ABOUT
WOMEN'S SOUTHWEST 
Federal Credit Union

Topics in "About Women's Southwest":  (text is below this list of topics)

• MISSION STATEMENT

   

• IN GENERAL, HOW DO CREDIT UNIONS DIFFER FROM BANKS?

  --How banks work

  --How credit unions work

  --Savings Account Insurance

  --What's a "federal" credit union?

   

• WHO IS A FEMINIST? (TRY THIS QUIZ)

• HERSTORY/BACKGROUND OF WOMEN'S CUs IN NORTH AMERICA

• WHAT SETS CAL FEMINIST APART FROM OTHER CREDIT UNIONS?

•  READ OUR CURRENT NEWSLETTER (& BACK EDITIONS)

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MISSION STATEMENT*:  We offer a dependable, democratic alternative to traditional financial institutions. By providing quality personal financial services, we encourage our members to achieve economic independence. We also stimulate the development of our community by investing money locally and providing volunteer services. Our members 1) share a common bond through membership groups, and 2) believe in the feminist principle of social, political, and economic equality. 

* Per Women's Southwest FCU Board of Directors, 9/27/10 Board Meeting

IN GENERAL, HOW DO CREDIT UNIONS DIFFER FROM BANKS?

How banks work:  if you have a savings account at a bank, the bank pays you interest.  They also have to pay dividends to their stockholders. That's why they need to earn more from their fees, loans and investments than credit unions do.  Banks are in business to make a profit.   Their stockholders may or may not have accounts with the bank.  A bank's depositors have no voice in the running of the bank.  

    The bank may pay very high salaries to their top executives, usually much higher than the salaries they pay to their tellers.  Banks may pay those who serve on their board of directors.  If a bank board member applies for a loan at the bank, she or he may receive favorable treatment.   

    Commercial banks make business loans; some banks make loans to other nations.  Banks have more options in the types of  loans and investments they can make; they are allowed to take more risks than credit unions are permitted to take.

How credit unions work:  their members pool their savings.  The savings are loaned out to other members of the credit union.   Earnings from loans and investments pay operating expenses.  Member/depositors share the profits via "dividends" added to their "share" (savings) accounts. There are no outside stockholders.   Credit unions are profit-sharing cooperatives.   That's why most credit unions can afford to charge lower loan rates, credit cards rates, and fees than banks do.  For the same reason, most credit unions pay their depositors higher rates on savings accounts and certificates.  

    Most credit union tellers earn more than bank tellers do.  Most credit union CEOs earn less than bank presidents do.  Those who serve on a credit union's board of directors are volunteers.  If a credit union board member applies for a loan at the credit union, she or he will face tighter scrutiny than a regular member of the credit union would.  Credit unions operate under strict regulations and codes of conduct that  preclude conflicts of interest. 

    Members of a credit union elect those who serve on the board of directors.  Only those who are members of the credit union may run for office.  Fewer credit unions than banks make business loans.  No credit unions lend money to other nations.  There are tighter restrictions on the types of loans and investments credit unions are allowed to make. 

    We urge you to support us and the other, larger credit unions that offer services--such as cash, on-line services, ATMs, and IRAs-- that we are too small to offer. 

Savings Account Insurance: to learn more, click here 

What's the difference between "federal" credit unions and other kinds?  It's simple:  ABC Federal Credit Union is regulated by a federal government agency, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).  XYZ Credit Union is regulated by a state agency, such as the Department of Corporations in California.

Take this Quiz:  *WHO IS A FEMINIST?

a. a woman

b. a person who believes in equal rights for women and men.

c. one who, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, fought for women's right to vote

d. someone who wears dresses and/or lots of make-up and looks "feminine"

(*Answer at bottom of page)

HERSTORY/BACKGROUND OF FEMINIST & WOMEN'S CREDIT UNIONS

IN NORTH AMERICA

For hundreds of years, women had a difficult time obtaining credit in their own names.  Stock,  Catch-22 reasons male loan officers gave women for denying them credit included:

• "How do we know you won't get pregnant and leave your job?  What are your child-bearing plans, anyway?...You say you're 60 years old and you have no plans to bear any more children?  Well, then, you're so old, that you'll probably be forced to retire soon, so we can't make you this loan."

• "But what if your husband's employer asks him to transfer to another area?  We know you'll follow him, and leave your job and then you'll be unable to make payments on the credit line you're requesting."

