MILLERSVILLE, Penn.-It's certainly not the typical CU office, as members occasionally walk by in pajamas while brushing their teeth.
Kristyne Schonhaut runs the e-center of Pennsylvania State Employees CU located in the student center of Millersville University here. "For the most past, our members are college students," said Schonhaut. "I've seen some interesting things during the 10 years I have run this office."
Not only are some of the sights this business advisor has seen unique, so are the roles she and her office play in supporting the Harrisburg, Penn.-based credit union. The $4.2-billion PSECU is largely a virtual CU, serving more than 400,000 members with two branches and 14 e-centers. The e-centers do not handle transactions, and exist to bridge young adults from knowing little about financial management and electronic banking to becoming self-sufficient remote users of the credit union.
"They can take the credit union wherever they go once they graduate," said Schonhaut, who explained the office also serves school faculty and local residents who visit the campus.
College Lessons
The office is small, and Schonhaut and her staff of seven college students rarely have more than three employees on hand. "Four, if we are really busy. But it's cyclical, we have our spurts of activity, like in August and September, when all the students come back. Things get a little slow in the summer."
When the center is busy, staff often counsel 30 to 40 people in a day, and conversations often take more than 10 minutes. Located on the main level of the student center on the same floor as the bookstore and dining hall, the 15-by-15-foot location has a glass partition that allows passersby to see inside the credit union.
"We have a couple desks with computers that can be used to educate members and conduct online banking, and a few chairs to sit down and talk with us," said Schonhaut. "I see us performing a role similar to a concierge, but we're addressing financial services."
Schonhaut said she and her team often find themselves answering a lot of questions young adults have about how financial services work. "In addition to wanting to find out more about how to use the credit union, students want to know how credit cards work, checking accounts, debit cards . . . This is often the first time they are managing their own finances, having been under mom and dad's roof. Our job often is to explain the basics of banking."'
'A Close Connection'
Their role is to also sign up new members, which the staff does at the office and during student events, like freshman orientation and parents day. Schonhaut emphasized the e-center is all about getting students, or anyone who steps in the center, comfortable with using PSECU e-services on their own. "If a member asks to do a transaction, we direct them to our ATMs, which can handle most of their needs."
The credit union is popular on campus, added Schonhaut, not only for the "friendly, low-cost" services it provides, but also for its participation in many college events. The office donates $20,000 a year to the school. "We share the message of friendly banking, plus we educate young members that you don't have to live around the corner from your financial institution to have a close connection with it."
