The mortgage crisis. Losses by giants such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citibank and Merrill Lynch. Rising unemployment and financial uncertainty.
Have the newscasters got you worried about your money? We understand that you might be unsure about mortgage lending and cautious about your finances, but have no fears. We’ve been around for nearly three quarters of a century and TCCU isn’t going anywhere. Keep these facts in mind when you’re deciding whether to put your earnings into a bank or credit union.
Credit unions as a whole are healthy, with strong balance sheets.
- Credit unions are well capitalized. Their overall capital-to-asset ratio stands at a very solid 11.1% (compared to 10% for banks). In total dollars, that's a capital cushion of $90 billion.
- Credit union mortgage delinquencies at the end of the first quarter stood at only 0.7%. First mortgage charge-offs were a miniscule 0.06%.
Credit unions like TCCU have steered clear of the subprime mess.
- In the first four months of 2008, mortgages at credit unions grew faster than all other loans. This comes at a time when mortgage losses have forced other lenders to scale back or close their doors entirely.
- Because we are a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, we have loyalty to our members. Unlike some banks and brokers, we're not out to push loans just to make a quick buck.
- Fifty six percent of credit unions offer first mortgages, and 90% of the nation's 90 million credit union members belong to one of the credit unions that offer first mortgage loans.
- TCCU went into 2008 with a strong balance sheet and we'll still be strong when it's over.
Federal insurance covers credit unions, too.
- Virtually all credit unions are federally insured by a fund that, like the FDIC, is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
- As the FDIC does for banks, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) insures savings at least up to $250,000 per account!
- The NCUSIF is administered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the federal government.
- The NCUA recently reported that the NCUSIF at mid-year remained strong, with an equity-to-insured deposits ratio estimated at 1.24% as of June 30 and projected to rise to 1.28% by year end.
If you have any questions about your account, please contact TCCU staff at 828.252.6458 or e-mail us.
Serving new members who live, work, attend school, or worship in
Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, and Henderson counties!!
