EVANSVILLE, IN (March 19, 2018) — Growth at Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union continued unabated in 2017 and shows no sign of slowing, members learned at the annual meeting on March 13.
ETFCU operates six branches in Evansville – including an 82,500 square foot main facility that opened in June on Theater Drive – along with two in Owensboro, Kentucky, and one each in Mount Vernon, Princeton, Vincennes and Henderson, Kentucky. The credit union plans to open new locations in Washington and Fort Branch along with Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Franklin, Tennessee this year.
The numbers spoke for themselves in 2017:
· 26,421 new members joined ETFCU, bringing total membership at year end past 192,000 – second-largest of any Indiana credit union.
· Net worth increased by $22.3 million – by far the most in the credit union’s history that dates to 1936 and the most of any credit union in Indiana in 2017 – with total equity standing at $145 million, or nearly 10 percent of total assets.
· Total loans grew 12 percent or $123 million to $1.16 billion.
· Total loans serviced increased by 13 percent or $270 million to $2.38 billion.
· Total assets rose by a record 14 percent or $178 million to $1.46 billion.
· Mobile banking users grew by 11,033, or 41 percent.
With all of that, president and chief executive officer Bill Schirmer was most pleased with another record number: $2.3 million-plus returned to members who took advantage of ETFCU’s Vertical and Platinum Rewards checking accounts. Those programs offered either a 3 percent rate of return on balances up to $15,000 or redeemable rewards points, as well as refunds up to $15 per month for ATM fees charged by other financial institutions for using their machines. In January 2018, the maximum balance to earn 3 percent on Vertical checking accounts was increased to $20,000, which indicates the 2017 record won’t last long.
“Our focus continues to remain on our financial return back to the membership,” said Schirmer, who took over as CEO in April 2012, when the credit union had 62,000 members. “Looking to the future, our focus remains on our members. We will continue to provide the same standard of high quality service while researching new product and service innovations to enhance our value and convenience offerings.”
That commitment has been recognized both in the community and among peer groups. ETFCU ranked No. 1 among 157 Indiana credit unions in “total return to the member” by Callahan & Associates, and No. 1 in “best performing credit union” by the Savings & Loan Institution. It ranked 10th of 328 credit unions in its peer group (top 3 percent nationally) in the “total return to the member” as rated by Callahan & Associates. It was No. 22 among “best performing credit unions” out of 5,900 nationally by SNL Financial, markings its fourth year in a row inside the top 50.
For the fifth consecutive year, ETFCU received the platinum (top) award for Best Credit Union in the Evansville Courier & Press Readers’ Choice Awards.
“Those accomplishments are in large part because of a wonderful group of dedicated employees,” said Robert A. Suhrheinrich of the credit union’s volunteer Board of Directors. “They work tirelessly. Our successes, both current and projected, also would not be occurring without Bill Schirmer’s vision for the future.”
ETFCU now employees more than 500 Tri-State residents who are active in giving back to the community. The employees have personally pledged nearly $78,000 to fund a Habitat for Humanity house build in Evansville and gave more than $45,000 in this year’s United Way campaign.
The credit union annually funds 10 grants in the Ted Hitch Scholarship Program worth $5,000 apiece for high school seniors who are members or whose parents are members of ETFCU, and it gives back more than $500,000 annually to non-profit efforts that concentrate on helping children, families, education and quality of life in the communities that it serves.
ETFCU was founded by teachers from the Evansville school system and then-Evansville College in 1936, but has long been open to other prospective members and their families. The credit union has more than 212,000 members in all 50 states and eight nations, with assets of $1.8 billion, and leads the Evansville market in mortgage and auto loans.
Tim Ethridge
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union
tethridge@etfcu.org
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union
4401 Theater Drive Evansville, IN 47716
(812) 477-9271
