Credit unions benefit from bank consolidation

Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 2002 by Barna, Ed

"We don't have voice messages here," she said. "When the members call, a person answers the phone." Jenne said her comments should not be taken as a criticism of the three local banks Chittenden, Mascoma and Merchants.

"We have a good relationship with them," she said. "We don't have a lot of cash on hand," she said, so when someone comes in with a $1,000 draft, they tap into their account at the Chittenden Bank.

In Springfield, the Bryant Credit Union was chartered in 1956 as a resource for employees of Bryant Grinder. Though Bryant ended a long period of decline this past year when an outside owner, removed or destroyed its equipment, credit union manager Gerald Cross said they now have 11 people dealing with $23 million in assets.

The key step, Cross said, came in 1985, when the board of directors decided they needed to grow in order to offer the services that members wanted, such as checking accounts and new types of loans. Cross himself became part of that era when he took over as manager in 1988.

Even in the days when Bryant has the world's literally cuttingedge technology, business cycles affected the region, and showed the credit union the need for broad membership to achieve stability, he said. Today, about 275 employee groups are part of Bryant, from both sides of the river.

"I think we've grown into being a key player in and around Springfield," Cross said.

Their goal of providing area residents with needed financial services has been met through an array of offerings: CDs, IRAs, personal loans, full mortgage service, ATM, debit card, VISA card. The credit card has recently carried an 11.9 percent interest rate. Cross said "good supervision" is a key to being able to do that, rather than handing the cards out to as many people as possible.

Similarly, Bryant does a lot of financial education at the mortgage lending officer level, he said. Bryant has grown well by growing gradually, and they are taking a similar stance in regard to technological advances, Cross said. People can log onto a Web site to track their finances and make loan payments, but electronic bill paying is "not something that is first on our list of options," Cross said. Members say they want state-of-the-art security, and until that is definitely worked out for bill payment, Bryant can wait.

Cooperation among cooperatives

Since its inception in 1947, the Vermont Credit Union League has been a continuing source of advice and assistance, and periodically of opportunities to meet socially or raise funds for worthy causes. Perhaps their most impressive achievement to date has been creating the Falcon Cooperative ATM Network, which according to Bergeron gives members access to a wider range of ATM's around the state than for many banks.

There are now more than 90 access points in the network, a development facilitated by cooperative buying power. It would cost a member credit union about $3,100 more to purchase an ATM unit independently.

The number is almost certain to grow: "We're a convenience society," observed Revilla. Some of the state's community banks also became part of Falcon, after the merged, multistate Banknorth Group decided to push those banks out of its ATM nest.