... to your credit union.
Sometimes it helps to pause and foreshadow where we are heading with all this - don't want you to feel like you're wasting your time. Patience, there may be a "pot of gold' for you at the end of this saga...
In 2021 the SECU Board unilaterally launched a "new direction, new culture" [the "new/new"] at SECU, including an improbable CEO hire, plus goals of geographic/member eligibility expansion, commercial lending, and a strong for-profit focus. The SECU staff was the first to raise the alarm. As a result, the last three SECU annual meetings have been a pitched battle for definition and clarification of the future envisioned by the SECU Board for our credit union. Despite the furor, that vision remains unclear.
If you look beyond North Carolina, you will find that many of the larger credit unions are pursuing that same "new/new" culture and direction through merger and commercialization. The "new/new" may have become the "industry standard", with which our SECU Board seems so infatuated.
We want to keep exploring whether the SECU "new/new" is the best way forward for you as a member - perhaps it is! But if it is - through merger/commercialization, you as a member/shareholder should expect a substantial payout of your ownership interest. Remember that little $16,000 family of four figure from the last post [link]? SECU as a company is worth between $5 to $10 billion [yes that's right - "billions"]
Part of those billions of dollars belongs to you - so pay attention! Protect your interests.
Want a real life, happening right now example of how a "payout to members" works when a large credit union goes "new/new"? Here take a look [link].
... heck, just send me a check for Xmas! I can join another CU with better rates...
