Not to sound like a broken record – alas, the youth of today have no clue what a broken record should even sound like – but 2015 was another banner year for your credit union. Membership rose dramatically again to 23,100 while assets topped $214 million. This growth also translated to the bottom line as net income surged to $1,509,775 – a record. As a not-for-profit organization, this money is held as capital so that the credit union can withstand those years where things aren’t as rosy. 

While the credit union has done well as the economy improved in 2015, it would be negligent to ignore what appear to be some dark clouds on the horizon. Volatility in the stock market is bringing back fears reminiscent of 2008. And while the price of oil has dropped dramatically, there are some negative effects which offset some of the benefits of sub $2.00 per gallon gas.

The economy aside, your credit union has some plans for 2016 designed to delight its membership. First, the days of ordering a new debit card and then waiting 7-10 days for it to arrive in the mail are over. This year each of O Bee’s branches gain the capability to instantly issue debit cards right there in the branch. Furthermore, you will be seeing new cards with new EMV chips for enhanced security.
Other changes will be occurring on the technology front. Our mobile app – which is one of the most complete and user friendly offered by any organization – will continue to be expanded in 2016 with new features such as the ability to apply for a loan, plus an enhanced look and feel. Online banking, too, will get improvements in 2016 and we anticipate that one of these will be the ability to nickname all accounts (finally). 

One area that we are both excited about but also a bit apprehensive revolves around more modern payment systems, such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. While the technology is much better than even EMV cards, the multiple disparate offerings are too diverse to implement them all. However, we definitely plan to adopt at least one of these as soon as the dust settles.

As Steve mentioned in his Chairperson’s report, we have engaged the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) to determine what impact the credit union has had on its membership. After all, this is the reason we exist – to make things better for our members, the owners. We plan to constantly have this analysis done and will be using 2016 as the baseline for increasing what we do for our membership.

Finally, I would like to thank the wonderful people who work with me on building an organization that has evolved beyond anything I could have dreamed. Truly dedicated, the management and staff have committed to an organization that is as driven as its membership.