Maybe for the same reason that Chick-fil-A has chosen not to sell hamburgers!
😎 But "I" like hamburgers (most of us do!). Why can't "I" get what "I" want at Chick-fil-A? Everybody else is doing it!
Well, here are a couple of reasons: 1) "Despite being
founded earlier than most of the restaurants on this list [link], Chick-fil-A
is a recent addition to the fast-food pantheon [high quality products, but no hamburgers!], and it’s doing very
well. "[most highly regarded by the public for service!]
✅ The SECU leadership team has created an illusion that there is a strong demand from SECU members for business/commercial services. Believe the ELT's (Executive Leadership Team's) "plucked-from-the-air" estimate for potential demand is @ 40,000 members. The only apparent source for this estimate is that smirking, "raise-your-hand" Fireside Chat survey conducted on stage by our former CEO:
It is also concerning that neither the ELT, nor the SECU Board has yet to describe and define what "business/commercial services" will actually mean at the credit union. What products and services are actually being considered? What type of accounts, what type of support services, what type of loans? Any limits on loans? Risk-based pricing? Example of rates/fees to be charged?? Only in North Carolina or nationwide? Does the Board intend to let any business in the State/Country join the credit union?
😎 Didn't the SECU Board drop the successful "Tax Prep Service" because "only 100,000" SECU members were using the service?
Doesn't Chick-fil-A realize there is a "hamburger desert" in North Carolina out there around the Great Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park and the Dismal Swamp?
All they see is: PROFIT💰 I don’t want to hear flowery words about how they want to serve the members. These folks that want expansion have probably never worked in a branch or even talked to a member. They just want bigger checks. That’s really it. Don’t eat the bullshit folks. Don’t sell out and become a corporate ghoul.
ReplyDeletethey'll buy your vote for for $200 ....
DeleteSo this service will only cater to small amount of our members, but we will continue to discontinue the tax service program that had more members using it? Interesting. But simple answer, it’s all about money! Doing taxes for the working class, nah! But hey let’s lend to big business!!! And if we don’t plan to do that then at least explain what you mean when SECU may become commercial? Why can’t we just continue to do what we do best. Serve members of modest means
ReplyDeletewho said we're going to lend to "big business"?
DeleteI don’t think you understand. These folks have no interest in helping people with modest means. They literally could give a crap about members with 20 bucks In their account. As one of the commenters referred to employees they probably view these members as the lowest common denominator like they do the tellers or our loan officers.. These higher ups, boards and consultants are sick people. Always have been. No matter where you go to work.
Delete. Literally helped someone yesterday who is homeless and she has 2 jobs. Verified her stubs and all. She works 2 full time jobs and she is homeless. These are the folks we need to be spending our time on. Not the rich
They showed their cards with RBL ...
DeleteI think we should spend our time on helping all members.
Delete@6:01 you mean A tier. That’s what you really mean while profiting off members with lower scores at higher rates. How is that an equal collective membership with RBL? It’s obvious classism with that lending model. Treat members equally can be thrown right back at you since you want to discontinue the salo for our members so they’ll be led to predatory members and charge certain members higher interest rates. Don’t see equality or an equal membership in that thinking…
DeleteWhen they say “all members” we know what they really mean. A tier. Because if you really wanted to serve the membership EQUALLY then you would be fine with a single interest rate for all members. That’s equality. Not giving one member one rate and then one member another rate. Yall are running out of excuses at this point with the crap you spill.
DeleteTheir thing about tax services was that it took up too much time and they were worried they lacked expertise. Well, what do they think learning business lending is gonna be? Time consuming - yes. Needing expertise - yes. NEWS FLASH! Businesses prove their income with tax returns. Mine for a small business and its owner are approximately 275 pages long. If you are worried your people don’t know how to do a simple one correctly, how are you going to teach them to read and a complex one?
