LOS ANGELES—An old-fashioned, one-SEG credit union is reporting that despite the perceived limitations, it has found ways to grow and make loans.
McKesson Employees FCU is based in San Francisco, but it serves a sponsor group that has more than 150 sponsor locations in the country at which more than 200 people work at each. The McKesson Corp. provides IT, medical supplies and care management tools, and is best known for owning the patent on Viagra. It had sales of $122 billion in 2012.
For MEFCU, growth has been about both the old-fashioned and the new strategies.
“Going in we knew we had one location, but the company has offices across the country,” said Christopher Bruno, who’s been CEO since 2009. “This was a great challenge for me, but also a great opportunity. Our relationship with corporate had not been great, so we said let’s improve that. We put on loans even during the worst economic crisis, and realized the company was making money. We developed improved technology, but we also built a very good relationship with HR.”
“We have one SEG,” Bruno continued. “We basically have a small city. For us not to grow the way we should be, we’re not doing our members just.”
He noted the sponsor puts on large annual conventions each year with 1,700 employees and just as many vendors, and it has been working those hard to develop new members.
In remarks to the California and Nevada league’s annual meeting, Bruno said those in search of a magic bullet will need to keep looking.
No Magic
“There is no magic, no one thing. The big key is differentiating yourself. And I know we’ve all heard that.”
McKesson has been adding 300 employees per month, and with mass marketing to all the new hires it began to “grow slowly.” It has used technology to give it the reach to meet the far-flung employees.
Meanwhile, while the company is doing well and many employees are highly paid, MEFCU has found many members are still struggling financially. In response, it has developed a “Fresh Start” program that exceeded its $6.5 million in 2013 by $1-million. Its 2014, its goal is $8 million.
“Fresh Start did two things: for members who aren’t as fortunate as most of us are, we are able to help them. And it has built a really good relationship with corporate. We are not gouging people with high interest rates. We sit down with them and try to meet their needs so they can have a healthy life.”
That Fresh Start package includes a Visa card, a checking account, and savings account. Bruno said the card comes with a $35 annual fee that covers its costs.