HSFCU: Why It Pays To Belong
By Andrew Rosen
President & CEO of Hawaii State Federal Credit Union
It’s a fun fact that one of Hawaii’s first credit unions was started in 1936 in a closet in the basement of the Territorial Building on Punchbowl and Beretania. Today, Hawaii State Federal Credit Union (Hawaii State FCU) has eight locations on two islands and is the second largest credit union in our island state.
I came to work for Hawaii State FCU just last year, and I thoroughly enjoy learning about our legacy as we continue to make history for our members.
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A credit union is not a bank. I spent many years working for traditional banks, and the difference between the two has brought me great satisfaction. Instead of serving shareholders, I serve members – people just like us. Hawaii State FCU offers checking, savings, loans, mortgages and financial advising. We serve more than 77,000 members and hold more than $1.3 billion in assets.
Credit unions are often associated with savings. For 77 years, our not-for-profit has returned earnings to members in dividends. If we were a bank, our profits would go to stockholders.
In 2012, more than $7.7 million was returned to our members in the form of better deposit and loan rates and little to no fees. Our slogan points up the difference: “It pays to belong” to a credit union – especially ours.
Our focus on our members allows us to do things differently. Federal sequestration and furloughs have hit many of our members hard, especially since everyone is still recovering from the recession. We just announced our “furlough buster” program offering penalty-free term share withdrawals, deferment of loan payments, free 30-minute financial checkups and a balance financial fitness program offering advice in money management, debt management, credit report review and housing education.
It’s no wonder the people I work with seem so happy at work. Every day, we are helping Hawaii’s residents get ahead.
For more information, visit our website, hsfcu.com.
