America First Credit Union is a federally chartered credit union headquartered in Riverdale, Utah. AFCU is the 6th largest credit union in the United States in terms of total membership and 11th largest credit union in assets in the U.S.
As of April 2009, America First has 88 branch locations, 495,939 members, and has USD 4.87 billion in assets.
Eligibility for membership in America First is open to anyone who lives, works (or regularly conducts business in), worships, attends school, or volunteers in Salt Lake County, Utah, or within a 12 mile radius of the Mesquite, Nevada, Post Office, along with members of the immediate family or household of an existing member or those eligible for membership, and owners, employees, suppliers and their employees, or associated companies and their employees involved in the food industry, in Utah.
History
In 1939, at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah, 59 members of the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local No. 650, instituted the Fort Douglas Civilian Employees Credit Union. On June 23, 1947, the finance office of the U.S. Army at Fort Douglas was moved to the Utah General Distribution Depot in Ogden, Utah, and the credit union moved with it and renamed itself Federal Employees Credit Union. In 1960, with the addition of the Naval Supply Depot in Clearfield, Utah, the credit union was now affiliated with four military installations, the other three being the Utah General Depot, Hill Air Force Base, and Fort Douglas. Utah-chartered credit unions began serving anyone in the state and the credit union changed its name to America First Credit Union in 1984.
In 1994, it marketed residential mortgages with incentives such as no fee for first mortgage refinancing, a quarter-point reduction in the interest rate if payments were to be deducted automatically from an America First chequing account, and a quarter-point reduction for mortgages of less than half the residence's appraised value.[1]
Beginning in 1998, a series of legal and legislative restrictions were placed on America First Credit Union's field of membership and its ability to make business loans. In 2003, America First became federally chartered to protect its membership and serve its business members. In 2004, it opened its first branch in Summit County, Utah, since the federal charter allows it to serve that county as well.[2]
In late 2000 or early 2001, it opened a 6,300 square feet (590 m2) facility in Layton, Utah.[3]
In 2005, it announced that it would offer Small Business Administration loans to its members.[4] In 2007, the credit union, many of whose members serve in the military, hosted Operation Best Wishes.[5]
Technology
In 1999, the credit union used Novell's NetWare.[6]
In 2001, it began to offer wireless banking to its members using technology from SensCom Inc.[7]
In 2006, it agreed to adopt Oracle Corporation's Siebel Branch Teller application to capture check information at the teller's terminal.[8]
References
- ^ "America First Credit Union Announces No-fee First Mortgage Refinancing". The Deseret News. April 26, 1994. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1q4RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=z-wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2427,5423413&dq=america-first-credit-union&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "America First Credit Union opens first Summit branch". The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). January 24, 2004. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1004D3DACC71393A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ Cole, Kelleigh (January 01, 2001). Utah Business. UNION POINTE CONSTRUCTION.(new facility for America First Credit Union)(Brief Article). Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "America First Credit Union.(NORTHERN)". Utah Business. July 1, 2005. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13774948_ITM. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "America First CU Hosts Operation Best Wishes.(America First Credit Union )(Brief article)". Credit Union Journal. January 29, 2007. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-158531260/america-first-cu-hosts.html. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "Novell Case Study: America First Credit Union". Novell Case Study via ZDnet Asia. 1999-11-30. http://www.zdnetasia.com/itlibrary/servers-and-server-os/0,3800009948,39256272p,00.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ Cole, Kelleigh (May 01, 2001). "America First Credit Union. (SensCom Inc.)(Brief Article)". Utah Business. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10809919_ITM. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "America First Credit Union Selects Oracle's Siebel Applications For Fully Automated Teller Solution. P". Oracle Corporation press release via PR Newswire. November 14, 2006. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25706641_ITM. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
External links
