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The nation's first and so far only "virtual" credit union has joined two surcharge-free ATM networks to serve its nationwide membership of real-estate professionals.
Realtors Federal Credit Union, which opened May 1, has no branches or ATMs of its own.
To assist members in withdrawing funds and depositing sales-commission checks and cash, the credit union joined the Credit Union 24 and Co-op Financial Services surcharge-free ATM networks, giving its members access to 78,000 ATMs nationwide–more than four times the number Bank of America Corp. deploys.
Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA operates the nation's largest bank-owned ATM network with 18,500 machines.
Credit Union 24 operates a network of more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs, says Jim Park, the Tallahassee, Fla.-based organization's president and CEO. Co-op, which is based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., operates a network of 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs, says Bill Prichard, Co-op spokesperson.
Co-op offers members of its credit-union association 9,000 deposit-taking Vcoms, or multifunctional ATMs, which Cardtronics Inc. deploys in 2,200 7-Eleven convenience stores nationwide. The Vcoms accept envelope-free deposits, says Joel Antonini, spokesperson for the Houston-based ATM independent sales organization.
Co-op has a direct relationship with Cardtronics, enabling Co-op members to use the Vcoms to make deposits and withdraw cash surcharge-free.
Credit Union 24, a member of Card-tronics' Allpoint surcharge-free ATM network, offers its members 1,541 deposit-taking ATMs within its network. Bethesda, Md.-based Allpoint operates 35,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide.
But finding a credit-union ATM to make a deposit also seems passé.
Realtors Federal also adopted Co-op's My Deposit home-banking platform, which enables credit-union members to scan the fronts and backs of checks to deposit their amounts into their accounts using their home computers, says Eric Porter, Co-op executive vice president of business development. Depositors do not have to mail the actual checks to the credit union, but Co-op urges them to keep the documents on file.
Based in Rockville, Md., Realtors Federal formed relationships with Co-op and Credit Union 24 to better serve its members, says Jesse Boyer, the institution's executive vice president and chief information officer. To join the credit union, an individual must be a member of the National Association of Realtors, which is based in Chicago. Some 1.2 million individuals nationwide belong to the association, according to its Web site.
The credit union is marketing itself only to individuals, but management plans eventually to open membership to real-estate offices and to state and local real-estate boards.
"We have an opportunity for a potential membership of 5 million," Boyer says. For individuals, membership costs $100, and so far the credit union has 1,600 accounts, he adds.
Realtors Federal's business model, which is based on those used by Internet banks such as ING, makes a lot of sense, says of Credit Union 24's Park.
"Realtors are comprised of small groups of individuals working in offices nationwide, and opening a branch in one area would not serve the credit union's nationwide membership," Park says.
Though Realtors Federal is so far the nation's only virtual credit union, Co-op's Porter believes the virtual credit-union model also will appeal to other employers, such as airlines, the military and trucking companies that employ workers nationwide.
Virtual credit unions also will appeal to Gen Xers and Gen Yers, who would prefer using ATMs and making bank deposits from their home computers to having to visit a branch to access cash or deposit funds, he believes.
"It creates a stickiness," Porter says. "Once you provide customers with those types of conveniences, they won't look to move their money elsewhere." ATM
