A new credit union branch that is hoped to help revitalize a part of town is the result of a unique partnership between two very different CUs, here.
Truliant FCU, formerly known as AT&T FCU and the credit union at the center of the Supreme Court case that spawned HR 1151, has teamed up with tiny Victory Masonic Mutual CU to establish a joint branch located within the 5-Star Supermarket in King Plaza Shopping Center-smack in the middle of a low-income area of Winston-Salem.
The grand opening of the center earlier this year drew a host of big names, including U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, in whose congressional district the branch is located, as well as a variety of state legislators.
How did the $640-million, multiple-group Truliant come to be partnering with the $2.5-million, community-chartered, minority-owned Victory Masonic Mutual? Blame it on the Millennium Bug that wasn't.
"We brought them on to our DP system two years ago to help them with Y2K and to broaden their service platform," explained Marc Schaefer, CEO of Truliant. "We offered them training for the new DP system and then worked with them on their ledger, so this partnership has been around for a while, now."
Getting Creative
So has Truliant's desire to serve this particular area of Winston-Salem, but to do so, the credit union had to get creative.
"This is an area that needs access to service, it's been sliding downhill, and the Attorney General's office and a variety of other groups are all working towards revitalizing the area," Schaefer explained. "We saw all the payday loans and check cashing outlets coming in there. The predators were on the prowl, and we wanted to be part of that solution. Our headquarters used to be there up until about seven years ago. Our chairman grew up about three blocks from the new service center, and his parents still live there. We have roots in that community."
The problem is, right about the time Truliant was planning on putting a branch of its own in that area was also just about the same time the injunction on adding new select employee groups (SEG) was handed down by the court, putting a definite cramp in then-AT&T Family's style, to say the least.
By the time HR 1151 was passed, the credit union had already decided to find a different way to serve the area.
"We would have had to petition the NCUA to bring it in as a designated low-income area," Schaefer explained. "But Victory Masonic is a community charter that serves the 50-mile radius around Winston- Salem, so the area is already in the credit union's FOM."
But VMCU, at the time a mere $1.4-million institution, didn't have the resources to open a branch. So the two credit unions formed a strategic partnership to put a service center in the area. Truliant provided the equipment for the branch and Victory Masonic is running it. Members of either credit union can conduct business there, and there are more than 5,000 households located within a three-mile radius of the new center, all of which are eligible for membership at Victory Masonic.
"Victory Masonic is more culturally attuned to meet the needs of this area," Schaefer noted, adding that all the equipment at the branch will revert to the small credit union in a few years. "This really is a great strategic partnership for everybody. We get to help a small credit union and hopefully a whole lot of people, too."
