Serving Members Through a Pandemic

Madison, WI – July 15, 2020 –  In a matter of weeks, the United States went from record-high employment to record job loss, with a falling stock market and rock-bottom interest rates to boot. This sudden shockwave to the American economy continues to ripple out and affect every business, every family, every budget.

The credit union movement has risen to the challenge of serving their members through this pandemic and helping families adjust to their changing financial realities. That’s just what we do.

Credit unions view their assets as their members’ money – because it is. This translates into responsible lending decisions, transparent business practices, and fair rates and fees. And millions of us need that now more than ever.

UW Credit Union has taken quick steps to implement emergency resources. In early March we established a personal loan offer with no payments and no interest for the first 90 days specifically for members facing unexpected hardship due to loss of income. The need for emergency cash was immediate and great. In a month, we’ve funded more than $2 million in emergency personal loans to nearly 1,000 members.

We also completely developed and implemented an online loan payment extension application, all in less than two days. That’s right, two days. (For anyone who says credit unions are slow to adapt to new technology, I’d like to introduce you to our team.)

Now, members can easily request a break from their loan payments for up to three months. In just the past two weeks, we’ve processed more than 2,000 loan payment extensions. That’s breathing room back in people’s budgets when it matters most.

More importantly, we would never think to charge a fee for this service. Charging fees to bridge the gap when so many members are experiencing unprecedented hardship simply isn’t in our vocabulary.

And while our team has been focused on helping members, leadership at UW Credit Union has been busy implementing new benefits to support our employees, including an additional 120 hours of paid time off for COVID-19-related needs and a temporary 20% hourly wage increase for frontline staff. We also took immediate steps to move the majority of our workforce to home offices, which meant a fast integration with a new virtual working environment, so we can continue to provide the essential banking services we all rely on.

Our mission is to help those who need it most. And we’re living it every day. To say I’m proud of UW Credit Union is an understatement. In this rapidly changing pandemic environment, we don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I know we’ll continue to be here for families when they need us, and I know we’ll all see it through.