Not sure if the Carolinas' Credit Union League (CCUL) has fully informed our State Legislators about the new "financial desert" that will be created next year for over 400,000 North Carolinians.
The CCUL, which is widely suspected of serving as a willing pawn for SECU on H. 410, probably has simply "forgotten" to mention "that little matter" - the disastrous, unsolicited "no formal" merger proposal, with which SECU carpet-bombed North Carolina local government employees last year.
Lets look at the results of that bizarre bit of unconscionable recklessness by SECU:
1.) Colors indicate the North Carolina counties where members of Local Government FCU (over 400,000+ N.C. municipal and county employees - and their families!) currently have access to a credit union branch office in 2023. (100%!)
2.) Colors indicate the North Carolina counties where those 400,000+ local government members will have access to a credit union branch office in 2024. (Zero%!)
So, while the CCUL is berating the bankers for closing down 600 branches over the last 10 years (many in urban areas as the result of mergers!), North Carolina credit union members are having the plug pulled on 250+ branches in just one year... kinda looks like a "financial desert" for those folks!
Naw, that can't be, right? That would be... well you know... preposterous!
The simplicity of this post should be eye opening to everyone. How much longer are folks going to "just stand by" and be complicent with the irresponsible decisions of a few that continue to decimate the financial lives of North Carolinians? Smaller banks and credit unions of NC...please take note. H. 410, as it is currently written, is not your friend.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely eye opening. And as an older member very scary for me. I count on the employees at my credit union branch for their help.This Hayes may just as easily close our branches. I don't trust anything he says. I knew things had changed for the worse since he took over, but didn't realize how bad it was until my niece told me about what's happening with the county employees credit union. And then I started following this blog. He needs sent back to where he came from and SECU Board needs to get their act together. Will be sending my thoughts on this legislature change tomorrow.
Deleteand neither is NCSECU with the present self-serving board and administration.
ReplyDeleteI know this post isn't about Cornerstone but I really want this question answered. Please tell us who, what is Cornerstone? I am a member not employee reading this blog and the comments. I keep seeing Cornerstone mentioned. I understand they are some sort of consultants that have been hired, but what is the job they have been hired for? What do they do?
ReplyDeleteThey are doing a couple different things. They are looking at volume/staffing at branches. They are helping us vet vendors for different upgrades.
DeleteBasically things we should be able to do for ourselves
They "advise" the C-suite on what they believe the organization needs to do to be or remain competitive, however you want to define "competitive."
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, they also own gonzobanker.com, who gave Hayes a "nod" shortly after bringing Cornerstone on at SECU: https://gonzobanker.com/2021/12/2021-gonzobanker-awards/
GonzoBanker of the Year – Credit Union
We have to give the nod here to Jim Hayes, who was selected by $50 billion State Employees Credit Union to become the new CEO, the first outsider in eons. After leading a great and vibrant organization at Andrews Federal Credit Union, Jim and his family have taken on a new adventure, and the Gonzo team is confident Jim’s ambition and transparent leadership style will be welcome in Raleigh, N.C. Congrats on a brave move and national recognition Jim!
🙄
Hahaha that’s hilarious. He pretty much gave myself an award. You can’t make this stuff up at this point. It’s comical.
DeleteNo one working here is really sure about what they do either. I work in Operations and have never once found their advice helpful. Projects and outside vendors get proposed without any due diligence or vetting by Cornerstone. That work is left to managers and VPs to initiate and investigate on their own. I would love to know how much we’re paying them. Most employees I know have no faith in upper management’s decision making. Their failed initiatives have already cost the credit union millions of dollars.
DeleteSearch Andrews Federal Credit Union and read the terrible member comments during his tenure. Many have his name specifically, very poor member service, unable to speak with a person, long hold times, dropped calls, mostly all automated which is what SECU will have with new phone systems coming.
DeleteAll this was there for our elected Board to see, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING when they brought him into SECU?
Hell no, Haze bought the award by paying for it with members' money with that scratch my back contract. Crooked at Westcorp now crooked on both coasts.
DeleteExplains why Haze doesn’t have a standard employee email address. Hiding from members. Not surprised.
DeleteMr. Schline, hopefully as a very important part of the credit union world you are following this story. You may want to do some deeper research before following thru on trying to gain passage of H. 410. Your responsibility as CEO of Carolinas Credit Union League is to all credit unions in North Carolina and South Carolina, large and small. It is now your reputation in the news.
