Town Hall FAQs With the Michigan Community merger, will Community Choice be the biggest credit union in Jackson County? Yes! Community Choice s membership will exceed 99,000 members and include 20 branches. Do Community Choice members vote on the merger? No. Community Choice members do not get a vote. Voting is strictly limited to primary account holders at Michigan Community. When will voting be? Voting must occur in person at 6:30 p.m. on March 9, 2017, at either our Hillsdale or Jackson locations. When is the actual change? The official merger will commence May 1; however, our systems and accounts will not converge until May 22. What will happen if the merger is not approved? If the merger is not approved, Michigan Community will reevaluate their options based on the Board of Directors analysis that merging is their best option. Where is the main office going to be located? Our administrative office will remain at 31155 Northwestern Hwy, Farmington Hills, MI 48334. Will I still see familiar faces when coming into the branch? Of course! Community Choice wants to make this transitionary period as smooth as possible. The employees are staying the same the only noticeable changes will be the logo and colors. Is there any welcoming information available on the website? Yes! Although the information on our website is limited today, we are currently in the process of enhancing our existing content to reflect upcoming merger data. You can always check for updates at CommunityChoiceCU.com/micommunity. In addition, a merger guide with important information will be provided once the merger is approved. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017 1
Who are the two board members that will stay on the Community Choice board? Michigan Community Credit Union s Board Chairman Vic Marshall will serve on the board, along with Cheryl Marks. Has Community Choice merged with anyone in the West? Yes. Community Choice went through a previous merger with NuPath Community in 2015. This merger added a member center location in Holland, Michigan. We have six credit unions in Jackson; why not merge with one of them? We selected a credit union outside the local community to broaden rather than limit member choices. This is an approach often employed by credit unions when seeking a merger partner. As you can imagine, selecting the right merger partner was a decision the board took very seriously and to which we gave considerable thought. We have explored numerous merger and partnership options over the years, and we found Community Choice to be best able to take great care of the membership during the merger process, and also well into the future. We discovered that we share a broad and common commitment to the financial well-being of our members. We further found there was close alignment with our culture, mission and service to the membership, as well as to the community. Several of the Michigan Community CU Board members will continue to have active roles in ensuring that all goes well with the merger. Was there a decision about regulation changes when discussing the merger? Yes, dollars, resources and time need to be dedicated to meet regulatory compliance requirements. Merging with a larger organization offers additional resources and allows the organization to perform at a high-level within the stated regulations. Will Michigan Community members continue to have the same fraud services? Yes, we will continue to use Falcon Fraud for our fraud detection services, and members will continue to be notified if unusual account activity is detected. If there is fraudulent activity on my account, how can I resolve this? If such an event occurred, Community Choice would do its very best to mitigate the fraud as soon as possible with as little impact to our member as possible. Resources used to diffuse the situation may vary by incident, but could include our 24-hour Member Contact Center, e-services, our Accounting department, etc. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017 2
Who can help with technology after hours? Community Choice offers a 24-hour Member Contact Center that would be more than happy to assist members with troubleshooting technical platforms, such as Mobile Banking, e-banking and Telebanking. Do you have people who will help the members through this transition emotionally and physically? Team members will be available to assist members with their needs. Members can also contact our 24-hour Member Contact Center for assistance. Do you have instant issue? Yes! If your credit or debit cards are lost, stolen or damaged, Community Choice has several locations that offer instant issue of credit and debit cards. We are looking to integrate this into our Michigan Community branches as well. Are traveler checks still available? Michigan Community does not currently offer traveler checks. Upon conversion, Community Choice does not anticipate offering traveler checks either. Are we changing back to VISA? In addition, are chip cards really more secure? Yes, we will be switching our cards over to VISA. Additional details regarding the changeover will be provided as soon as possible. As for chip cards, we honestly feel that they do offer added security to our members. Chip cards are primarily designed to prevent fraudulent transactions that take place when someone physically swipes a counterfeit card at a payment terminal. Chip card technology works. In countries that have adopted chip cards as the standard, certain types of card fraud have dramatically declined. Will telephone banking still be available? Absolutely! Not only do we provide the automated telebanking system, but Community Choice also has a contact center available to you 24-hours a day, who are dedicated to assist you with your financial needs by phone. Will members be charged for writing checks or using the ATM? Members will not be charged for writing checks, however, there is the potential for receiving a surcharge fee at a different institution s ATM. In addition to Community Choice ATMs, there are over 30,000 Co-Op ATMs available for members to use that do not charge a fee. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017 3
How do I find an ATM that will not charge me? ATMs that are owned and operated by Community Choice or are a part of the Co-Op network will continue to be free to our members. To find an ATM near you, visit CommunityChoiceCU.com/locations. Will you provide statements for Department of Human Services (DHS) applications? Yes. All statement history will be available to our members. Will Community Choice offer mortgages? Yes! We offer a variety of home loan options through the credit union and Member First Mortgage. For additional information pertaining to our home loan products, visit CommunityChoiceCU.com/loans/mortgages. Explain the rewards program that Community Choice offers. Our GetBigReward$ program offers four levels: Emerald, Gold, Silver and Copper. Each level is determined by the number of qualified products and services each member has. Emerald and Gold levels receive monthly credits that may be used to offset any fees or refunded at year-end. To receive the annual reward, you must be at least at the Gold levels as of December 31 of each year. You may also be eligible for an annual loan interest rebate of up to 10% interest paid on qualified loans. This past year, Community Choice gave members $2.1 million back through its GetBigReward$ program. For additional information on this program, visit GetBigRewards.com. Does Community Choice solicit for insurance and get paid for it? Community Choice offers a variety of insurance products, and yes, in some instance the credit union does make money from those products. Since credit unions are not-forprofit, Community Choice takes any money earned and reinvests it. This allows us the opportunity to offer lower rates on loans, higher interest yields on deposits, as well as new products and services for our members, including GetBigReward$ rebates at the end of each year. Can I customize my check order? (For example, single copy checks) Yes. When checks are ordered members are given the opportunity to customize their orders through Harland Clarke. Will my credit card have the same interest rate when we merge? Credit scores will be pulled and evaluated to determine new interest rates, which currently range from 8.74% - 24.99%. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017 4
How will this merger affect my current direct deposit, electronic payments/withdrawals and bill pay? In most cases, your current direct deposits and/or any electronic withdrawals will continue to work after the merger. You will not have to take any action, as they will all transfer automatically. We will provide you with new routing and account information to use when setting up any new electronic deposits following the merger. Your current bill pay will continue to work, as Community Choice uses the same product that you currently use today. All information, including payees and scheduled payments will automatically transfer to e-pay. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017 5