Delete@7:55 bingo. They have so many cracks in their propositions….its so easy to expose. Great point
Delete@6:07.. it's a mistaken assumption that we are profiting off members with lower scores. C-E loans have higher losses, higher cost of funds, higher origination expenses and higher servicing expenses on them. when we had one rate for all, we lost money on C-E. Losses that had to be absorbed by other members. Yes, we raised rates, but its break-even at best still. Not about making profit - the core question about one rate for all is if and how much you make other members subsidize lower rates for low score borrowers. It's adds the drama to make profit motive accusations, but the facts don't agree....
Delete@7:55... well.. we wont be preparing tax returns for small businesses, but we'd want to to look at a simple schedule C to see it someone can pay back a little small biz credit card or line of credit or auto loan, so we can make sure they can afford. I for one trust our people to be able to do that.
Delete8:33am it’s also very important as well to include the history of the United States when we are discussing the philosophy of what a credit union isand the exploitation of African Americans who were enslaved as well subjected to Jim Crow laws where they couldn’t even get loan not long ago. Generational history should be taken into account. Class privilege gives you a significant advantage when your parents already know how the financial world works while someone’s grandma was too busy getting kicked out of restaurants because she is black. Many minority communities have been set back many years…not everyone was born with a silver spoon In their mouth and had mommy and daddy pumping up their credit score by putting their kid as an authorized user on a credit card when they are young. Some people don’t have that privilege.but go ahead, make the argument the A tier is pulling the weight when considering the exploitation of minority communities across the United States since its founding. That’s why it’s best to just treat every member regardless of race color or creed…equally. There is a story behind a credit score. These people aren’t just a number. These are human beings whose families have went through devastating generational history…these people shouldn’t be taken advantage of because they didn’t understand what credit is and made a few mistakes when growing up. Be a human being. It’s not hard. Treat people equally and that should coincide with our financial products
Delete@8:56 I would like to see the corporate overlords downplay the impact of slavery and Jim Crow laws for the African American community and pretend like this hasn’t affected their people for generations. Not to mention native Americans and the Cherokee members we have that had their land stolen. Not everything is about data and numbers. Read a history book and then tell me you want to treat these people unequal due to a different credit score.. If you still have the same opinion, you are probably a person I would never want to be associated with. Treat people equal. Do the right thing. People helping people. If you don’t believe in things mottos. Just leave the credit union
Delete@9:07pm amen brotha ✊✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
Delete@8:56 these people are soulless corporate ghouls who just have wet dreams about money. Well said, but guarantee they won’t read it or care because they want them dolla bills. They don’t care about equality.
DeleteMLK day is coming up. Good time for our SECU leaders to read what that man believed in. A true American hero to the working people and scared the shit out the ruling class. #RipDrKing #OneFistOnePeople
Deleteso what's a corporate overlord? do we have those at SECU? Sounds kinda sexy. does the distinction come with an SVP title? If so, I'm interested.
DeleteThat’s where corporations always lose their way…they start putting data analytics on a pedestal and they lose their empathy for humanity. There is plenty of studies out there showing when you become rich, you lose empathy for humanity. To be a ceo or on a board of a collectively owned financial institution…the history of our peoples must be taken into account. As the commenter said above, we have many members whose families experienced Jim Crow laws…it wasn’t long ago folks where our members couldn’t even go eat at a restaurant with white people. They were treated as outcast in our society much less be able to apply for a loan….this has generational impact that sets communities back. the working class in general has been exploited since the founding of this country including white working class people whose children were mostly forced to work in mills during the Industrial Revolution. Exploiting children to cut costs in order to make more profit. Be resilient, workers. What we have here at SECU is special. The fight between the owners of this country and the working class has been going on for centuries. Considering the history of America, I think it would go a long way to treat the American people equally and that includes offering members the same interest rate if approved for a loan. It’s really not asking much. Do the right thing. People helping people. There is a difference. I love those mottos. It’s organic. Unlike Hayes who tried to give workers cheap sunglasses “saying future is so bright, I need shades” get out of here…
DeleteCorporate overlords are not SVPs. At least not at secu. Corporate overlords are simply the c-suites and board. Our SVPs and VPs represent the people helping people motto. At least from my experience with our SVPs, they understand the worker because they have been in our shoes. Can’t say the same about the 6 million dollar man the board hired that previously took WesCorp into conservatorship.
