Press

STCU launches phased approach for continued member service

SPOKANE, WA (March 20, 2020) — STCU announced Thursday it will temporarily close some of its branch locations to make the best use of resources during the coronavirus outbreak, provide effective social distancing for staff and members, and maintain consistent service for 202,000 members.

The facilities plan calls for maintaining full services at more than half of the credit union’s 23 branch locations in the Spokane region, North Idaho and Tri-Cities. It will leave drive-through lanes open at most other locations.

The plan calls for closing only five branch locations by next Monday, and maintaining full service at remote locations like Newport, Wash., and Bonner County, Idaho.

In addition, the credit union will limit the number of members in some branch lobbies at any given time. That number will vary depending on branch size.

All branches will reopen as soon as the health crisis has ended, said Ezra Eckhardt, STCU President and CEO. In addition, STCU plans to open its new Pasco Branch this summer.

All external ATMs will remain open. In addition, STCU encourages its members to use online banking and the STCU mobile app to access their accounts, transfer money, pay bills, deposit checks and more.

The temporary changes will allowSTCU to redeploy some of its employees to the highest volume branch locations. Others will assist members by phone, secure messaging, and live chat.

A significant number of credit union employees also are working from home, and STCU’s largest workplace – its Liberty Lake headquarters– has been divided into quadrants to keep workgroups small.

The credit union will continue to respond to the recommendations of health agencies and other authorities, said Ezra Eckhardt, STCU President and CEO.

“Our first concern is the health and safety of our staff and members,” Eckhardt said. “With this plan, and the flexibility to make changes as needed, we’re confident we can meet our members’ needs.”

The facilities plan includes these temporary steps:

On Wednesday, the credit union closed its Downtown Spokane Branch, due to reduced foot traffic in the downtown core.
Hutton Branch in Spokane’s historic Hutton Building is closed as of this afternoon.
Starting Friday, the Queensgate Branch in Richland, Wash., will operate with drive-through lanes only.
The following branches will be closed as of Monday morning: Qualchan Branch in Spokane; South Valley Branch in Spokane Valley; and the Rathdrum and Downtown Coeur d’Alene branches in Idaho.
Also Monday, these four branches will operate with drive-through lanes only: Indian Trail and Moran Prairie branches in Spokane; Airway Heights Branch; and Silver Lake Branch in Dalton Gardens, Idaho.

“We know that these temporary changes will inconvenience some members of our financial cooperative,” Eckhardt said. “It will be a great day when we can welcome them back into every one of our locations.”

About STCU

Founded by educators in 1934, STCU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative with more than $5.7 billion in assets. It serves over 275,000 members at 38 branches in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, the Tri-Cities, and north-central Washington, and online at stcu.org.