Local, local, local... by Randy Moser

Say you just walked in the door at one of our branches. Maybe you want to know how a bank is different than a credit union. Could be that you wanted to check out the rates on a used car loan. Maybe you just need to ask directions.

If you’re lost, Telco is the place for you. And I don’t mean this just in the symbolic – Dude, where did my 401-k go? – but also in the literal sense. Having long ties in the area means we know the place. Many of our employees have lived here all their lives and all of us love Western North Carolina.

Which is to say we’re not a multi-national corporation that knows Weaverville, say, only as a spot on a map. We don’t pore over complex demographic sheets to figure out who you are – we ask. We don’t support non-profits to get a tax write off (we’re already a not-for-profit), we do so because we have an investment in the people who live here. They’re our neighbors.

Do our lobbies look bank-like? That’s probably because we do everything a bank does – only with a little more heart. We loan money out, offer checking accounts and IRAs, even give away an occasional toaster-like appliance. We run promotions just like banks, too. So what makes us different?

Our board is democratically elected, which means we’re under direct scrutiny from our members. Credit Unions like Telco have a long, rich tradition of helping out the underserved when many banks have turned them down.

Any profit made at the credit union goes back to the membership in everything from better rates to financial education classes. At banks, profits go back to astronomical CEO wages and are passed onto private stockholders. Here we give that cash back to you.

We’re community driven, so it makes sense to support our members, help them see their investments grow and their dreams come true. Sometimes this means showing folks how to undo bad decisions and get back on the tight track. It might also mean supporting a family in need, someone who is down on his or her luck.

And sometimes – we hope more often – it means seeing our members succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

Technology has allowed CUs like TCCU to be competitive in ways that weren’t always possible. Our online banking is comparable to any financial institutions. (Members even have private, secure conversations online with staff through a SSL connection on home banking.) We plan to upload video classes to our site this summer in both English and Spanish, and our eNewsletter and this blog allows us to communicate at the click of a button! (Though you should never give out account information through unsecured lines.)

Come on into a branch and introduce yourself.

Our Mission?

What do we mean when we say our mission is

“Connecting families and building futures
through cooperative financial services one member at a time?”

Someone in our membership needs a car loan, let’s call her Susie. Susie has been working so hard at rebuilding her credit and she’s almost there. Once she pays off this auto loan, she’ll be looking really good for that home loan she would like to have in the future.

Also in our membership is Jack. Jack has been saving 10% of his income for 20 years and is new to the area. He’d like to keep his money local and decided to become a member of Telco after seeing our higher dividend rates without all of the restrictions and terms. (We’re not very big on small print at TCCU.)

Since the Credit Union is not-for-profit, it’s a great way to bring Susie and Jack together, opening opportunities for both of them while keeping all monies here in the local area instead of paying out to corporate board members and shareholders all across the world. Because of Jack’s savings, we have the money to loan to Susie - and, because of Susie’s loan, we have the earnings to pay Jack! Without all the drive for profits, we are just an intermediary – connecting families to help build all of our futures, one member at a time! I say all of our futures because it also provides local jobs and allows me to build a future for my family.