DeleteDear SVPs, you ain’t in the club either. You are in the same club as tellers and loan officers. You are there to mediate between the c-suites/board and your fellow workers. Our SVPs, VPs, and managers are great people that represent the credit union. They are in a tough position and they get our full respect. The c-suites and the board however do not get any respect. They need to earn it and they have failed to do that. They haven’t even attempted to earn our respect. It’s their way or the highway, Jack!
Delete@10:14pm he scared the ruling class so bad they had to assassinate him.
DeleteMore than likely the board and c-suites are being pressured by the NCUA and the CCUL as well. But it’s literally not pressure when all entities agree on flipping SECU on its head. They don’t want a SECU to ever exist again in the corporate world.
DeleteDo you really think our SVPs relate to people like Jim Hayes? Hell no. Most of us will never see a million dollars like he did in one simple transaction without even working here. Our SVPs are us. The working people. Sure they are higher up on the hierarchy but they treat us well from my experience. Nothing bad to say about SVPs. Nothing but respect.
Delete❤️
DeleteThey think we are stupid, folks. They thought this would be easy a few years ago to.. I hope they know this will be a grind to the very end.
Delete"Corporate overlords often operate behind the scenes, making decisions that can affect millions of lives without ever being held accountable. They have the resources to manipulate markets, shape public opinion, and drive political agendas. This unseen power raises pressing questions about the future of entrepreneurship, consumer rights, and ethical business practices."
Delete@11:37 talk about privilege…imagine being able to collect 6 million without even working.
Delete4:13pm spot on buddy.
DeleteShouldn’t have trained us workers so well…we know too much and care too much about the organization now
Delete5:07 meanwhile people are upset when someone gets food stamps but we have CEOs…WHO DO NOT WORK…get an easy 6 million dollar pay day. $6,000,000 of our people’s dollars sent to a disgusting human being. Now take that example and look at all the CEOs across the globe and check out these easy pay days they get. They play a little golf…send some emails…have lunch with their buddies…maybe a few phone calls…that’s their work day folks.
DeleteI just want one answer from the board. Just one answer. Why did you send Jim Hayes $6,000,000? Is one human worth that much?
Delete@9:16 we could’ve used those funds to help build community housing for our members or could’ve paid our employees a bonus for their hardwork….but no…we had to pay a deranged elitist to come across the country to bully our employees into quitting. That will never be forgiven.
Delete@8:45. Never said you’d be preparing business returns, but in order to understand the ability of that business owner to sustain the business and repay that loan or credit card, it would be prudent for them to know how to read one. What happens when your simple Schedule C guy grows and needs an increase or another loan? Do you just say “sorry dude…you got too complicated and now you gotta go?”
DeleteIf they ever discontinue the salary advance loan…that’s when we know we have sold our soul.
ReplyDeleteGod I hope they do. Horrible product and the only reason SECU offers it is due to the thought members would choose SECU instead of a predatory payday lender for the same service.
Delete2:34pm you really do not need to be working at SECU.
DeleteSo discontinue the product and let members go to a predatory lender? Wtf are you doing at a credit union? You obviously do not give a shit about our membership
DeleteI back a lot of the changes SECUs making but getting rid of this is not something they should do. The point of it is to offer a way for members who are caught in the cycle of mega high interest payday loans to break that cycle. It’s pretty highly controlled and it’s only $500. Im pretty sure you can’t withdraw the money until you hit the $500 savings. Count this member in support of continuing to offer this product.
