Member News Quarterly Newsletter for Members of St. Cloud Federal Credit Union

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1 Member News Quarterly Newsletter for Members of St. Cloud Federal Credit Union Your Credit Union: 85 Years Strong SUMMER 2015 This year marks the 85th year that St. Cloud Federal Credit Union has been in business. I feel it is fair to say that not all organizations can claim a founding principle that lasts nearly a century. While we change and evolve with the times and how our members want to do business, there has been one guiding principle that has never changed: our members are our #1 priority above all else. Our commitment to you and your success drives us to strive for more on your behalf. We reinvent ourselves through the lens of making a difference to make you proud to be a member and, to give back for stronger communities. That reinvention manifests in a variety of ways including personalized service, competitive pricing, continued investment in new products, programs and services. In this newsletter you will see a number of new initiatives, including: a section called Amazing People: Our Members highlighting the amazing things our members do every day in our community, a Vanishing Mortgage product and, a money saving program called Love My Credit Union Rewards, created to add more value to you as a member. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Protecting Your Identity 2 Trip Winners 2 Community Day 3 Grant Matched for Sartell High School 3 Our Amazing Members 4 New Vanishing Mortgage 5 New Mobile Banking Feature 6 Home Equity Line of Credit Loans 6 Another form of reinvention is to look internally and answer the question: why do we exist and what are we committed to? That part of our journey has resulted in a new logo (shown at right) and tagline: Bank on a Meaningful Difference. We want our brand to be recognized as more than just great products and great people; but also one people know as a cooperative that gives back to members and the community. You will begin to see our new logo and tagline during I would like to end with a promise I shared with you last winter: we will continue to do everything we can for you today, we will strive to do more for you tomorrow, and every member will benefit from membership at St. Cloud Federal Credit Union! Enjoy the rest of your summer and we hope to see you in one of our offices soon taking advantage of one of the amazing offers contained in this newsletter. Kindest Regards! Jed A. Meyer President and CEO We Want To Beat The Rate On Your Current Auto Loan! Ends Aug. 31, 2015 No Loan Application Fees As low as1.99 % APR We ll beat your rate by at least.25% * Refinancing your auto is as easy as 1, 2, Call us at , stop in, or Lndept@stcloudfcu.coop 2. Bring us the title to your car. 3. Sign and Save with your credit union today! * Offer is available to qualified borrowers on approved credit. Applies only to new loans, those transferred from outside the credit union. Term will be restricted to the year closest to your current term. (320) stcloudfcu.coop

2 Protecting Your Identity Your security is extremely important and we take that very seriously. As your financial institution, there are a number of ways we continue to invest in the best possible technology to protect you and your private information. First, we want you to know about enhancements we have made at St. Cloud Federal Credit Union to better protect you. New EMV chip-enhanced credit cards EMV which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa is a new global standard for credit and debit cards equipped with computer chips and enhanced technology. These EMV chip cards are a new technology designed to protect consumers and reduce the costs that result from fraud. Because of the largescale data breaches in recent years, the U.S. is under a nationwide shift to the new cards. How are cards affected at St. Cloud Federal Credit Union? We have recently made the shift to EMV chip cards on our credit card program. If your credit card does not yet have a chip, that will automatically happen for you at re-issue on our credit cards. Our debit card transition is anticipated for later this year or early next year. What else is St. Cloud Federal Credit Union doing to protect your identity? We will soon be upgrading the security for online banking. You currently use your account number to log into your account. In order to better protect your identity, we will be converting that log in process to require a unique user name. More information will come to you soon. What can you do to protect your identity? Following are tips that you can use to protect your identity. If you feel your personal information has been compromised on your accounts, please contact us. Protect your Social Security number. Don t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or purse. Use secure passwords to protect your laptop and cell phone and change these passwords regularly. Clean out your wallet or purse often. Remove seldom used credit cards and cancel those you no longer need. Look over your bills and credit card statements to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary. Don t give out personal information to unsecure websites or people you do not know. Shred documents that contain sensitive information. Make a list of your credit card and bank account numbers along with the customer service lines for each and keep it in a safe place. Leverage credit monitoring services so a team of fraud experts is watching your account. Ask us for more information. Congratulations Trip Winners! Congratulations to members Dale and Cathryn, winners of our Trip For Two drawing! Members who completed a loan refinancing during the spring promotion period were entered into a drawing to win a trip voucher worth $1,500 for anywhere in the world. Dale and Cathryn are currently planning a tour of the Black Hills and Yellowstone National Park. We wish them a safe and happy journey! From left to right, Missy Anderson, Leslie Lane, Members Dale and Cathryn, and Sarah Mason. 2

3 What s YOUR Passion? Join Our New Community Day! On Columbus Day, October 12, we will close our branches and send our team out into the community to do some good. We would love for you to join us! If you d like to participate, us at participate@ stcloudfcu.coop and let us know if you have ideas on how to spend our time, nominations are still being accepted. Let s make a meaningful difference together! Grant Matched for New Sartell High School Program We are excited to announce our support for Sartell High School s new lending curriculum which allows students to lead micro-financing efforts to alleviate poverty in other parts of the world. Not only was our $2,500 grant submission on behalf of Sartell High School awarded by the Minnesota Credit Union Foundation, but we also matched the funds to create a $5,000 endowment for the financial education program. The program partners with Kiva, a nonprofit global organization which connects lenders with borrowers across the world. The loans are small - $50-$100 - but make a significant impact by providing sustainable resources for the future. Sartell High School Teacher Roy Snyder researched and launched the new curriculum to help students gain an understanding of healthy financial stewardship, and foster an increasing awareness of our global community. Ninth-grade students research and create development From left to right are Sartell students Alexis Winter, Lexy Oftedahl, and Ryan Christle plans detailing how and to whom the money should be distributed. They then present their findings to our panel of experts to help determine which countries will receive the grant money. Financial literacy begins with education and we are proud to support Sartell High School! 3

