As our credit union celebrates 80 years of serving members, I can’t help but reflect on why our organization was founded. In 1929, much like today, our country was experiencing unprecedented financial difficulties. Banks were going out of business and lending had all but disappeared. Many people had either lost their money, lost their job or both. It was during the Great Depression that financial cooperatives or “credit unions” really took hold in America. These new co-ops offered a secure place to deposit money and a source of low-cost loans from the money pooled together by their members. It was about “People Helping People” then and it still is today!

I am a member of First Credit Union just as you are. My dollars and yours are what fund our fellow members’ home loans, car loans and lines of credit. Together, we are the co-op that provides a financial future for co-workers, friends and family in our community.

The collapse of the housing market has fueled much of the pain we’re all feeling. First Credit Union is a responsible local lender, but we are not exempt from the national impact of poor lending practices and decisions made by others. We’ve experienced record loan losses over the last two years, yet we maintain our “People Helping People” philosophy by doing our best to work with members experiencing hardship. We want to keep our members in their homes and in their vehicles if at all possible. As such, we continuously review our loan portfolio to ensure that we have adequate capital reserved to withstand these tremendous loan losses.

A few “corporate” credit unions have also experienced hardships. Corporate credit unions are the wholesale financial institutions that we, “natural person” credit unions, use to process checks, maintain deposits and borrow money when needed for liquidity. Housing price declines impacted the investments held by a few corporate credit unions. This resulted in inactive trading of mortgage backed securities, a severe contraction of wholesale lending and a strain on liquidity for some corporate credit unions. In plain terms, rather than taking a bail out from U.S. taxpayers, credit unions banded together and contributed their fair share of assets to reinforce the entire corporate credit union system.

Even with all of the challenges, First Credit Union is still financially sound and well-positioned for the next 80 years. Over the last 18 months we have reduced operating expenses by more than 10% to combat loan losses. We have achieved these savings by systematically reviewing every provider of every product or service we use. Additionally, we reduced branch hours, which enabled a workforce reduction. We have taken decisive action to enhance the stability and ensure the longevity of our credit union.

Although we have eliminated underutilized Saturday hours, we continue to focus on member convenience and additional methods of account access through shared branching locations, mobile and online banking, live chat, expanded ATM availability and our call center. We have made every strategic decision with our members’ best interests in mind.

Just as it was 80 years ago, today your money is safe and insured with First Credit Union. Your deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. Government Agency.

Together WE are First Credit Union – First in Arizona, First in Service. Thank you for your continued support.