Pennsylvania’s leading digital credit union - will join more than 89,000 credit unions around the world in celebration of International Credit Union Day (ICU Day). Held on the third Thursday of October since 1948, the observation recognizes the philosophy, importance, and ongoing achievements of the global credit union movement.
“As financial cooperatives, credit unions like PSECU are owned by their members. Those members’ pooled resources provide one another with affordable loans and banking opportunities, and surplus earnings are returned to the members through additional benefits like low- or no-fee products and services,” explained PSECU President George Rudolph. “Credit unions also follow a shared ‘people helping people’ philosophy, which means that we strive to give back to the communities we serve through things like financial education programming, employee volunteerism, and event charitable donations.”
PSECU embraces ICU Day because it believes the not-for-profit structure and people-first principles of credit unions make them the ideal financial institutions for all people. At its most basic level, a credit union is people coming together to pool their money and provide each other with affordable loans – a true representation of the credit union “people helping people” philosophy in action.
This year’s ICU Day theme, “Local Service. Global Reach.,” serves as a reminder of how the cooperative spirit of credit unions leads to life-changing opportunities to their over 260 million worldwide members who’ve wanted to start a small business, own a home, or continue their education but were denied access to other financial institutions. Globally, the credit union movement empowers people to take control of their financial futures. In many parts of the world, even people’s first taste of democracy comes in the form of their credit union where “one member, one vote” is the governing structure.
“While PSECU is based in Pennsylvania, we have members around the world, and we’re part of the collaborative credit union movement that spans a total of 117 countries. To be a contributor to something with such a large and beneficial influence is truly a wonderful opportunity. ‘Local Service. Global Reach.’ – that’s a concept worthy of celebrating!” added Rudolph. “To anyone interested in joining PSECU or learning more about the benefits of credit union banking, I encourage you to visit psecu.com.”
ICU Day is presented annually by the Credit Union National Association and the World Council of Credit Unions.
The theme of International Credit Union Day 2019 is “Local Service. Global Reach.”