SUFCU Newsletter

July 2005
President’s Message:
Cedar City Office Grand Re-Opening
eStatements, or
Paper Statements?
The grand re-opening of our Cedar City office was held during the week of
April 11th. Members were greeted with balloons, flowers and treats throughout the week-long celebration.
Earlier this year, we sent a letter to all
members who had signed up for access to
eTeller, our on-line home banking system.
The letter advised them that they could
access their statements through eTeller,
and would no longer receive a paper
statement unless they opted out, and
requested paper statements.
Two of our board members, Sterling
Church & Elizabeth Page, shared the
task of cutting the ribbon at the ceremony to officially re-open the office.
Most members have had no problem
with the lack of mailed statements, but a
few either didn't receive the letter, or didn't read it, and have let us know they
were unhappy about not receiving statements in the mail.
We have since put a log-in disclosure on
eTeller, that requires members to click
through only once, and gives the option
of accepting eStatements, or requesting a
mailed statement.
We apologize for problems this change
may have caused to any of our members.
We strongly recommend receiving your
statement through eTeller for security
reasons.
With electronic access to statements, you
are not vulnerable to theft from your
mailbox, and
your account
data is secure
behind our firewall, with 128bit encryption,
and a 24/7
security scan on
our system.
Much of the inside of the office was
refurbished, including the teller line and
lobby. Several private offices were added
to give members more privacy when
conducting their transactions. State-ofthe-art electrical and telecommunications systems were added to ensure that
the facility would continue to be able to
provide the most advanced services to
our members.
Thanks to the members and employees
of the Cedar Office for enduring the construction phase. A big thank you is
also owed to everyone else that played a hand in achieving this beautiful
remodeling job!
Congratulations!
Mark Widdison, Branch Manager at the Sunset branch
(left, top), and Jeremy Beitler, our HR/Training
Manager (left, bottom), have both received promotions.
Mark has been advanced to the position of Assistant
Vice President, Consumer Loans, and Jeremy is now
our Assistant Vice President, Sales and Service.
These young men have contributed greatly to the success of Southern Utah Federal, and will play a valuable
role on our senior management team.
Congratulations to both!
Holiday Reminders
We will be closed in observance of the following holidays:
Monday, July 4, 2005 for the 4th of July holiday.
Monday, July 25, 2005 for the Pioneer Day holiday.
Monday, September 5, 2005 for the Labor Day holiday.
Annual Meeting
Re-Cap
Our Annual Meeting of members was
held on Wednesday, April 20 at the St.
George Holiday Inn. Mike Empey,
Congressman Matheson’s Southern
Utah Field Representative, addressed
the membership to let the group know
what has been going on in Washington,
D.C.
The prizes were great and the food was
fabulous! We were especially pleased by
the wonderful turnout and the percentage of members who took the time to
vote this year.
Your current board members are:
Ken Kittock:
Elizabeth Page:
Dian Robinson:
Brian Hinton
Dell Taylor
Sterling Church
Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Please remember to thank our board
members for taking on this important
responsibility. They voluntarily serve
on the board to help us all!
2005 Scholarship
Awards
Southern Utah Federal recently
announced the recipients of their annual
Scholarship Awards. These $1,000 scholarships are presented to seniors from area
high schools. The scholarships may be
used at any post-high school educational
facility, and are awarded not only on grades, but citizenship and character.
The recipients for 2005 were:
Amanda Evans:
Lynette Woodbury:
Mikayla Brent:
Alanya Perry:
Stacey Pointer:
Kyle Peterson:
Snow Canyon High School
Dixie High School
Pine View High School
Hurricane High School
Canyon View High School
Cedar City High School
This year Southern Utah Federal awarded an additional $1,000 Scholarship of
Merit to Danny Halpin of Millcreek High School. Congratulations to everyone!
Field of Membership Expanded
We’re proud to announce an expansion of our Field of Membership. The field of
membership for Southern Utah Federal Credit Union includes those having the following common bond:
Persons who live, work, worship,
or attend school in, and
businesses and other legal
entities located in:
CHECK
OUT THIS
RATE!
Home Equity
Loans
with rates
as low as
*
5.75%
APR
for 6 months
* OAC; APR = Annual Percentage Rate
Beaver County, Utah
Garfield County, Utah
Iron County, Utah
Kane County, Utah
Washington County, Utah
Mesquite and Bunkerville,
Nevada,
The section of Arizona that is
west and north of the Colorado
River (Grand Canyon)
As a member, you know all
about our great service and rates.
Tell your friends, family and
neighbors to join too!
Legendary Service
We encourage our members to let us know
when we succeed in providing Legendary
Service, and to nominate an employee when
you feel that you have been provided with
great service. Recently, a member wrote,
"Heather (Mortenson) was the most professional, courteous and knowledgeable person I
have ever dealt with. I will stay here as long as
she does!"
Heather has recently been promoted from
being a Member Service Representative at our
Sunset office to work as an underwriter trainee
in our loan department. We hope the member who wrote this compliment about
Heather knows that she is still with Southern
Utah Federal!
Parents:
Help Prepare Your
College-Bound Students
Annual Sun Run
Raising Money For
Area Reading Programs
As part of our on-going commitment
to the community, Southern Utah
Federal sponsored its third annual Sun Run that was held on Saturday, May
7th. The event featured both a 10K run and a 5K walk. All proceeds from the
run benefitted the Leveled Libraries Reading Program for local area schools.
