Looking Back at 2022 and Ahead to 2023 - A Message From the President
2022 was a really tough year for many of our members. Inflation was out of control for much of the year with gas, home heating fuel and electricity prices rising faster than people could keep up with. Food prices surged; if you could find what you were looking for, it would likely cost significantly more than at the beginning of the year.
While all of this was taking place, MCU was busy finding ways to help members have more cash in their pockets to meet their increased expenses. Our main avenue for achieving this was to offer loans at lower interest rates and refinance high rate mortgages and car loans.
Through home and auto refinances and purchases alone, we saved our members over $3,000,000 in interest, often saving them 10-15 years off of the life of their mortgages and cutting their rate almost in half. Here is an example we are very proud of. “Ted” applied for a $202,000 first mortgage refinance. He had excellent credit, we cut his term from 30 to 15 years, lowered his rate from 7.5% to 3.25%, and saved him 15 years before he would be paid in full and $223,000 in interest! While the savings on auto loan refinances are not as dramatic, we often save members $5,000-6,000 in interest that they would have paid over the same term. Credit card balance transfers and signature loans also helped people pay off higher-rate loans or finance new loans at lower rates. While we are often able to benefit most of our members, sadly the majority that receive the most benefit are immigrants and minorities because of the predatory practices they faced prior to coming to us.
We believe that Fairfield County residents deserve to be treated fairly when financing their necessities of life, including their homes and vehicles; but unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Many, especially undocumented immigrants, minorities and those with low and moderate income often pay higher finance rates. The $3 million that we saved them will help them meet household expenses and save for their future, improving their financial wellness and quality of life.
We had a number of other successes in 2022. We continue to train newer staff to become Certified Credit Union Financial Counselors, and offer counseling to all new members and new borrowers. We gave financial education sessions for Building one Community clients and Greenwich AVID students as well as other organizations. We guided a number of other credit unions that are seeing our success and want to follow our path.
We grew assets to over $42.5M, loans to over $31M and members to over 3,500. We received two CDFI grants, one that supplemented our capital giving us the ability to continue to grow, and one that will create a community outreach position for 2023-24 to help us increase our impact in our communities.
We have become well known in the world of credit unions and were even highlighted as a best practice credit union at both the Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington DC and as the focus of a presentation at the World Council of Credit Unions in Glasgow, Scotland.
We have an exciting year ahead in 2023! We have positioned ourselves to become paperless in the first part of the year, which will improve service to members, improve efficiencies and benefit the environment. We have some exciting improvements coming to our Visa program, including touchless cards upon reissue, and an app that will allow you to monitor and turn your card off and on.
Our lease is up at the end of this year, and we will be exploring options for a more convenient location for our members.
We will become even more active in our Fairfield County communities, working hard to improve the lives of residents.
Most importantly, we are just as committed to helping consumers lower their payments, improve their credit scores, get financially educated and have access to anti-predatory financial products and services in 2023. Members holds a Junto Avanzamos designation for serving and empowering Hispanic and immigrant consumers, accepting alternative forms of ID and treating all members with respect and fairness, regardless of immigration status.
We get stories of gratitude because we gave them an opportunity when no one else was willing, that we made them feel included, made it possible for them to build a path to get into their dream home, and made significant room within their family budget by lowering their auto or home loan payment. The difference we make can really change people’s lives and we genuinely do it.
We will continue to live our mission, “We exist to encourage, educate and empower our members so that all people in our communities gain opportunities and achieve financial success.”
Cooperatively,
Kathy Chartier
President/CEO