In this episode we're introducting you to Peach State Federal Credit Union. We will be showing you around our corporate office and telling you all how we came to be and why we do what we do!
Video Transcription Below:
0:15
Hello, are you here for the tour?
Yes.
Great, have a seat and they'll be right with you, okay?
0:32
Hey, I'm Gabe.
And I'm Elia.
Welcome to Peach State.
0:37
This is our loans department, both consumer and business. Hi, Jennifer. Hi.
We offer many smart borrowing options such as auto loans, mortgages, agricultural loans, and personal loans, plus more. We also offer loans specifically for our business members.
0:53
Now, this is our call center. Normally, we have to be pretty quiet here because our amazing employees are assisting members as we speak.
1:00
Right here is our IT department. These awesome guys help us with all of our equipment needs so that we can better serve our members. And they help us with those pesky passwords that we always forget.
1:14
Looks like training has a new hire. Let's sit in and see what Cindy's teaching them today.
Yes. So you'd want to go ahead and yep, just click on that for me. Yes, ma'am. Absolutely, yep. All right, we're ready for the next. Hello, guys. How are you guys today?
So the next thing we're going to talk about is we're going to talk about the difference between credit unions and banks.
Credit unions are not-for-profit, which means they reinvest earnings back into the organization to benefit their members, whereas banks, are for-profit financial institutions that are aimed to maximize profits for their stockholders.
Credit unions have member-owners, so when you join, you become a part-owner, whereas banks have customers and are owned by stockholders and investors.
Credit unions are governed by a volunteer board of directors elected by its member-owners, whereas banks are governed by a paid, elected board of directors chosen by stockholders.
Credit unions return profits earned over expenses to their members in the form of lower rates and fees, whereas banks maximize profits for their stockholders.
A credit union's sole purpose is to improve the lives of its members, whereas a bank's sole purpose is to maximize profits for their investors.
Now you know the main differences. Let's get back to the tour.
2:48
This is Leslie. Hey how are ya’ll.?He's part of our facilities department. They run courier to all our branches, maintain our corporate office, and take care of any repairs.
2:59
Hey, Jay. Hey, Jay.
Hey, guys. How's it going?
Good. How are you doing?
All right.
Awesome, awesome.
So this is Jay. He's the head of our fraud department. He helps our members who fall victim to scams and any kind of fraud. We will actually be doing a future episode with him where he's going to tell us all about it.
Can't wait. See you guys later.
3:19
And this is our Card Services Department. They make sure your credit and debit cards are working properly and issue replacement cards when needed, among other things.
3:28
Our operations department - right behind me - oversees daily operations on member accounts and ensures everything is running smoothly.
Hey there.
Our accounting department is right this way. They make sure that the credit union's bills are paid and we're well balanced. You know, they don't like us over in the marketing department because we order a lot of swag.
3:52
This is Maria. She's part of our Member Solutions Department. They assist members with any financial challenges that they may run into.
4:00
Now that we've shown you what Peach State has become today, let's give you a little backstory on how we came to be.
Peach State started out as an idea in the minds of seven Gwinnett County School System employees. Back in 1961, they gathered at a kitchen table - just like the one that you see here - and decided they wanted to create a credit union to help the employees of Gwinnett County School System, and thus, Gwinnett Teachers Federal Credit Union was born, our OG name.
For the first several years, the credit union offered savings accounts and signature loans, or personal loans as you may know them. Back then, credit unions couldn't offer mortgages and credit cards as we do today.
And today, Peach State serves over 70,000 members and select employer groups, or SEGs as we like to call them, in Georgia and South Carolina.
4:54
And if you look behind me you can see the contributions of the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation, the heart of Peach State. C.A.R.E.S. is actually an acronym for Community, Arts, Responsibility, Education, and Service.
The foundation was created with the goal of helping local nonprofits such as food pantries, the arts and school systems in our service area. It is supported by our C.A.R.E.S. Visa debit card program as well as contributions from outside donors. For every purchase you make with a Peach State Visa debit card, Peach State will donate a nickel to the CARES Foundation1.
1 $0.05 per transaction of Peach State Federal Credit Union’s merchant interchange income from our Visa Debit Card program is used to benefit the communities we serve. We will determine where/how funds are disbursed. This does not affect members’ accounts nor will any member information be disclosed. You will not incur any additional fees or charges from this program. Merchant interchange income is derived from fees that a merchant pays to accept credit/debit card payments. The C.A.R.E.S. program may or may not apply to ATM transactions, certain commercial transactions, or other transactions not processed by Visa.
And today, the CARES Foundation has donated over $3 million to over 300 organizations, and it's not slowing down.
5:36
This is our executive hallway. Our executive team are the strategic engines and visionaries and make high-impact decisions that shape the credit union's future.
5:45
At Peach State, our mission is to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of our member-owners.
We strive to achieve that goal through our branches and the regions that we serve, guided by our core values: community, commitment, education, excellence, integrity, passion, respect, service, teamwork, and trust.
6:10
And this is our home, the marketing suite. The marketing department is responsible for visually communicating our brand through our socials, our website, and our campaigns.
And right through here is a very special room. This is our campfire room.
6:27
And this is where we'll be shooting our brand new podcast, Spilling the Peach Tea, with us as your hosts.
We'll be talking about the credit union difference, finances, fraud, and more.
Stay tuned for our first official episode dropping soon.
Until next time, Peach out.
Thank you for watching!
Peach State is Federally Insured by the NCUA.
peachstatefcu.org
