Credit Union of Southern California has expanded from its beginnings as a schools credit union to serve three populous counties in Southern California. With a total of 15 million potential members to market to, CU SoCal is sixth on the list of credit unions with the greatest number of potential members.
The $1.1 billion institution currently is based in Anaheim, Calif., also known as the home of Disneyland. It was founded in nearby Whittier in 1954 as Whittier Area Schools FCU. CEO Dave Gunderson said today it has a community charter and serves those who live, work, worship or attend school in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.
“We added the county of Orange to our field of membership in 2009,” Gunderson recalled, noting Los Angeles County was added in 2014 and San Bernardino County was added in 2015. “Our expansion to San Bernardino County was fueled by a merger with a credit union that added a branch in that geographical area.”
According to Gunderson, growth plans for 2017 are focused on “serving our members with the products they need and the service they deserve – fulfilling our mission to build better lives through world-class service and convenience.”
CU SoCal’s 2017 membership growth goal is 2% to 4%. Gunderson said another goal is to grow its loan portfolio by “at least 10%.”
“Our strategies to achieve these goals were created with the idea of helping members find a way, not get in their way,” he said. “We plan to continue to build strong engagement anchored in a distinct, relevant brand promise, with our members, community business partners and the communities we serve.”
A key aspect of the plan is to focus on developing relationships, he said. “We will continue the strategic creation and cultivation of relationships to increase memberships, deepen product penetration and leverage our loyal members – which we call our ‘mavens’ – as our brand ambassadors.”
