll see a lot of green in the CU’s lobby on Earth Day. “My staff and I will be wearing green T-shirts, giving kids coloring books made of recycled paper, handing out green Skittles candy–everything in our office will be green.”
