By Ray Birch
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—One CU that’s growing more than 15% annually and approaching $10 billion in assets compares itself to Mayberry—the TV home of the 1960’s Andy Griffith Show.
First Technology FCU credits its “small town” approach to business for its significant growth that it is projecting will take it to $20 billion in assets in the next five years.
Yet for all that quick growth, since CEO Greg Mitchell arrived at the credit union just over four years ago, the focus has actually been on slowing down daily branch interactions, talking to members about their families and goals, assessing their needs in a relaxed setting. When members stop in many of the First Tech offices they are welcomed by a greeter who takes them to a “living room” where they wait for a financial services representative.
“Just about all of our new branches, except for those with extremely high volume, don’t have teller lines,” said Mitchell. “You come into a very welcoming space where you wait, and then an FSR comes to get you and takes you to a private pod to talk. You come to one of our branches and you immediately feel that you are embraced by the credit union.”
'Best CU For Everyone'
As CUToday.info reported, First Tech has been named the “Best Credit Union for Everyone” by MONEY in its 2016-2017 Best Banks annual survey.
Mitchell emphasized that First Tech offices are not transaction centers and that most routine transactions are offloaded to e-channels. The CU has strong mobile banking adoption among its members.
“Our goal is not to get you in and out quickly if that is not your main objective,” said Mitchell. “Our goal is to advocate for our members and get the right products and services to help them achieve their financial goals. We don’t obsess about cross-sell ratios and sales—you see what that did for Wells Fargo. It’s really like going back to Mayberry and doing the right things for the right reasons. Do that consistently and good things come.”
First Tech has grown from $5.4 billion in assets when Mitchell arrived in 2012 to $9.5 billion today.
“We are growing in excess of $1 billion a year,” said Mitchell. “Our ROA is 1.2%.”
40 Locations
The community chartered CU, which has 40 locations in eight states, benefits from an affluent membership, serving SEGs of some large Internet and tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft. First Tech’s locations are often inside the companies it serves. The credit union also offers a brokerage service that has $3.3 billion of its members’ investments under management.
“That is an important part of what we do, offering brokerage services,” said Mitchell. “It goes back to our mission of helping members reach their financial dreams.”
The credit union, too, takes a small town approach to its advertising.
“We really don’t do much marketing and advertising,” said Mitchell. “We know if we deliver a great experience that word spreads. Co-workers talk to each other and members talk about us on social media. That has worked very well for us.”
Attractive Rates
Nevertheless, attractive rates have helped to contribute to First Tech’s growth, said Mitchell, noting that deposit and loan rates are at the top of its markets. MONEY praised First Tech for its Dividend Reward Checking account product that offers 1.57% APY.
“Callahan’s ranks us No. 8 nationally in its Return of the Member rankings—No. 1 among large credit unions,” said Mitchell, who added that skilled balance sheet managers and a cost structure that leverages the CU’s scale help deliver the excellent rates.
With less than 150,000 members and now access to a 3.3-million potential membership base following the new FOM rules, Mitchell said First Tech’s growth can be “better.”
“We have a lot of capacity to grow. I believe we can get close to $20 billion in the next five years,” he said. “What will get us there is what got us to where we are today—great products with great rates, making it effortless and welcoming to interact with First Tech, helping our members reach their financial dreams—and, first of all, 100% of the time putting people first, just like they did in Mayberry.”