The run began and ended at the Man ‘O War Bridge trailhead in Bloomington.
Participants took anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to finish the event that
had an open registration field. Several classifications of runners were offered.
Regardless of finish times, the Sun Run offered enjoyment for people of all abilities.
"The Sun Run offered something for everyone in the family," reported Kelly
Blake, Southern Utah Federal run coordinator. "The event really catered to people of all ages and abilities. And the best part is that the proceeds will help our
children," he added.
“We’re always happy to
see the number of participants increase each
year. It’s especially nice
to see the number of
families who decide to
walk together,” added
Blake.
Colorful T-shirts and
post race refreshments
were given to every Sun
Run participant. There
were also snacks, beverages and prize drawings.
“I want to thank all the
staff members who
helped make this year’s
event so special. A lot of
employees put in hours
of time to ensure the
Sun Run’s success,”
Blake said.
High-school graduates soon will leave home
for college and embark on many new experiences. Financial independence will be a
first for many. Parents, here are some ways
you can help prepare your kids for what's in
store, according to the Credit Union
National Association and the Association of
Independent Consumer Credit Counseling
Agencies.
· Explain how credit works. If your
kids apply for a credit card at one of the
countless campus table promotions, they'll
not only take home a free T-shirt or coffee
mug, but a credit line they may not be able
to afford, and may not know how to manage. Nellie Mae reports that undergraduate
students had an average credit card debt of
$2,327 in 2002. Make sure your teen knows
using a credit card is not free money; it's
instead a means of putting off paying for
purchases until a later date. Accompany
your child to the credit union for the best
rates on credit cards and consider urging
him or her to use a debit card instead.
· Create a spending plan. A map of
where you're going is the best way to avoid
losing your way on the road to financial
independence. Sit down with your teen and
develop a spending plan. Write down all
college expenses such as tuition, books,
room and board, cell phone, toiletries,
entertainment, and so forth. Determine
which expenses you'll be paying and those
for which your child will be paying. Take
scholarship and loan money into account.
· Come to a no-bail-out agreement.
Agree beforehand that students are going to
take full responsibility for their finances at
college. Some students will end up charging
more than they can afford, run out of
money before the end of the month, or be
in debt to their roommates. Your first reaction may be to send money and bail your
child out of the financial hardship. Don't do
it. Students need to figure out a way to get
out of debt such as working on weekends or
staying home when their friends are going
out. Chances are they won't make the same
mistake twice.
Get the Facts Straight:
Your Rights Under the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) of 2003 addresses
consumers' rights to understand and protect the information in their credit
reports and to get help when their financial information has been stolen.
Financial institutions have new responsibilities under the FACT Act, which
President Bush signed into law in December 2003. Most of the FACT Act
changes went into effect at the end of 2004, but some are not yet implemented.
Understanding your credit report
These provisions address your rights to have better information about the contents and use of your credit report:
· Consumers must have greater access to their credit reports and credit scores;
the Act increases consumers' ability to correct inaccuracies in their credit
reports.
· Financial institutions that provide information to credit bureaus must ensure
the accuracy and integrity of the information provided to them.
· Credit bureaus must each provide a free report annually, phased in by
region, to consumers who request a copy. Consumers also must be able to get
credit score information from credit bureaus for "a reasonable fee" as set by the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
· Financial institutions must notify members before, or within 30 days after
the fact that they're reporting negative information about them to credit
bureaus regarding an account, extension of credit, or transaction.
· Mortgage lenders that use credit scores must provide applicants with their
credit score information.
Fighting ID theft
The FACT Act also provides consumers with new national identity theft protections, some of which impose new rules on creditors:
· The FTC will develop model forms to standardize how consumers can
report identity theft to creditors and consumer reporting agencies
· The Act requires setup of a nationwide fraud alert system. Credit reporting
agencies receiving such alerts from customers now are obliged to follow procedures ensuring that any future requests are by the true consumer, not an identity thief posing as the consumer. The law also enables active duty military personnel to place special alerts on their files when they are deployed overseas.
· The FACT Act helps prevent identity theft before it occurs by requiring
merchants to leave all but the last five digits of a credit card number off store
receipts. This way, slips of paper that most people throw away do not contain
their full credit card number--a key to financial identity.
· Before, identity theft victims had to call all of their credit card issuers and
the three major credit bureaus to alert them to crime. Under the FACT Act,
credit bureaus share identity theft complaints, and consumers need only make
one call to receive advice, set off a nationwide fraud alert, and protect their
credit standing.
· If a financial institution receives a request for an additional credit card
shortly after an address change, it must contact the consumer at the former
address to make sure there isn't fraudulent activity.
· Consumers can directly ask credit unions and others who provide information to credit bureaus to investigate problems.
New scams are detected daily. See current phishing scams at the following
address: www.antiphishing.org.
Help Your Child or
Grandchild Learn
to Manage Money
Open a Thrif-T-Rex
Club Account
Today
It’s never too early to start teaching
your child or grandchild how to
wisely save and invest their money.
• No minimum balance required to
earn dividends.
• Free gifts earned for deposits
made into the Thrif-T-Rex
Account.
• Account opening – Thrif-T-Rex
t-shirt and a savings passbook.
Stop by any branch for details and
to open your account today!
(800) 371-2693
St. George • Washington
Sunset • Hurricane • Cedar City
www.sufcu.org