October 14, 2009

Catholic credit union started with $25 now boasts $60 million in assets

Estate Northwest United Federal Credit Union is 55 years strong

By Anna Maria Basquez

Denver’s only remaining Catholic credit union began in the basement of Shrine of St. Anne Church with five members contributing $5 each to get it going in 1954.

Humble beginnings and tempered lending are the basis of what is known as Northwest United Federal Credit Union, officials say. It has since grown to 6,500 members and $60 million in assets. It employs 23.

On Oct. 6, Father Ken Koehler of St. Mark Parish in Westminster blessed the building of the credit union’s freestanding branch, at 6320 Olde Wadsworth Blvd. He also blessed the hand-carved cross a Colorado Springs artist is lending the bank to highlight its Catholicity.

In mid-November, Northwest United will branch off to a third location at Northglenn’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.

“One of the things you’ve heard recently in the financial industry is about the mortgage markets and how they’ve crashed and cost people a lot of money,” said Justin Dickson, president and CEO of the exclusively Catholic credit union. “We, as a credit union, don’t get into risky financing. We didn’t do the 100 percent loan-to-value mortgages. We didn’t do loans that were over 80 percent. We didn’t get out into the sub-prime lending market. By not doing that, we’ve been good stewards. As result we haven’t suffered losses a lot of banks and credit unions have suffered.”

The bank still has a branch at St. Anne’s Parish in Arvada and one at Holy Cross Parish in Thornton. At Holy Cross, the financial institution’s presence isn’t obvious.

“We watch our advertising because we don’t want to conflict with what you’re there to do, which is worship,” Dickson said.

The credit union stands alone as many Catholic-specific institutions of the same type in Colorado have fallen off the map since the peak time of the 1950s when several Catholic credit unions existed. While many closings were due to growth and technology not keeping pace with member needs, Northwest is seeking to buck the trend. Planned growth is part of that strategy. Membership at the credit union is open to all Catholics regardless of what parish they belong to.

“My husband and I have been members for 37 years,” said Laurie Nieb, marketing and business development director. “It’s a family institution. When you walk in the door, almost everyone there knows every member. It has helped us with all of our banking needs.”

When risky lending was becoming a trend, Northwest stood by its principles.

“When people came in to us and asked for (risky) loans, many times we took them aside and said, ‘This is not a good place for you to be.’ We could have given them a loan, but oftentimes it would have been bad for them,” Dickson said. “We feel like our responsibility is to look out for our members’ well-being. In doing so, that is looking out for the overall health of our credit union here.

“So many financial institutions are in the here and now,” he said. “We run our credit union looking down the road.”

The credit union in 2005 started granting four scholarships annually for eighth-grade students within the parochial education system to attend Catholic high schools. Eligible applicants are students at Nativity, St. Anne, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Holy Trinity Catholic schools. Last year, each winner was granted $1,700 each.

Catholic credit union staff members said they were honored Pope Benedict XVI recognized their role with a quote from his July 2009 encyclical.

“If love is wise it can find ways of working in accordance with provident and just expediency, as is illustrated in significant ways by much of the experience of credit unions,” the pontiff said in the encyclical titled “Charity in Truth.”
Koehler said Catholic credit unions have been around for a long time.

“It helped people be united,” he said. “For us, I think it’s making sure our money is invested in something we wouldn’t be ashamed of having it invested in, like bad stocks or supporting something we don’t want to support. I think we’ve been very careful in what we invest in.

“It’s also standing together and helping one another use our funds more wisely,” Koehler said. “The more we have invested the more possibilities of people borrowing money.”