A look out the window of Industrial CU.
BOSTON—The grueling winter that has hit Boston—100 inches of snow, blizzards, impassable roads and public transportation shutdowns—have made doing business tough, but not impossible for CUs in Bean Town.
The long winter, however, is impacting the way members access their credit union, according to executives who say the brutal weather may have a more lasting—and positive—impact on member behavior by turning more to online and mobile banking.
Roy Campana has been CEO of Industrial CU for 30 years, and can’t recall a more trying winter.
“It’s been hellish. I have never seen anything like this. The snow just keeps coming. In fact it is snowing right now,” said Campana Tuesday.
Asked how many storms the CU has weathered this winter, Campana admitted he doesn’t know. “I stopped counting.”
The $170-million CU, tucked inside the first floor of a 13-story office building in Boston’s financial district, has been fine. Despite mounds of snow more than 10 feet high outside the building, the CU’s data operations, and the office building it resides in, have withstood winter’s onslaught.
“The office building has a facilities company that maintains the location, so shoveling snow is not something the credit union has had to worry about,” said Campana, who has had to do a lot of that himself at his home seven miles away.
Members' Needs Met
Despite the weather, Industrial Credit Union has been meeting members’ needs, said Campana. “We have met every request, every transaction, and there have been no surprises for our members.”
Campana said media “horror stories” aside, that getting around the city is manageable. “It may be difficult, and may involve a certain amount of extra patience, but it is still doable.”
Getting all eight of its employees to the credit union every day and on time, however, has been another matter. Campana said it took one employee more than four hours to get to work on Tuesday, when under good conditions she arrives in 40 minutes.
Cross-training staff has paid off, Campana said, as staff have had to wear many different hats this winter.
Members, too, appear to be adapting, using more Internet and mobile channels, explained Campana, who thinks the terrible weather is getting many more members to access e-channels and stick with them.
“When it is zero or five below outside and snow is everywhere, you look for alternatives outside of your traditional methods of transacting,” said Campana.
While industrial CU does not do many auto loans, Campana does think the market for the product in Boston has dropped off due to the weather. “I don’t see many big advertisements from dealers on TV or in the newspaper.”
Toughest Winter Ever?
James O'Shaughnessy has been CEO at Northeastern University FCU for 41 years and has never seen this amount of snow in Boston. “We did get hit in 1978 with a blizzard, but that was one time.”
The CU’s location is inside a university building that is open 24/7, which has been welcomed by members—largely students and faculty—who can still access the $30-million CU after hours and when it is closed to drop off payments or withdraw cash at the ATM.
“Being a university credit union, when the university closes we close,” said O'Shaughnessy. “And our members know we are closed, too. It makes that part of this winter simpler.”
O'Shaughnessy, too, added that electronic access to money, makes a big difference this winter, as opposed to the storm of ’78.
Like Campana, O'Shaughnessy lives only seven miles from work, so getting to the office has not been that difficult for him. But he can’t say the same for his team. “The roads, problems with public transportation—some employees are spending two to three hours getting to work.”
Members Are Understanding
At the $27-millon Alpha CU, Joette DeMeo says the CU has been shorthanded at times, with staff stranded at home. But she said members have not complained. “Everyone has been pretty understanding because they have not been out much in this weather themselves.”
DeMeo said the biggest issue so far has been the CU, located inside Beth Israel Hospital, has had to close a few days “But no real issues outside that, and just getting to work.”
DeMeo said the rough weather has been a rude welcoming for the new CEO, taking over at Alpha less than a year ago. “But I am from Boston, so I am accustomed to the winters—just not this one.”
Campana reminded that it’s too early to breathe easy. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we are anywhere near the end of this winter. So we’ll just keep pushing forward.”