• "If we just count your husband's income, he can't afford the payments on this loan.  We all know that women just work part-time or for pin money.  We can't count your salary as part of your household's income." 

• "We all know that men are the breadwinners.  Get your husband to come in and sign and then you can have the loan...You say that you are the sole income-earner and your husband is lying under the table in a drunken stupor and hasn't worked for years?  Then get your father or your brother, some male relative, to come in and co-sign, and then you can have the loan."

• "You don't have any credit....You say that you've been making payments on these loans for a number of years?  Well, that may be, but the lender listed all of the loans and charge accounts under your husband's name.  When we obtained your credit report, there was no credit under your name."

Feminists found these "reasons" for denying women credit unfair and exasperating.  They disliked investing their savings in institutions that engaged in such discriminatory practices.  They decided to form lending institutions that would give women a chance to establish credit in their own names, institutions that would evaluate women's applications solely on the basis of their ability and willingness to repay.  Around 1970, the first such credit union in the USA opened in Detroit, Michigan. It was called, simply, Feminist Federal Credit Union. 

    In 1972 Gloria Steinem, author, lecturer, and editor of Ms. magazine, addressed a crowd at a university near Dallas, Texas.  Afterward, some local activists went up to Ms. Steinem and asked what she wanted them to do for the movement.  She said, "Start a credit union".  In 1974, they did.  Women's Southwest Federal Credit Union (WSFCU) became the second feminist or women's credit union in the USA.  By January of 1975 they had $6,000 in deposits.  In honor of their 25th anniversary in 1999, Ms. Steinem came to Dallas to be our guest of honor.  She waived her speaking fee.  In her speech she thanked those who had founded WSFCU for having honored her request.  She said that, even 25 years later, while women pay most of the bills, most of the wealth--the assets--are under the control of men.  She urged feminists to deposit savings in feminist and women's credit unions in order to redress that imbalance.  

    In 1974, three women who had volunteered for Feminist Federal in Michigan met with some of California's "movers and shakers":  In those days their organizations  were known as:  the Center for Women's Studies and Services [now the Center for Community Solutions], the San Diego chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and WomanCare Clinic (since merged with Planned Parenthood).  Their first sponsors at that time also included the Feminist Women's Health Centers of California.   On February 15th, 1975, in honor of Susan B. Anthony's Birthday, Congress granted Cal Feminist their charter. On that date they had only $35 in assets.  On March 8, 1975, International Women's Day, they opened their doors, becoming the 7th such credit union in the nation.  By March 31st, they we had around $8,000 in deposits.  .  

    Later in 1975, a Women's Bank--a completely separate institution--opened in San Diego.  At one point, they decided to remove the word "women" from their name.  They were bought out by a bank in Orange County. 

    Through the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s, more feminist and women's credit cooperatives formed, until there were two dozen of them.  The growth of such alternative financial institutions inspired Congress to pass the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).  It was phased in over a two-year period in the mid-1970s.  The feminist and women's credit unions educated their members so that they could learn their rights under the ECOA.  In San Diego, NOW created the Women's Credit Alert for this very purpose.  The Women's Credit Alert worked in concert with Cal Feminist to teach women their rights.

    Of course, women were not the only oppressed groups who formed their own lending co-ops.  The United Farm Workers (UFW) started a credit union.  Unfortunately, UFW's credit union and 22 of the feminist/women's credit unions in the USA suffered similar fates, for similar reasons:

• overly idealistic lending practices (it's more difficult for individuals with low incomes to afford to repay their debts)

• too many loan losses

• volunteer burn-out (unpaid or underpaid staffers)

• inadequate support (a credit union needs a minimum amount of deposits in order to earn enough $ to pay operating expenses and dividends)

•  most credit unions start out with a company, such as an employer, that provides free office space and subsidizes their expenses until they are big enough to go out on their own.  These credit unions had no such luxury;  there is a limit to what non-profit organizations can afford.  

By 2008 there were only two feminist or women's CUs left in the 50 states:  Cal Feminist & Women's Southwest, each with $1 million in assets.  In mid-2008 their boards voted to combine their reserves, staff, and strengths.  The determined, persistent, and tenacious women of the two co-ops worked through dozens and dozens of pages of correspondence, questions, denials, reversals, mixed messages, reconsiderations, and appeals through their federal regulator.  Finally in late September 2009, the National Credit Union Administration tenatively approved their merger request.  By October 20, 2009, 45% of the members of Cal Feminist had turned in their ballots.  Over 99% of those who voted voted in favor of the merger.  On 12/31/09 Women's Southwest FCU in Dallas became the "continuing" credit union."  Cal Feminist in San Diego became the Pacific Coast Branch of Women's Southwest.   