DeleteOur salo is a superior alternative to a payday loan. You don’t belong here. Take your a** to Wells Fargo
DeletePredatory payday loans have significantly higher interest rates than ours. Ours has a savings account attached to it which you use to be able to accumulate over $500 but the board decided to cap at 500 for sale savings so members would be not use in the future. Members use to save $2k off that loan. How in the world is our product like a payday loan for a normal predatory lender?
DeleteExcept there is nothing to stop someone from getting a payday loan from SECU and the predators!
DeleteWas the SALO around 85 years ago or was that a product or service added later to provide more value to the membership? Business service for members can be done right. Secu has been adding services for members for 85 years. Whats to say business service can't be added and done right for the members? Maybe its not all or nothing? Is business service the problem or just not trusting management and the board to do it right?
DeleteWell shoot, if SECU is offering products like the salo because there are bad actors in the world that offer the same product, then let’s start letting members pawn their personal items at local branches. Pawn shops are considered predatory as well and I’m sure our members use those too.
Delete@6:51 I would like to an actual debate about these things. As someone who doesn’t understand everything about commercial lending, I would like to hear what it all involves. With all that being said, who in the absolute hell could trust our board of directors at this point?
Delete@7:45 it’s pathetic the rebuttals I’m getting. Comparing SECU to a pawn shop…just go work at a bank bro. Go profit off the needy so you can feel better about yourself. Scum
Delete7:45 our alternative to a payday loan isn’t the same product as a payday loan you moron. What predatory lender has a salo savings account attached to the loan and where the credit line is capped at 500 for spending? And when it reaches 500 in the savings…it’s a secured loan. Whoever you are…you have no idea what the hell you are talking about 🤣🤣🤣
DeleteThe board of directors giving Jim Hayes 6 million of our hard earned members money to come and attempt to ruin our credit union is the day the board lost their credibility and respect. These people have never even spoke to a member and here they are sending 6 million dollars to one man when our members and employees are struggling to get by? This will be a stain that will continue to haunt our board as long as they are in power. You gave this one man 6 million and he never even worked a day at SECU. How many families could that 6 million could have fed? But no…they chose to give 6 million to one individual human being who couldn’t give figure out how to work Bobwhite. I have zero respect for this board. Absolutely zero. At least Hayes knows he is snake, I’ll give him that…he owns it! But this board is nothing but wolves in sheeps clothing. They disgust me.
DeleteOne thing I will say about Hayes…he read the room and got the hint. He left. Read the room, board. You aren’t welcome. You are a volunteer board and you have went against the will of the workers and the will of the membership. You literally had to rig the deck to win a board election because you are that pathetic. Spending our members money on advertising to beat a grass roots movement that was more than likely going to crush you if you didn’t stack the deck with the mail in ballots. Your victory last October will always have a fat asterisk beside it.
DeleteAre still going to remain a peoples credit union where we value our staff and membership or is this just going to be another workplace where everybody is micromanaged to spit out more production?
ReplyDeleteThey want the culture of a bank for workers. Where you are micromanaged like animals to squeeze every little bit of profit they can. I’ve worked at 2 banks before working here. I don’t want that work environment brought over here. I enjoy coming into work and just doing my job. To people that never worked at a bank…trust me…you want nothing to do with that type of work environment. It’s hell.
DeleteThey would love to have that culture established. That’s what Jim Hayes tried to do. Establish an oppressive work culture for the employees, but he failed and ran away like the child he is. Hiding behind his money.
DeleteYou bet! They are drooling at the thought of getting rid of the 401k match for workers and the rule of 85. No different than our government drooling at the thought of privatizing social security and handing it over to the private sector so Wall Street can profit off granny’s retirement check.
Delete"Are still going to remain a peoples credit union where we value our staff and membership or is this just going to be another workplace where everybody is micromanaged to spit out more production?"
DeleteHonestly, if we want to be truthful to ourselves we know what the answer is ... it's just hard to accept.