ReplyDeleteHow did this start: LGFCU turned down the request to merge with SECU, just about as simple as that can be. LGFCU was given 12 months to stop using the SECU branch network and call centers, an almost impossible task to achieve.
Well seeing as SECU has been on a spending spree outside the Carolinas to the tune of 2 billion. Hayes and Ayers were pretty much counting on that 3 billion from LGFCU to offset their spending spree. Not to mention the 400,000 members they would gain with one small move.
Your support for Hayes and Ayers' attempt at opening up SECU's charter to bring in LGFCU's members and all other Credit Unions' members will cripple all small credit unions in both states, possibly closing many. Is that what you want your legacy to be?
This argument of financial deserts which is All about branch service (actual definition) to the membership is exactly what Hayes has attempted to destroy at SECU. If the truth could ever be found, he is probably upset with Naylor because he wanted to be the CEO who took SECU digital. That's his New Direction, removing North Carolina from SECU.
Gonzo? Did not know what that means but the Thesaurus.com says it means "crazy, far-fetched, insane, odd, strange, unconventional, weird, wild". Not kidding check it out.
ReplyDeleteHaze deserves the award, ask us at the branch.
The Board should be mighty proud of hiring the "GonzoBanker" of the year.
The Board is F***ING GONZO!
How do you search Andrews credit union?
ReplyDeleteGoogle search Andrews Federal Credit Union. Check out ratings, read member comments Well worth the read.
DeleteAnd if you really wanna have fun with it, research WesCorp in 2008-2009 and check out who the CFO was and what happened during that time.
DeleteImagine what we don’t know.
Glassdoor.com search Andrews Federal Credit Union to see employee reviews.
DeleteVery important to note, Hayes came to SECU from Andrews Federal Credit Union with assets of 2.2 Billion at the time of his leaving. In less than 18 months, he and the Board have wasted the total worth of his previous credit union. A question for us as Members, what has that given us? Lower deposit rates, higher loan rates, decline in services offered and a very unhappy and concerned group of long term quality employees across our state. The most important question, can SECU afford to keep
ReplyDeleteAnd might I add the majority of these employees targeted with the risk of losing their credit union careers are those with the 20, 30 and 40+ years of service to the credit union and us. Those who care more about us as members and the credit union as a whole. They need our support, start sharing this news among the community and workplaces, anywhere SECU members can be found.
Deleteyou need to let us know what you are talking about. What is westcorp? don't understand
ReplyDeletewestcorp in California was the biggest disgrace and failure in credit union history. Where Jim Hayes worked in upper management for 8 years--but he "didn't know anything Was he even vetted for this job at NCSECU where the management was always squeaky clean and honorable? oh yes! Hired on split vote by the corrupt, self-serving side of the board. Where are the board members now? if they are still split, the honorable ones need to be speaking out and letting the membership know that they will not allow NCSECU to forget the membership without a fight. there is no compromise.
ReplyDeleteJust read it and as a member can't believe he was brought into our credit union. GonzoBanker of the year Ambitious Jim Hayes didn't know a thing? He was the CFO at the time. It's no wonder his honesty is in question with members and employees alike.
DeleteThree days to get those emails to our State Representatives... H.410 must not pass! If it does, understand that will be the beginning of the end of member owned credit unions in our great state with an emphasis on member owned and controlled.
ReplyDeleteAll the wasted money so far in less than 2 years of our members money. Now get thjs. I have been around for almost 30 years and always got a merit raise. Word is vps and svps won't get anymore raises because we are overpaid because they took away our responsibilities. Baed off the salary survey that was done and wasnt needed at all. Things that are now failures in the organization were the things taken away from branches.
ReplyDeleteWas expecting to hear that word from this study. He wants us gone, so he can hire his own people from all over the country and WFH. He came from a small credit union with maybe 10 branches, we're all too much for Gym to handle. Reduction in staff is short term goal, he loves WFH - aids in keeping employees in the dark, but digital is next - he told us that's his thing.
DeleteWhether anyone wants to hear this or not. His plans were never to make a few changes, add some new direction and services. Sorry Mr Brinson, he let you down when he lead you to believe those statements you made. In my opinion his plans were a complete takeover, (in more common terms corporate takeover) of everything SECU and it appears he has the support of the Board. And if that is true, there has to be as someone said a honeypot out there for them. Personal gains for themselves is the only reason 11 Board of Directors would turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the members and employees beginning at the Annual Meeting October 2022. Of course this is my opinion, while searching for a reasonable answer to their indifference for turning their back on SECU Membership and Employees who want their credit union back!
