Inside Edge
Message from Glenn Strebe, President/CEO
Glenn Strebe, President/CEO
As I reflect on 2020, I am thankful for so many things as we navigated difficult and unprecedented times. I am thankful Air Academy Federal Credit Union had the resources to help thousands of members struggling financially. We were able to advise and help members get through months that still had days left when the money ran out. I am thankful for our Board of Directors that never wavered in their commitment to the membership and staff. I am thankful our staff worked tirelessly and courageously to put the needs of members ahead of their own. I am thankful for our members that understood we were all in this together and gave us grace when stress was high and energy was low. I am thankful as I look to better days in 2021, our credit union is safe, sound, and steadfast in our commitment to serving you.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the markets have been incredibly volatile. Volatility is usually driven by uncertainty and we have experienced that. Looking forward, many things are still uncertain, but some of the market triggers have been answered and early indications are 2021 will be positive. We expect interest rates to be low as signaled by the Federal Reserve Bank. This will keep mortgage, loan, and savings rates low. I was talking with a member recently that was concerned his income, derived from CDs and other fixed income investments, would require him to cut out a few expenses. I suggested he talk with a financial advisor to review his financial plan and look at alternatives providing higher yields. As I look around, there are many opportunities available to you because of low interest rates. With low interest rates, there are alternatives to our deposit products by using our financial advisor. With low interest rates, now might be an opportunity to refinance your car or purchase another. With low interest rates, there might be an opportunity to refinance your current mortgage, purchase your first house, move up to another house, or make improvements to your current house. Our mortgage department stands ready to help. If you own a business, now might be an opportune time to refinance your business debt, purchase a building, or expand your business. Our business services group is ready to help, just as it did when the Paycheck Protection Program Loans were available by the Small Business Administration. There are many opportunities right now we did not have a year ago.
During the pandemic, more and more of our members are contacting us because bad guys are attempting to scam them, or they have already been scammed. In a recent news story, a woman was scammed by a person she met online. The man on the other side of the screen was able to convince her to send small amounts of money to help him. As the days went by, he asked for larger and larger sums of money. Supposedly, some of the money was to come meet her in person in Colorado Springs. Over a period of time, she was scammed out of thousands and thousands of dollars she will never recover. This, along with many other scams and scam attempts, has happened to our members. In some cases, we were able to help our member by refusing to send the money without the member first talking with our Risk Management department. In some cases, it was too late for us to help. Unfortunately, our members sometimes do not believe us when we tell them they were scammed or are in the middle of a scam. While these are tough conversations and emotions run high, we know we are helping members not lose their hard-earned money. There are so many scams happening right now and our Risk Management department has been busier than ever helping members. If you or someone you know encounter something that does not feel quite right, please contact us.
The first quarter of 2021 is an incredibly busy quarter for the staff at AAFCU. On March 22, 2021, we will go live with our new computer system. Right now, we are in the middle of training our staff on the new system while serving you daily. They are doing double duty serving our members and learning the new system. We are excited about its capabilities as we retire the system we brought online in 1997. This system will enhance our capability to serve you. Please look for more announcements as we get closer to conversion.
Finally, a significant highlight for AAFCU this year was being named a Gazette Best Workplace—Large Company for the fourth year in a row. We have been cited every year the award has been given and I am proud of our staff.
Thank you for trusting AAFCU with your financial matters. A member told me a couple weeks ago that a significant part of their financial success is a direct result of the opportunities AAFCU has made available to his family. We will never forget we are a member-based financial institution dedicated to serve our membership. If you need help during these difficult times, we stand ready to help in any way possible.
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Glenn L. Strebe
President/CEO
