MIDLAND, Mich.–Three credit unions have announced a combined $18-million in funds returned to members as bonus dividends and loan interest rebates.
In Michigan, Dow Chemical Employees’ Credit Union is paying out $15.57-million in Member Giveback for 2020 via rebates and rewards deposited to member savings accounts.
DCECU noted this is the 40th consecutive year it has returned a share of its earnings to members, with a grand total of nearly $250 million given back during those four decades. The Member Giveback began in 1955 and has been offered in all but one year since.
For 2020, DCECU gave back 40% of the interest that members in good standing had paid on their eligible loans over the course of the year and also paid out a cash reward equal to 40% of the interest/dividends members earned on eligible deposits. Members in good standing also received a flat-rate 0.125% rebate on their total DCECU Visa Debit Card transactions for the year, regardless of whether the transactions were signature-based or PIN-based – a change to the Visa Debit Card rebate program to make it simpler and more straightforward, the credit union said.
‘One Way To Show Appreciation’
“Even in such a difficult and unusual year, our members continued to engage heavily in our financial cooperative and entrust us to manage their deposited funds,” said DCECU CEO Michael Goad. “Our Member Giveback is just one of the ways we show appreciation for our members’ continued loyalty to DCECU – and for us to have the capacity to provide one of the highest Member Givebacks in the country during such an unusual and challenging year speaks volumes about the loyalty of our members.”
DCECU noted that one particularly noteworthy statistic is that it funded more than $360 million in new loans for its members in 2020 – a 15% increase from 2019, despite all lending activities being conducted online or by telephone for approximately three-quarters of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on DCECU’s more than $2 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2020, the Member Giveback issued on Jan. 1 utilized approximately 0.78% of the credit union’s total assets, the credit union added.
Firefighters First Returns $2M
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Firefighters First Credit Union is reporting it distributed more than $2.1 million in profit sharing proceeds to its membership. FFCU said this year’s distribution brings total profits returned to members since 1981 to more than $50 million and honors the legacy of “firefighters helping firefighters.”
“Firefighters have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 response,” said Dixie Abramian, Firefighters First Credit Union’s president/CEO. “In 2020, they also contended with one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent history. We are heartened by how much firefighters give to their communities.”
Firefighters First, which currently serves firefighters and their families in 741 fire departments nationwide, said the funds returned to members included a refund on loan interest and a bonus dividend on shares.
“Individual payouts varied based on the scope of the member’s financial relationship with the credit union,” Firefighters First said. “The more members banked with Firefighters First Credit Union and utilized their extended services—Business Services, Firefighter Insurance Services, Firehouse Financial and Firefighters First Trust Services—the more members received in their annual payout.”
The $1.8-billion Firefighters First has more than 53,000 members.
Charter Oak Pays Reward
In Waterford, Conn., the $1.36-billion Charter Oak Federal Credit Union awarded more than $674,000 in annual $100 cash bonuses in December to its Gold Rewards members, which is the largest amount since Charter Oak created the member-appreciation program in 2010.
“Our Gold Rewards members are some of our most loyal members, so these annual $100 cash bonuses are our way of saying thank you and letting them know how much we appreciate them,” said President/CEO Brian A. Orenstein. “Each year, our Gold Rewards membership continues to grow because our members recognize the value and the great benefits that come with being a Charter Oak Gold Rewards member.
Charter Oak reported that when it initially introduced Gold Rewards in 2010, a total of 2,590 members received annual $100 cash bonuses, compared to the record payout in 2020 when 6,747 members received $100 bonuses.
Charter Oak said it has awarded nearly $5 million in annual $100 cash bonuses to its qualified Gold Rewards members since the program began. In addition to the nearly $5 million in annual cash bonuses awarded, Charter Oak said it also has returned almost $2.2 million in ATM rebates to Gold Rewards members.