Word on the street is NO ONE is getting a merit raise anymore. Merit raises are going extinct after the so-called salary study. You COULD get an annual bonus instead.
DeleteThis is from our new HR overlord in New Jersey that has likely never stepped foot in NC.
His announcement of hire was when I realized there is no limit to what this CEO will do to SECU or our people.
DeleteI heard this too.
DeleteSalary grades are changing big time, everyone will be capped out
DeleteNot for those people that Jimmy is bringing in. No way these people are leaving First Citizens, SAS (yes, SAS) and corporate banks for a pay cut at SECU.
DeleteHow about getting rid of the lingo for regular folks. What is "WFH"??? You leave lots of us clueless.
ReplyDeleteWork From Home (Remote vs working in the office or branch)
DeleteWFH…Work From Home
DeleteWFH is "Work from Home"employees. A large portion of SECU employees are no longer in branches or departments, offices. They are working from their homes.
ReplyDeleteHow many work outside of nc? Have any jobs been outsourced to India or where ever?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, no one lives overseas, but there are some credit union employees living in other states or employees that don’t live close to the operations center they work for. However, there are also still plenty of employees in Operations that come into the offices everyday.
DeleteDidn't Haze say something about he wanted to outsource collections at one time, but others wanted to keep it within the credit union? Which is what created our Collections Dept.
DeleteIt wouldn’t surprise me. I know he wants to outsource other departments even though it will cost the credit union more money and result in a poorer member experience.
DeleteYes I have someone in my Dept. that is overseas and on a very different time zone. No one has very met her face to face! So crazy!
DeleteIt's my understanding he wants card services and support to be outsourced.
DeleteHeard the other day from one of the Listening sessions, someone was trying to explain to Gym how tough it is on busy branch to keep up with phone and members with the few employees they had. His answer was why was the branches answering phones?
DeleteI guess we need another round of "Why do we do It this Way? Just for Gym Haze and the Board. We are a North Carolina credit union started by NC folks in 1937. Built by many NC folks over 86 years, some of who are still around and yes unfortunately for you still employed at SECU. And we will not turn over our Members to someone who doesn't have a clue about serving them. Exec Team wants to see some Passion, be prepared SECU Pride and Passion is still alive and well even after the past 18 months.
DeleteFolks, you have got to inform fellow members about what is occurring at SECU. Call this out on Facebook and Instagram. Not on Linkedin, it's a toxic cesspool of bootlickers. Employees can't because we will be on the chopping bloc. Reference this website. This cancer is only going to continue to grow unless its treated. If Jimmy, Ayers, Moon, Garland, Sanford, Wooten Jr and Brinson get their way then it will be SECU members asking "What's going on?" "Why are y'all doing this?" "What happened to SECU?".
ReplyDeleteAll we need is one member out of 2.6 million to make a Facebook group to share this news. Need a dedicated member, who is not an employee, to step up to the plate. Obviously an employee can't do it unless they make a fake account. So, who wants to help save THEIR credit union?
DeletePresent and Past Advisory Board Members need to be utilized. They are 100% credit union people, well known leaders in our communities most with statewide contacts and invested in SECU. Annual Meeting 2022 proved that, if they aren't aware of the happenings down at the credit union, they need to be informed. They represent the true owners of SECU.
DeleteThe Credit Union survived for almost 90 years without advertising and now our RSVP was tasked with getting some members to be interviewed for something. Guess now lots of the members money will be spent on advertising. My manager told me Mr. Blaine used to suscribe to lots of newspapers in the state. How about an advertising blitz about what is going on in all of them? I am sure lots would donate to the fund.
ReplyDeleteONE wrong hiring decision by SIX North Carolinians is about to cost many North Carolinians Their credit union as they have known it. 18 months proven.
ReplyDeleteDefeat H.410 ...the bill Jim Hayes, SECU CEO wants passed. He doesn't care about credit unions, only the dollars in his pockets.
https://www.wral.com/story/as-nc-credit-unions-push-for-rule-changes-banks-push-back/20815333/
ReplyDeletedschline@carolinasleague.org. Need to email this guy and ask him what the heck is he thinking backing this bill
ReplyDeleteStating that is an invalid email for Schline
ReplyDeleteThat's the email address for him on the Carolinas Credit Union League website...
ReplyDelete