Empowerment

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Election time is around the corner. I have been asked to write again about the importance of voting and to remind you that it is your right and responsibility to vote for the Board of Directors and Credit Committee volunteers that will fill the vacancies in those bodies this year.

But I am not going to do that. Instead, I thought I’d tell you why we’re different.

This is a capitalist nation, where money rules. You only have to look briefly into the lobby system, in which corporations and businesses are allowed to support political candidate campaigns in exchange for favors later on. How can that possibly be legal, many wonder, rightfully? Yet there we have it.

In a society where money truly rules, it stands to reason that right behind the politicians that make the decisions, you will find the banks that manage the money, both of the corporations and the politicians themselves. Banks exist to make money. For whom, for their account holders? After all, they are the people who like you and I, need those banks to manage their funds month after month, and a place to deposit their savings over their lifetimes. Nope, banks are not there to make money for them. What are the customer deposits of a bank when compared to the money they get from their shares, in the hands of their shareholders? It is those people for whom banks make money.

You see, major decisions in banks are made by a Board of Directors (yes, like in the credit unions). And the Board of Directors is also elected, same as in credit unions, by the shareholders. One share, one vote, like us.

So … what’s the big deal?

The big deal lies in the Credit Union difference. With OAS Staff Federal Credit Union, as well as with any other credit union worldwide, one member is one share. When you become a member you obtain one share (in the case of our Credit Union, you obtain that share via that initial $5 deposit that always stays frozen in your Regular Share account), and that one share entitles you to one single vote. No more, no less.

Banks issue shares, participations in the ownership of the company, for sale to everyone, and anyone can buy as many as they want. And in their case, each share is one vote, too. That means that the more shares, the more votes. This means that in banks the deciding power is in the hands of the very rich, whoever owns more shares. And by default, it stands to reasons that major decisions in banks will be made for the benefit of those who have deciding power. Again, the rich shareholders.

The History of the Credit Union struggle

You cannot imagine the difficulties that credit union world movement has faced in the United States. Credit unions have been around in this country since the early 1900s, but have always struggled against the difficulties imposed on them by banks which, for decades, were able to influence policy and stop credit unions from thriving.

St. Mary's Church Credit Union, the first
in the United States to open (and yes, they
exist today, but in a much bigger building!)

It wasn’t until 1970 that Credit Unions stepped out from under the yoke of the FDIC, the governmental body that governs banks, and which had kept credit unions activities completely limited since the 1940s. in the late 70s we gained the ability to offer mortgages and CDs (though we are forced to name them something different, Share Certificates because banks never wants us to have the same products as them, even if the accounts are exactly the same).

Interestingly it was that same year that credit unions first started offering checking accounts except that, for once, they one-upped banks. Rural credit unions in Ohio created “Share Draft” accounts, which they directly named differently from banks so as to not step on their toes, and which were essentially checking accounts, with one huge, major difference: they gave dividends on the balances. Yes, it was credit unions that were pioneers in offering checking services that paid interest. Imagine that.

In the 80s we gained the ability to extend fields of membership of credit unions to other groups that were similar in activity to that of the original field of membership. This is why today we welcome members from IICA, CAF, the ATA and many others.

Every step of the way has been a struggle, going up against the giants of finance and all the power their money can buy.

A struggle that continues to this day

The face-off continues today, albeit on different issues. Nowadays the challenge is staying abreast of technologies and their security, and offering members competitive products and services.

Credit unions learned long ago that in order to not just survive but move forward, we needed strategic alliances, alliances with other credit unions, with organized groups, with legal organizations that would allow us to offer competitive services and products, and to defend our rights together so that no single credit union would face every single cost alone. No single credit union could survive alone today, it would be too costly.

Logo of a Co-OP ATM, which you
can use for free and are found
in your nearest seven-11.

That is why OAS FCU joined the Co-Op network to offer you the largest network of ATMs in North America, a network made of all the credit union ATMs combined. The Credit Union also created a small venture group with two other credit unions, so that together they can engage investment, and other handy services that they offer us, the members. Our wires are sent via a larger Credit Union with whom we have an alliance as well.

It is also a challenge to meet the demands of a modern, global membership in this technological era. Online banking, mobile banking, electronic voting, online forms and electronic signatures, encryptions systems to keep your money safe while you log in and out… all these take time, effort and money to implement, manage and upgrade. It is hard to compete with the full services that a bank offers, with thousands of employees like they have, with the staff of 21 members (including management) like OAS Staff FCU has. But they do, because you empower them to do it with a Board and Committees formed by volunteer members like you, who shoulder some of the burden and a lot of the decision-making for the sake of everyone.

Today

Every single one of these alliances, products, services, and technologies took months and years to bring them to you. And every single final decision was made by the Board of Directors, the same Board of Directors for which you will elect the volunteers in April and May.

Our loans are reviewed and approved by volunteers, too, the Credit Committee for which you will also vote.

Not only that: our Credit Union has several committees of members who volunteer their knowledge in technology, banking legislation, investments and economy, security, and even their organizational skills to make sure that the credit union always on top of, and up to date on everything: rates, fees, operations, security, new products and services, everything.

Each credit union revolves around its members, and functions for the sake of those members. This is why I want I want to thank the volunteers, management and staff past, present and future for the amazing job they do of making sure that all of us have the same services and products that we would get elsewhere, equally or better priced, and in two languages. And for their ongoing job of making the credit experience better for us, year after year, since OAS FCU first launched in 1962.

It’s also why I encourage you, members, to become involved in the credit union process by voting in the next elections, but also by volunteering to join any of the committees that help us do better by all every day.