The combined credit unions share $2 million in assets and about 800 members. 

For information on how to contact us, click on How To Reach Us

Note:  Canada used to have three women's credit unions.  Their remaining credit union is the largest feminist or women's credit union in North America:  Ottawa Women's Credit Union/La Caisse Populaire des Femmes d'Ottawa 

WHAT SETS CAL FEMINIST APART FROM OTHER CREDIT UNIONS?

1. Free, Extensive Financial Education including these topics:   most of our financial education is in a written format.  One-on-one counseling (in person or on the phone) is available to members at  no extra charge.    In addition, we send speakers to feminist and women's organizations (click on Financial Education 

   a. Business Loans & Resources

    

   b. Car-Buying Tips

   1. Lease or buy?

   2. Dealer rebates or 0.9% financing?

   3. "Easy Steps to Sensible Car-buying" (8 pages with worksheets, including a form you can give to a mechanic to use when inspecting a prospective vehicle) [members only]

   4. Free  car values for new  and  used cars [members only]

    

   c. Credit 

   1. How to obtain copies of your credit reports [members only]

   2. Worksheet: How Much Credit Can You Afford? [members only]

   3. 7-page booklet: "Better Credit Qualifications = Lower Loan Rates" (includes information  on how lenders make credit decisions; how to improve one's qualifications; how to repair damaged credit; how to explain past credit problems) [members only]

   4. Past-due bills?

      (a) about bill consolidation loans

      (b) warning about "credit repair" companies 

      (c) what bankruptcy attorneys don't tell you

      (d) alternatives to bankruptcy:

      1. Consumer Credit Counselors

      2. Debtors Anonymous

      3. Chapter 13

       

   d. How to find other credit unions:

   1. within San Diego county

   2. in other California counties and Nevada

   3. in the other 48 states & DC

e. Energy Efficiency Resources [members only]

 

f. Hiring Contractors (How to Protect Yourself When) [members only)

 

g. Housing Resources for Low-Income & Homeless (in San Diego County)

 

h. Job Hunting Resources

 

i. How to Improve Your Money-Management Skills

   1.   Free  budgeting help from Consumer Credit Counselors

   2.   Articles & worksheets [members only] including:

(a) How to Live on Less

(b) How to Save Money

(c) Spending Plan (includes how to keep a Spending Diary)

(d) Setting Goals

j. How to Shop for Mortgage Loans

 

k. Resources for help with tax preparation

 

l. How to Shop for a Dental Plan [members only]

2. Health Insurance referrals and Dental Plan referrals For details, click on Health Insurance

3. Ability to Conduct Business:

    a. During Blackouts: The sun lights up 2/3 of our office.  Supplies include:  a hand crank radio & flashlight; candles; a manual typewriter; 3 x 5 cards; a battery-powered loan-payment calculator; paper forms with NCR or carbon copies; up-to-date printouts.  Even when the power is off, our door is open.  We can reply via postal mail.  We can place outgoing calls.  (Alas, when you phone us, we can't always hear the phone ring.  If you call during open hours and we don't answer, and no machine answers, stop by our office if you can.  Otherwise, wait about an hour and then call back.  If you hear that a blackout will last longer than a day, send us a letter or a post card.)

    b. Post-disaster: our office is on the first floor of a two-story building.  In  three different off-site location--one of them in another state--we store data we can use if we need to resume operations elsewhere.  If we need to order a new PC, we can track transactions by hand, on paper forms, until it's ready.  With only 500 members, this would be awkward but relatively simple.  There are some distinct advantages to being small.

4. Beneficial inconvenience: we have only one location, short hours, a limit of two withdrawals per account per month, no cash, and  no  Automated Teller Machines.  Several of our depositors have told us that they  like our inconvenience:  it makes it easier for them to hang onto their savings!

