Vantaggi
Not one to speak of.
Svantaggi
What used to feel like a community-focused institution now feels completely hollow. Associates who work hard and genuinely care about customers are consistently overlooked, unsupported, and left to fend for themselves. Morale is visibly low, and it’s clear why. Leadership is far more interested in protecting its image than in supporting the people who actually keep the place running. Empty promises, combined with underwhelming support has lead to the sharp decline in the credit union’s performance and employee morale. Don’t take my word for it, pull up any job search engine, and look at the number of open positions. Leadership positions! This is a rudderless boat, adrift in turbulent waters, and it’s only a matter of time before it capsizes. Let me further elaborate. The most frustrating part is the disconnect between the credit union’s public messaging and its actual behavior. They talk endlessly about “helping people prosper-helping communities thrive,” yet their actions tell a very different story. Opportunities to genuinely help members or support local needs are brushed aside, unless they see an opportunity to boost their own agenda and image. Nearly two years ago, we as a CREDIT UNION decided to get rid of free checking accounts. We were told, “don’t worry, all of the other banks will follow, we’re just getting out in front of it”. Boy were we wrong! Instead of other banks following our lead, they used it as a marketing tactic instead. “Free checking, that’s the ad”, amazing job by their marketing team. We became and still are the laughing stock of our region. But wait, there’s more! When the change was made, we gave our members (2) months notice to choose one of our other checking accounts (both of which requiring at minimum. $1,000 of direct deposits monthly to avoid a $9 fee). We never offered to grandfather these accounts. As this problem snowballed, it became increasingly clear that this strategic change was not thoroughly vetted, not surprising for this leadership team. Each branch was provided with a list of members whose account would be impacted. Branches were instructed to call members to make them aware, of the “forced” change, and the ramifications of inaction. Problem was, many of these accounts were years, if not decades old, and therefore, we didn’t have updated contact information to reach them. The new account required you to maintain an avg. balance of $2,500, otherwise, they’d receive a $7 monthly fee. So, for those of you keeping score, either you must have a recurring monthly direct deposit of $1,000, or maintain an avg. balance of $2,500. What about our members living paycheck to paycheck, fixed income sub $1,000, those who have banked with us for DECADES? The executive team’s response, simply put “we’re not the bank for everyone”. The sheer lack of emotion infuriated members, and left branch employees to endure yelling, cussing, and irate members. The majority of the time, these members closed their accounts and left. Updates of these situations left the executive unmoved. In fact, they decided to dig their heels in. As accounts transitioned, fees began to accumulate. As I mentioned, many members were unreachable, so if their account wasn’t already purged due to countless other ancillary fees, this force change did the trick. Often driving the accounts negative. Once negative, the accounts charged-off and was reported to all three credit bureaus. Imagine finding out during the purchase of your home that you have a charged off account from (10) years ago that you didn’t even know was still open…this happened many times. Executive leadership remained unmoved stating, “if we refund the fee for one, we must do it for all”. So the decision was to not return any of them. Each step of the way, we were reminded that, “we expected to lose members, and we are not the bank for everyone”. When employees raise concerns, they’re ignored, dismissed, or worse. For example, employees who have blown the whistle to call out the misconduct of employees, specifically in leadership and executive level roles, have had their trust broken in the form of information being leaked/shared. Information eventually made its way to the individuals for whom they blew the whistle on. Shockingly, this occurred on more than one occasion. There’s a sad joke that each day you come in, you better check the organizational chart to see who is still employed. It’s incredibly disheartening to watch an organization that should be community-driven operate with so little regard for the people it’s supposed to serve. Both internal and externally. If you’re looking for a financial institution that truly values its community and its employees, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Run, don’t walk