CUs grow and do good in the community

Cornerstone League recognizes member credit unions’ news about their growth, expansion, and community endeavors to exemplify the “people helping people” philosophy.

Texas Trust breaks ground on San Angelo branch

Texas Trust Credit Union broke ground on a new facility to serve its growing membership in San Angelo. The new facility will be located on FM 2288 and Sherwood Way in the H-E-B shopping center.

Scheduled to open in early 2024, the branch will be managed by Heather Collier and will provide residents of San Angelo and Tom Green County a range of financial products and services. The branch will also have a number of bilingual employees to serve Spanish-speaking members.

The branch will be nearly 4,000 square feet and will offer a member-friendly design with free-standing universal teller stations. The design features private and semi-private spaces that will allow members to meet with branch personnel to manage their financial needs. Three oversized drive-thru lanes will accommodate members’ vehicles, along with a freestanding ATM canopy for 24/7 convenient access for routine transactions.

The building will have a modern take on traditional Texas style featuring Austin limestone and weathered wood. The interior will be designed with warm and welcoming wood tones, an abundance of natural light, and a bright, airy lobby. The outside of the facility will feature shading louvers and roof overhangs and the grounds will be xeriscaped with native plants.

Texas Trust, a credit union with more than $2 billion in assets and 137,000 members, worked with Oculus, Inc., to design the branch, which will be constructed by L. Keeley Construction of St. Louis.

Pictured above: Standing shovel-ready to break ground on the new branch on FM 2288 and Sherwood Way in the H-E-B shopping center are (left to right) Espy Taylor and Stephanie Sides with Texas Trust, along with Walt Koenig President/CEO of the San Angelo Chamber, and Texas Trust’s Heather Collier and Marissa Huerta.

Greater Texas' new AI smart system delivers quick access to information 

Interacting with Greater Texas Credit Union and its Aggieland subsidiary just got easier with the launch of a new virtual assistant system that rapidly handles member inquiries, any time of day.

The credit union, which serves 80,000 members and has nearly $1 billion in assets, has implemented an Intelligent Virtual Assistant member chat system from interface.ai in connection with its revamped and improved website. The system is designed to constantly learn based on the types of member inquiries so that it can more quickly deliver accurate responses and guide them to the information they need.

In addition to serving members’ and potential members’ needs when they visit the Greater Texas | Aggieland websites around the clock, 365 days a year, the chat system also helps free contact center agents from answering routine inquiries so they can devote more time to addressing members’ more complicated questions.

“We saw the opportunity to combine this chat system with our new website as a way to further improve our member experience,” said Stephanie Stout, vice president, contact center operations of Greater Texas | Aggieland. “This gives members a way to get the information they want, anytime and anywhere, with no need to wait for an agent.”

The chat system is the first phase for improved member access to information. Later this year, Greater Texas | Aggieland will extend the intelligent system to telephone queries in addition to online queries. Later in 2023, the final phase is a more customized system that can authenticate members based on their account information. This will allow members to access data related to their account balances, deposits, and transactions.

Arsenal helps the community recycle

Arsenal Credit Union in Arnold, Mo., held two community-focused recycling events this spring. The credit union partnered with the City of Arnold and Arnold Parks and Recreation to host the events at the Arnold Recreation Center.

In April, the credit union held a paper-shred event, shredding and recycling 20,625 pounds of documents. PROSHRED, a world leader in on-site shredding services, securely destroyed all documents at the event.

In May, the credit union held an electronics-recycling event, saving 11,721 pounds of e-waste from landfills. Midwest Recycling Center, a certified R2v3 and RIOS company, collected old, broken, and obsolete electronics and transported them back to its facility for proper destruction and recycling.

“As a credit union, it’s our mission to give back to the community,” said Lori Crutchley, executive vice president of the credit union. “While we mostly focus on helping people achieve their financial goals, it’s always great to help protect and preserve the environment, too. By holding these events, we also keep a lot of personal information safe, providing financial wellness for all.”

Meritrust announces four recipients for the 2023 Meritrust Member Scholarship

Meritrust Credit Union announced four recipients of the 2023 Meritrust Member Scholarship Program. The winners include part-time and full-time students of the 2023–2024 school year. One winner was selected from four schools:

• Hazrat Azghary, Wichita State University. Azghary is a junior studying health science. “Being awarded this scholarship would offer me financial assistance for my education, alleviating the stress of student loans,” he said. “The recognition of my academic accomplishments and potential that comes with this scholarship would provide a sense of encouragement and inspire me to work even harder toward my goals.” 
• Grayson Anderson, University of Kansas. Anderson is an incoming freshman who plans to study business finance. “This scholarship means a lot to me for two reasons,” he said. “One, I have banked at Meritrust for about six years and have been treated with the utmost customer service; and two, I plan on getting a degree that allows me to help people achieve their financial goals the same way Meritrust does.”
• Kaitlyn Scott-Welch, Kansas State University. Scott-Welch is a sophomore studying psychology and pre-nursing. “With the help of this scholarship, I can continue to work on my future plans of becoming a nurse practitioner and helping those in my community,” she said.
• Joseph Dewey, WSU Tech. Dewey is a junior seeking an associate degree in IT help desk and cybersecurity. “I’ve always loved working with computers since I was younger and wanted to have an IT job when I grew up,” he said. “Being able to work in cybersecurity is my dream. Thanks for making it possible!”

Meritrust believes in the power of education. “The experience gained through these post-secondary college programs serves as a foundation for the years of learning ahead once these students begin their career,” says James Nastars, president/CEO of Meritrust. “We are pleased to support these members’ education goals and wish them all the best in their future studies.”