4 Our Members: Amazing People! NEW Welcome to a new section of our newsletter where we will feature amazing people: our members! A large part of St. Cloud Federal Credit Union is the spirit in which we advocate for and support our local community. You our members are our #1 priority within that community. We have found, time and again, many of you contribute in unique and interesting ways. So, we advocate for and support you as members of our community! We often hear amazing things our members are doing and we decided it was time to highlight you. Please let us know if you would like to nominate a member for future articles with an to: participate@ stcloudfcu.coop. Introducing Our Amazing Member: Ann Matvick Ann Matvick has been a member for over 20 years and is currently the Program Director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota. Ann has been with the organization for almost twenty years and works tirelessly every day leading programs that make a difference. When asked what has kept her motivated all these years, Ann responded saying, My mission every day is to make a difference and I get to see that difference. It is so exciting to see a match work and then watch the relationship thrive. For the kids to see that dreams do come true and someone believes in them I get to do this every day. Big Brothers Big Sisters works to partner mentoring adults with kids to help them grow up and be successful, caring adults. Many of the kids are exposed to new and different ways of thinking with a Big Brother, Big Sister, Big Couple or Big Family who believes in and supports them. Many of the kids end up being first generation college students. Jackie Scholl Johnson is the Executive Director for the organization and enthusiastically nominated Ann because, Ann has been a consistent advocate for our Littles, Bigs, and families throughout her 18 years of service. Ann is always asking how can we better serve our Littles? and then listens. While Ann is a huge advocate with a lot of time spent on helping others, she is also a full-time Mom who prides herself on her love of carpooling. Her kids have even teased her that your hobby is driving us around. Ann also loves camping, fishing and scrapbooking in her spare time. Thanks Ann for all that you do for our community! If you are interested in learning more about Big Brothers Big Sisters, please call or visit They currently have over 100 kids who are looking to be matched with a mentor. There are nearly 16,000 St. Cloud Federal Credit Union members, we could make a difference too in the true spirit of the cooperative model! 4

5 CT READERS SURVEY New Product: Vanishing Mortgage We are excited to introduce you to our new Vanishing Mortgage*. This mortgage was built to benefit members who may not have taken advantage of historically low rates because of the fees and hassle involved AND, are in the final stretch of a mortgage. Or, you may have refinanced but now the rates are even lower yet. Most refinance products focus on people who still have a long way to go, so we wanted to help those who are in the final stretch! Easy to understand and easy to process: Flat closing costs as low as $595 Great rates as low as 2.99% and no higher than 3.99% APR with terms up to 12 years If you have 15 years or less left to pay your mortgage, check us out, we may be able to shorten that term even more! Our Vanishing Mortgage will even match your existing term down to the number of months you specify. Same term, but SAVE money! There is no risk or fee in having us run the numbers to see if you will save money! Call or stop in today. *Following are possible questions: First mortgage loans only No balloon loans Can be used for refinances or purchase loans No escrows for taxes or home insurance Primary or second homes only That is all the fine print, it really is that good of a new product! Thank you! Skip a Loan PAYMENT! Many thanks to those who voted our credit union as one of the 2015 Best of Central Minnesota Financial Institutions. We are proud to serve only our local communities with passion for banking done right - focused on people, not on profit. Thank you Central Minnesota! CENTRAL MINNESOTA S best of TIMES MEDIA FINALIST Financial Institution Need a little extra money? Take advantage of our Skip a Loan Payment offer! Skip a payment by August 31st for some extra cash. $35 fee with $10 donated to a worthy community cause. Mortgage and Equity loans are not included, some qualifications may apply. Sartell & St Cloud stcloudfcu.coop 5

6 Home Equity Line of Credit Loans Now Available! New Mobile Banking Feature! We recently made an enhancement to our mobile banking application. You can now enjoy the ease of bill pay to automatically pay your bills using your cell phone. Sign up today and manage your money whenever you choose! Use for major items like education, home improvement or bill consolidation Competitive rates Low closing costs Possible tax benefits Variable rate based on prime rate Ask us to help you determine if a Home Equity Line of Credit is a product that is in your best interest. St. Cloud Branch st Street South St. Cloud, MN Visit Us! Sartell Branch 1716 Pinecone Road South Sartell, MN Love your savings. Everyone is looking for ways to save money, and that's just what Love My Credit Union Rewards is all about. St. Cloud Federal Credit Union is excited to offer you exclusive discounts and benefits on products and services you use every day. Credit union members have already saved over $1 billion with Love My Credit Union Rewards discounts. So along with lower loan rates and fewer fees, here s another way you can save even more. Receive exclusive pricing on most new Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC vehicles with the Credit Union Member Discount from GM Receive a 10% discount (business members a 15% discount) on select regularly priced Sprint monthly data service. Plus, waived activation fee on new lines and upgrade fees ($36 savings each) Get the safety and security of roadside assistance and more for less than $1 per week* with Credit Union Auto Club. Save up to $15 on TurboTax Federal tax products Save on services for your home from ADT, DIRECTV, Allied, and more Earn cash back when you shop at over 1,500 online retailers with Love to Shop The more offers you take advantage of, the more you save. Start saving today at LoveMyCreditUnion.org. *Based on individual roadside assistance plan info@stcloudfcu.coop (320) (888)