While some financial services institutions are abandoning rural areas and their residents, Redstone Federal Credit Union® is finding new ways to reach them.
Redstone, headquartered in Huntsville, AL, and Rural King®, America’s Farm and Home Store, announced a collaboration in May that allows Rural King customers to become Redstone members when they apply for low-rate equipment loans and credit cards through Redstone. Rural King is America’s fastest growing privately-owned farm and home store.
“Redstone’s decision to offer products and services to Rural King customers is another way to serve our rural neighbors who may find it difficult to obtain lower cost financial services,’’ said Joe Newberry, Redstone President and CEO.
Rural King customers who obtain a complimentary membership to AUSA Redstone Huntsville Chapter become eligible for Redstone membership, regardless of where they live. Aside from the benefits new members receive from Redstone, AUSA membership offers its own set of hearty benefits.
The Credit Union benefits are evident -- lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and lower fees. But there is so much more than monetary savings. In addition to providing excellent customer service, Redstone gives back to its local communities in a variety of creative and generous ways, such as offering free financial literacy classes
Traditional financial institutions continue to be threatened by non-traditional financial service providers. This collaboration further strengthens Redstone’s position in the industry and introduces it to an entirely new potential market, Newberry said.
Rural King, founded in Mattoon, IL in 1960, has more than 100 stores in 13 states. The farm and home store is an excellent fit for Redstone, who counts one-third of its current membership as rural dwellers of modest means. Credit unions were created primarily to make credit available to people of modest means.
“Rural King’s customers are like family, and we chose Redstone Federal Credit Union as our financial partner because it is committed to helping families and communities achieve their financial dreams,’’ said Alex Melvin, Rural King CEO.
Shared Branching
One much-anticipated benefit of the collaboration with Rural King is shared branching, which was introduced as part of this effort.
A shared branch network allows credit union members to conduct many banking transactions at participating credit union locations within the network, just as if they were at their home branch. This effort will benefit new Redstone members who joined through the Rural King relationship and for all others who relocated to cities without a Redstone branch.