5. Unusually Strong PRIVACY POLICIES: 

6. Safety & Soundness:  Savings insurance is good to have.  But we don't want you to need to rely on it.  Here are a  few  of the extra precautions we take to honor the trust you place in us every time you make a deposit:

• Internal Audit Committee:  Every year they hire an independent auditor who scours the credit union's books and records, and verifies endorsement signatures on the backs of checks.  They appoint someone who is  not  on staff to open the checking account statement and reconcile it.  They audit transactions employees make.  They check signatures on address changes.  They print out a list of members whose accounts have been closed and send letters to confirm that the member did, indeed, receive the funds.  Once a year they supervise the mailing of statements to members to ensure that every member who's had an account in the previous 6 months receives a statement.  The Committee members then mail the statements themselves.  They maintain a separate mail box at a different post office so that credit union members can write to them  directly  about any errors on their statements or loan contracts.  They contact borrowers whose loans are on our books to ensure that they receive good service.

• Internal Controls: When Staffer A makes a deposit to--or withdrawal from--her personal Cal Feminist savings account, Staffer B makes out the receipt or signs the check.  When Loan Officer C approves a loan, Staffer D disburses the funds.  When Staffer E makes out a handwritten receipt, Staffer F enters the data from the receipt in the computer.  The Credit Committee reviews every loan application our Loan Officers approve.  

• Cautious Lending & Investing:  We carefully screen our borrowers.  We don't use point systems.  Compared to other small credit unions, our ratio of loan losses is  below  the national average.  We invest primarily in certificates of deposit in other, insured credit unions.  

• Stable staffers & volunteers:  Many non-profit and not-for-profit organizations suffer from high turnover, reinventing the wheel, repeating mistakes.  Our credit union has been especially fortunate to have stable, loyal volunteers and staffers.   One of our staffers has been with us since late 1974, a few months before the credit union opened.  Another began volunteering in 1982 and became a paid staffer in 1993.  Several of our volunteers have been with the credit union since the late 1970s and early 1980s.   

7. Informal, unintimidating atmosphere: since our inception, we've striven to dissolve the mystique surrounding money and credit.  One way we've accomplished this is to create a relaxed atmosphere in our office.  There are no teller lines:  only desks and chairs.  Our staffers dress casually; they kid around with our members; they endeavor earnestly to put financial terminology in everyday language.  We encourage our members to ask questions.  We also keep what they tell us about their personal finances confidential.  There's a dish of candy in our lobby.  We keep a box of tissues handy, just in case.  We want out members to feel safe and welcome.

8. Socializing opportunities:  

   a. anniversary buffets: once a year members who live within a reasonable distance of our office join us for an informal (see #7 above), inexpensive (under $7) anniversary celebration at our office.  Last year, the first five members who reserved in advance and attended had their fee for food reimbursed.    We bypass most of the dry, annual statistics.  We eat, usually from a light buffet.  Every 5 years we have a custom-made cake.  Members and volunteers mingle.  We hold a  brief,  painless meeting, elect our officials, and go home.  From arrival to departure, the whole evening takes only about an hour and a half.  Sometimes we have home-grown entertainment, such as a skit created and performed by our staffers and volunteers.   After having attended such an event one of our members wrote, "It should have been boring, but it wasn't!"

 

    b. volunteer camaraderie:  Our board members share food-to-go before the meeting begins.  Committee members always have snacks on the table.  When we were students, it was easier to meet those with whom we were philosophically compatible.  But once we enter the work force, it can be more difficult to find and meet other feminists.   Many of our volunteers have become life long friends.  They tell us that the combination of doing something  practical  for the movement while kidding around with congenial feminists is what keeps them coming back year after year.  Some of our volunteers take a year or two off and then return.  Other volunteers help out for a year and then move on.  There's always a mix of fresh and familiar faces.  Our long-term volunteers try to make new ones feel welcome.  And we make a point of explaining the jargon we use.  You may want to volunteer to share what you know; you may want to volunteer to learn something new to add to your  résumé.  

9. Environmental Efforts: While we're far from perfect, we try.

 

a. Office Supplies: although we have used thousands of file folders, we seldom order new ones.  We turn used file folders inside out, re-using them in some instances 3 or 4 times.  Many of our pencils, pens, paper clips and other items are  surplus  supplies from other offices that we have purchased or received as contributions. 

 

b. Paper products:  although we have to pay more for them, we buy recycled paper and envelopes when they are readily available (e.g., recycled No. 10 envelopes have been easy to find, No 9 envelopes have not).  We recycle most of the mail we receive.  If paper contains private information, we shred it and place it in the recycling.  If paper we receive--or have left over, such as outdated flyers--has been printed on only one side, we put it in our laser printer. On the back side of the forms we print rough drafts and occasional e-mails. When it won't fit in the printer, we wrap it around other mail we send out or write notes on the back.

