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RALEIGH – In a highly unusual move, 50 retired members of senior management of State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) have voiced public support for three member-nominated candidates — Barbara Perkins, Michael Clements and Chuck Stone — to counter what they believe are disturbing trends in the direction of SECU and to return the benefits of membership to all members.

The large group of retired executives include Jim Blaine and Mike Lord, past SECU Presidents and CEOs.

The nominees seek to unseat three incumbent Board members. The fiercely contested election is extraordinary for the $50 billion credit union — the second largest credit union in the nation which has 2.7 million members and branches in all 100 counties of North Carolina.

The challengers disagree with recent Board decisions on the direction of the credit union and want to raise interest rates on the Money Market savings account from the current rate of 1% to 3-4%. They contend the low interest rate offerings resulted in a $4 billion drop in deposit and asset balances over the past year, the first declines in the 85-year history of the financial cooperative.

They also want to remove the controversial tiered interest rate scheme for vehicle loans put in place by the Board in which thousands of borrowers are charged up to 4.5% higher interest rates on loans. This rate-setting convention discriminates against and financially punishes black, young and other borrowers with slight marks on their credit histories. Historically all SECU members received the same rates on the same loan products as a benefit of membership.

“We can, and should, better support our members,” said Lord. “I encourage SECU members to vote for Barbara Perkins, Michael Clements and Chuck Stone to help make this possible.”

SECU members, ages 16 and older, can vote online on the SECU website SECU Voting Portal – Disclaimer Page (ey.com) Online voting ends on October 3.

In person voting can also be done at the SECU annual meeting on October 10 at the Koury Center in Greensboro. Attendees must register in advance on the SECU website (www.ncsecu.org) to obtain an admission ticket. Additional information about other contested issues can be found at www.SECUjustasking.com.