By Ray Birch
FONTANA, Calif.—A new branch here is being shared by three different CUs and saving each of them money, demonstrating the credit union difference, and providing a real-world example of how cooperatives can cooperate.
The $2-billion Credit Union of Southern California new full-service location in Fontana also shares space with two other CUs. Called the “Credit Union Center,” the location serves, in addition to members of the Anaheim Hills, Calif.-based CU SoCal, Gardena, Calif.-based Pacific Transportation FCU ($75-million in assets), and Riverside, Calif.-based Printing Industries Credit Union ($30 million in assets).
Based on initial projections and early results, CU SoCal “conservatively” expects to save at least 15% on the cost of typical branch operations, said Michelle Hunter, chief communications and experience officer for CU SoCal. The center opened in March.
The idea to share the facility grew out of a relationship CU SoCal already had with PacTrans FCU. Both credit unions have shared a branch for several years and both credit unions have seen benefits, said Hunter.
“We have done well at that location in Fulton (Calif.),” explained Hunter.
The CEO of PacTrans FCU, Susan Conjurski, invited CU SoCal to be participate in the center. Printing Industries CU is also run by Conjurski.
Aaron Young, SVP, branch operations/retail banking at CU SoCal, said two factors, how well the prior relationship between the two credit unions had gone combined with the costs of building another branch, made the decision to join the center easy.
‘Let’s Do it Again’
“We said, ‘Let's do it again’,” Young told CUToday.info. “This is a low barrier to entry into a market, as branches are significantly expensive when you build them from the ground up. And we had a chance to move into this location that was already built out.”
The Credit Union Center name itself downplays the names of participating CUs. The office is a former bank branch located on grounds of an auto dealership. The bank left the location more than a year ago and the auto dealership asked Conjurski if one of her credit unions wanted to take it over.
“When the owner of the dealership asked me if I'd be interested in opening up the site in Fontana, I looked at the whole community there and I said we really need to serve credit union members as a whole,” Conjurski explained. “I wanted to partner with another credit union and open a very community-based center. This is the whole idea of credit unions coming together, people helping people, in a cooperative spirit. We really are trying to bring that spirit back to the community, and I think we're able to do that with this concept.”
Not only does the name on the outside of the building simply say Credit Union Center, but billboard advertising does the same. On the building, with a monument sign, and on the ads, the three credit unions’ names and logos are present. There are no separate entrances for each credit union.
“First and foremost this is the Credit Union Center, a place where there are a lot of options for people of this community to do their banking,” said Hunter, adding the participating CUs are community and SEG based. “Inside it is clearly delineated by signage at the teller windows and the member service desks which credit union someone is using.”
Splitting Costs
The credit unions split the monthly lease costs and the general expenses to run the operations, including utilities. Staff are not shared, but employees of each CU in the location do help out another credit union if staffing is short on a particular day. The trio splits the revenue from all shared banking transactions conducted, but keep the income from their own transactions.
Consumers who come into join one of the credit unions for the first time are left to make their own decisions as to which organization serves them best. But Hunter said the three CUs work together to direct the person to the credit union that might best meet their individual needs.
Being on a car dealer’s grounds and near historic Route 66, the center has an old-time automobile theme throughout its interior, which Hunter said is the size of a typical large branch.
“For example, we have images of old cars and the Route 66 sign at the teller stations,” Hunter said (see photo).
‘The Credit Union Difference’
Outside of being a good opportunity for all three credit unions, what Hunter says the arrangement does is bring a strong sense of community banking and the cooperative spirit of the credit union movement to these local neighborhoods.
“We really think this model, the Credit Union Center, where three credit unions are together to serve the community, really displays the credit union difference clearly,” said Hunter. “This shows how credit unions cooperate to help each other and the members, and it’s very much different than a bank. People, so far, seem to like this model very much.”