 

c. Furniture & Equipment:  Most of the file cabinets, tables and desks we've bought have been used.   The chairs in our reception area and some of the prints on our wall came to us used.  Once we buy something, we keep it and repair it for as long as it makes sense to do so.  For instance, we've had the hand-powered machine that "crunches" our checks since the 1970s; we've  had some of our task chairs since the late 1980s.  We buy new computers, but we keep them for 7 to 8 years at a time.  When it's time for them to go, we donate them to a local college that upgrades and redistributes them.

 

d. Solar lighting: 2/3 of our office receives light through windows.  That's not luck:  we've always made a conscious choice to rent quarters that would need little or no light during the day.  Even though utilities are included in our monthly lease payment, we still leave lights off as long as we can.

10.  Selected Awards, Praise, & Recommendations:

 

a. 1985: March Fong Eu: After she addressed our 10th Anniversary gathering she gave us piece of parchment carrying the Great Seal of the State of California.  We framed it and put it up in our front office.  It reads, in part, "By token of the Great Seal, the California Secretary of State extends to...California Feminist Federal Credit Union congratulations on the occasion of its Tenth Anniversary...and offers best wishes that this outstanding organization long continue to provide the excellent service its customers have always enjoyed.  This seal is offered as a token of lasting friendship."

 

b. 1999: Gloria Steinem (see "Herstory/Background" above).  

 

c. 2000:  National Organization for Women (NOW), San Diego County Chapter, Susan B. Anthony Award.   The plaque reads, "Presented to California Feminist Credit Union, an outstanding organization whose courage and compassion and work for women's rights exemplifies the spirit of Susan B. Anthony."

 

d. 2000: Christine Kehoe, California State Senate (handwritten when she was serving on San Diego's City Council) "Congratulations!  Your selection to receive the Susan B. Anthony Award is  so  well-deserved.  Your years of service to San Diego women is  outstanding.  --Chris" 

11. Savings Simplifier Accounts:  previous generations placed dollar bills in different envelopes to set them aside for specific purposes.  But that practice is no longer safe. What to do?      

    If you open accounts at 10 different institutions, you'll receive ten different statements.  Each institution may have different minimum balance requirements.  

    Enter Savings Simplifier Accounts.  After you open your regular savings account at Cal Feminist, you may open up to 9 more "sub-accounts".  Each one appears on the same statement.  Each one has a minimum balance of only $50, with  no recurring service charges !   Send us  one  regular check, money order, bill-pay, payroll deduction or electronic transfer per month, per pay period, or however you want to plan it.   Let us know how you want the funds divided.  For instance if you send us $200, you might direct us to put $100 in your estimated taxes account, $50 in your vacation fund, $25 in your holiday gift account, and $25 in your season ticket account. 

12. Frugality: have you ever entered a bank lobby and winced at the thought of how much those marble columns or acres of plush carpeting cost?  When you look at the fees and interest rates some institutions charge, it's easy to see where they get the money to afford such extravagance.  

    At Cal Feminist, we spend  your  money more carefully than we do our own.  We shop for prices on almost everything.  We pay  modest  rent for our office, and utilities are included.  As we went to "press" our average monthly expense for our Internet Service Provider (ISP) was only $8.99.  The software that was recommended to us to handle our savings, lending and bookkeeping transactions would have cost $21,000.  We found some software that was  nearly  as good for $2,995.   As we mentioned under Environmental Efforts above, many of the supplies and furnishings we  buy are used.  Our board of directors and staff take seriously the trust you have placed in us.       

13. Limited services: while most of the matters mentioned above are something to crow about, being different isn't better in  every  way. Because we are small, we've realized that we must specialize.  We do not offer:  checking accounts, credit cards, money orders, debit cards, travelers' cheques, CDs, IRAs, or Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).  We can neither accept your cash nor give you cash.  

    When you make a withdrawal we give you a check (you  can cash it at--or buy money orders from--the institution on which it is drawn). We have short open hours and only one location.  We permit no more than two withdrawals per account per month.  

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We urge you to make use of our services and give us your support.  As you help us increase loans and deposits we'll be able to extend our hours; offer faster service; create more jobs; give you even  better bargains.  Click on  It's Easy to Join

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*Answer to "Who Is a Feminist" Quiz:   B. (Those who fought for the right to vote for women--suffrage--were "suffragists".

  Send us an email.   Allow at least two of our business days for a response.  

© 1998 - 2005 California  Feminist Federal Credit Union