Delivering value to members is vital
Tyndall FCU’s leadership focuses operations on giving members what they want most.
A single mom working two jobs with bills to pay and expenses for the first day of school fast approaching. An entry-level cook for a chain restaurant who needs a car to get to work. A cleaning person who has never been in a position to save.
These people are the backbone of credit unions like $2 billion Tyndall Federal Credit Union, based in Panama City, Florida, where more than half of our 114,000 members are considered “low income.” How they pay their rent, how they buy new tires, how they cover daycare, how they make ends meet—these thoughts should be driving our strategies and decisions as leaders of the credit union system.
But credit unions are at risk of forgetting from where they came: not for profit, not for charity, but to serve. We need to get back to these basic principles.
The public largely does not realize the substantial impact credit unions make in communities across this country and especially for low-income members. We do not exist to make the rich richer; we help families survive financially and build a brighter future. We are different from traditional banks in several key ways, with the most significant being our not-for-profit status, which provides tax benefits, but also a profound responsibility to deliver meaningful value.
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