6:00 that’s why we fight and push back. Don’t accept it
Delete@6:00pm Never accept defeat form these people.
DeleteWho are they and these people?
Delete@5:05 Board of directors, C-Suits, NCUA, and CCUL. We know outside organizations want to bring SECU under its heel as well. It’s not just board and brady.
Delete@4:56 - they've already stopped contributing to existing HSAs and will only do a one-time contribution to new HSAs. That's about how Spectrum treats its customers. Almost ALL businesses and employers contribute SOMETHING to HSAs. Who knows what benefits we will lose next?
DeleteThe globalists are infecting our credit union.
ReplyDeleteinfecting EVERYTHING!!!
DeleteUnfortunately, I can tell by reading the blog and from the comments from the other side. They really are going to put the membership and employees on the back burner. They just to expand and maximize profit. That profit won’t be vested back into the memberships or workers. The profit will go to you know who. The ethics of corporate America have really fell the past 30 years. Sad to see start hitting the golden egg of SECU. Hopefully the parasites will leave
DeleteThese folks need to do what Hayes and Bomba did…LEAVE! Just go somewhere else where your goals may be more respective because so far everything the board is wanting to do has been met with conflict even before Blaine got involved. If you are causing that big of an issue for the membership and employees…then you are the problem and probably shouldn’t be working here. We have an established culture and we enjoy it. Our members do as well. Just go. There is plenty of other money hungry corporations in America for you to work at. Keep the globalist BS away from SECU
DeleteIt’s a big club folks and you employees aren’t in it.
ReplyDeleteI think we need an in person live debate
ReplyDeleteThey would never agree to debate Jim Blaine live. Ain’t no way in hell they will do that. They would get exposed very quickly.
DeleteI'll guess 90-95% of membership has no clue what's going on ...
DeleteI would be afraid of getting a horse head or funeral bouquet sent to me after winning the debate😀
DeleteHaha. I learned a long time ago that it is unwise to debate Jim Blaine and I bet that the powers that be did too.
Delete7:24 after watching the board stumble and fumble the past few years especially in the annual meeting of 2023…I have 100% confidence Blaine would easily win the debate. Chris Ayers looked like a joke with his pants down on that stage in 2023. Don’t see that changing. It’s hard for a greedy lair to debate educated people that actually have good faith. I implore you to set up a live debate vs Blaine
DeleteHis face was red as a pickled beet during the meeting in 2023 @7:55 that was probably the real reason why they had that video taken down off YouTube. Never seen a face so red and guilty for a solid hour. That was enjoyable. Too bad the next year they decided to ban members from asking live questions.
DeleteAin’t it fun that people that don’t even work here get to make these decisions instead of making decisions as a collective membershi? Just a few small handful of people making decisions for millions of people.. You can argue all you want democracy won last October, but we all know those mail in ballots contained a lot of votes for people who do not know what’s going on that credit union and just checked a box. If we had a real debate and the membership got to see it. Guarantee this board and executive leadership would be thrown out of here.
ReplyDeleteDang, I'm hungry for Chick-fil-A now!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteExcellent analogy.
ReplyDeletesure. SECU compares well to a for profit fast food place. If Chick-Fil-a was a cooperative owned by members that ate both hamburgers and chicken, would they have the same strategy?
DeleteSo it was ok when Hayes, Brady, Bomba and the board compared us to Blockbuster?
DeleteThing to note is Hayes is history, as our Prez would say complete loser. Bomba too, as our prez would say... hope this is a trend for others to follow
Delete7;16 praying it reaches up to our board too.
DeleteSECU today is like Sonic….”we do anything to make money, but do nothing well”. Members should come first. New apps are great, but you don’t have to send jobs out of NC to make things better! Marketing and outsourcing the membership right out of their CU.
