January 2nd, 2020086Applications recently opened for this year's Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program, according to a Cape Coral Daily Breeze article.
The Suncoast Schools Credit Union Foundation is partnering with the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools to offer five $2,000 scholarship awards to Class of 2020 high school graduates in the credit union's 21 county service territory. The Foundation invested $116,000 into the scholarships.
"We believe the best way we can build better communities is by investing in education and health-related initiatives for children," Suncoast Credit Union Foundation Executive Director Cindy Helton told Coastal...
December 31st, 2019160Unbanked, underbanked and underserved residents of Sarasota, Fla. now have new opportunities for financial betterment thanks to a partnership between the city and Manatee Community Federal Credit Union.
The new "Reliable Ride" program will allow residents to open an account with the credit union and take advantage of low-interest vehicle loans in order to secure reliable transportation, according to a Sarasota Magazine article. Clients of the program wil also receive financial education and assistance, and be eligible to apply or business startup loans through participation in Community Entrepreneur Opportunity courses offered by the City...
December 30th, 2019152In March, CreditUnions.com wrote an article about Community First Credit Union's innovative reward program that offers high-performing branch staff experiences rather than cash.
The online publication recently re-featured the article -- titled 'A reward program that takes the cents out of incentive' -- in its rundown of the best HR pieces published in 2019.
Below is an excerpt from the original article:
It's been nearly a decade since branch staff at Community First Credit Union of Florida ($1.6B, Jacksonville, FL) collected any form of cash incentive -- not that anyone misses it.
Cash incentives didn't fit into the...
December 30th, 20190114GTE Financial Credit Union Chief Experience Officer Pedro Diaz recently sat down with CreditUnions.com to discuss member experience opportunities and challenges the credit union expects to face in 2020.
Below is an excerpt of that interview:
What's your biggest member experience opportunity in 2020? How do you plan to address it?
Pedro Diaz: Ensuring that all members always experience the best service and value. We're taking a three-pronged approach: training on integrity selling, holding teams and individuals accountable and leveraging our real-time member surveys for daily coaching.
Click here to read the full CreditUnions.com...
December 27th, 2019064GTE Financial Credit Union spread holiday cheer to four families in need this year.
The Make Hope Real initiative is part of the credit union's annual promise campaign aiming to deliver a dose of holiday happiness to families struggling during the season, according to a CU Today article. The GTE Community Financial Center staff members nominated the deserving families and all GTE employees raised funds throughout the month of December to help spread holiday cheer.
GTE Financial received families at their headquarters and escorted them on an adventure that included a shopping spree at Target, gift wrapping and dinner at a local...
December 25th, 20190129Suncoast Credit Union recently announced the signing of an agreement to purchase Miami-based Apollo Bank.
The deal is the largest bank acquisition by a credit union in U.S. history and the 12th acquisition of its kind in Florida, according to a Florida Weekly article.
Apollo Bank is a leading community bank in Florida that is locally operated and owned by shareholders with $746 million in assets and about 100 employees. The bank, which launched in 2010, operates five branches in Miami's Brickell Financial District, Doral, Coral Gables, Kendall and Hialeah.
According to Suncoast Credit Union CEO Kevin Johnson, the agreement...
December 23rd, 20192108Creditunions.com recently named two Florida credit unions in its article about the best lending programs of the year.
The article recognized Manatee Community Federal Credit Union for offering innovative employer-sponsored small-dollar loans. Employers enroll in the program and then offer the loans as a benefit of employment, sometimes with loan reserves bolstered by company contributions, according to the Creditunions.com article.The idea behind these loans is relatively simple -- but they act as a rescue for many who would have turned to predatory payday loans.
Pen Air Federal Credit Union also received recognition for its auto...
December 20th, 20191151Business Observer recently featured Suncoast Credit Union's recent acquisition of Miami-based Apollo Bank. The merger happened after Suncoast reached $10 billion in assets. Apollo Bank has $746 million in assets.
The following is an exert from the Business Observer article:
In banking, $10 billion is more than just a really big number. When an institution crosses that threshold with its assets, it becomes subject to several regulations within the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act. One of those is a cap on income from interchange fees, which immediately put pressure on Suncoast's earnings. And because Suncoast is a credit union, that...
December 20th, 20190214Space Coast Credit Union, the third largest credit union in Florida, is reolcating its existing South Florida operations center to the Miramar Park of Commerce, the largest locally owned and managed business park in South Florida, according to a Caribbean Today article.
The credit union, which employees about 850 team members, is leasing the entire 48,604-square-foot space.
"We chose the Miramar Park of Commerce due to its proximity and convenient access to major nearby thoroughfares," SCCU Chief Operating Officer Alan Lewis told Caribbean Today. "We weren't necessarily looking at new construction, but we found that this building...
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