RALEIGH, N.C.–State Employees’ Credit Union is reporting that it delivered $772 million in value to its members during 2014.
That figure is the result of analysis performed by Dr. William E. Jackson III, who has published the findings as part of the 2014 Report on Financial Benefits of Membership in State Employees’ Credit Union of North Carolina.
“Through his extensive study and comparison of State Employees’ Credit Union financial products, services and fee structures to the marketplace, Dr. Jacksonfound thatalmost one out of every five North Carolina citizens was a member of SECU and enjoyed the full range of financial benefits that accompanied SECU membership during 2014,” the credit union said in a statement. “In a year when the economy of the state continued to struggle with high levels of unemployment, a stabilizing housing market, and a rather modest overall economic recovery, the credit union produced an amazing amount of financial value and economic support for its members.”
Dr. Jackson, professor of Finance, professor of management, and the Smith Foundation endowed chair of business integrity in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, researched and documented member savings in a number of categories. Lower rates on loans, higher rates on deposits, lower fees, and benefits from SECU’s Salary Advance Loan program were among the categories included, the credit union said.
Of the ways that SECU provided financial benefits to its members, the category with the largest impact in 2014 was lower fees on products and services, saving members more than $380 million, a 36% increase since a similar analysis in 2012.
The report’s summary of financial benefits to members also included the CU’s Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP), along with SECU’s provision of the no-cost tax preparation service through the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.