ReplyDeleteCredit Unions are in the business of lending to their members. It's what they do. If a member has a small business it's unclear why we should not be able to help them or how that deviates from our mission statement or anything else people here claim. Members ask about it constantly. It seems like it would help a lot of our members if we provided it.
ReplyDeleteTax prep is not what CUs or other FIs are in the business of doing. It was a secondary service for our members. It conflicted in a major way with us operating as a credit union and doing the things we actually should be doing - lending, account servicing, etc. The math here is simple: the branch got significantly busier for 4+ months and we got no additional help. There are multiple self-service avenues for taxes and there are tax professionals for complex situations. This is not analogous to business lending. Members can prepare their own taxes; they can't give themselves a loan.
That's the relevant difference. It's not complicated. Lending is what the CU does. Many of our members have small business. Therefore, it seems like (small) business lending is within the scope and purpose of what we do. Taxes, while a nice service to provide, are not what we are here for. There are *many* other reasons that tax prep should have stopped but that is the most salient one.
Should stop offering notary services then too?
DeleteSome fiery conversation including a little class warfare!
ReplyDeleteWherever you come down on all that, would point out that SECU worked hard to minimize the social friction among SECU members with policies like same rate lending and among employees by providing the same benefits and work expectations for all regardless of position.
That sensibility within a member-owned, not-for=profit credit union was a primary reason why SECU was successful - in my opinion. Those days with the advent of executive gyms replacing FatCat meeting rooms, etc seem to be disappearing. The SECU Board seems indifferent to what is being lost - a sterling reputation for fairness which few other institutions could match. No not perfect by any means, but no longer a distinguishing hallmark.
As to the commenter who believes that the only reason SECU exists is to make loans - hopefully such foolishness isn't from an employee... short-sighted, lacks depth and imagination... cancerous. If the commenter isn't foolish, then we need to go ahead and disband the SECU Foundation for starters, don't we?
Two other notes: 1) A debate is not needed. That is not a good idea. What is needed is for the Board to accept its fiduciary responsibility to be honest and transparent with the member-owners about where SECU is heading. The Board is repeatedly failing in this simple responsibility.
2) Our CEO needs to quit hiding from the membership. One can't lead the music if one is afraid to "face the band". Better come on out and play! Long term credibility is at stake.
Agreed
Deleteserious question.. what are 3 things the board isn't being transparent about?
ReplyDelete10:09am Excellent question! As you'll recall how all this got started was a polite resolution approved at the 2022 Annual meeting 3 years ago!
DeleteHere, go back to that member-approved resolution and see if you feel the Board has answered the questions.
https://www.secujustasking.com/2023/02/2022-secu-annual-meeting-how-it-all-got.html
The SECU CEO and Board leadership appeared to fail the trust test in providing "no formal proposal proposal" weaseled answers during the Fireside Chats.
Getting straight answers with assurances remains a problem. For example, right now we are trying to determine the question of SECU membership eligibility and focus going forward.
We’ve been trying to get a straight answer from this board for 3 years!!! Watch the annual meeting in 2023 where the guilt was obvious and they had no answer. Oh wait you can’t wait that meeting because they REMOVED the meeting off YouTube! Total transparency
DeleteI believe H.B. 410 has never "really" been addressed just shelved until the "right" time ...
Delete@4:20pm it will resurface. The ghouls will reemerge to push this bill. People like Dan Schiline for the CCUL will stick his nose in it like he did at the annual meeting
Delete@4:20 so why are a few people are twirled about it today? how does the angst and churn a big future unknown and improbable event help members today?
Deletegoing to need to make sure that secu has another contested election this year. Keep at them.
ReplyDeleteThis group is pathetic. Rubber stamping or incompetent or both. can't tell which yet.
Grind till the end. Win or lose
DeleteAmen. On board. We can do it!
DeleteDo it just to get Ayers. will be a victoruy. Bad news, p-poor leader. no trusting that guy.
Delete@6:59 agreed. Can’t stand him. Very pompous
Delete