Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

AHOSKIE – There’s a new financial institution here that welcomes its members to visit, but their feelings aren’t hurt if you choose not to drop in.

Civic Credit Union is open at 1118 North Academy Street.

Sherry Bear, Chief Administrative Officer, explained that Civic is a “digital first” credit union.

She added that by June of next year, Local Government Federal Credit Union (LGFCU) members will no longer use State Employment Credit Union branches.

“LGFCU members will come here,” Bear stated. “The brand will be Civic as we complete the merger [of LGFCU and Civic]. Civic will serve the members directly.

“We knew that we were not going to build an extensive network of branches like the SECU has,” Bear added. “We will have 11 branches statewide to support our membership with full service transactions.”

Bear said the intent of Civic Credit Union branches is for members to come in for educational purposes

“We want to empower our members to do self service through our digital channels so you don’t have to sit in line at a drive-thru to deposit a check. Our members can do that with a digital app, but if you want to come inside a branch, the staff is here ready to help you perform a transaction, open an account, and educate you about mortgage loans,” Bear said.

She stressed that the beauty of the space inside a Civic branch is it’s convertible for local member partners to use. Bear pointed to space that can be used for meetings, training sessions, or for a individual member to come in, set up at a table, and work via their laptop.

Bear stressed the Civic prides itself in its values: “people first, planet always, and prosperity for all.”

“We serve local government; that’s who our members are,” Bear stressed. “Local government employees are often the unsung heroes in our state. We appreciate what they do.”

Pete VanGraafeiland, Civic’s Chief Member Experience Officer, noted that LGFCU started in 1983.

“LGFCU and State Employees Credit Union have had a partnership for a long time,” he said. “About six years ago, SECU opted to stop servicing business accounts. That affected our membership who operated side businesses. They could no longer have a business account with SECU, so we started Civic to serve business and personal accounts. The idea was all online, digital only, but in the long run our board of directors saw separation from SECU.”

LGFCU consists of municipal and county government employees, who use SECU branches to serve their financial needs.

“We will have full independence from SECU in June of next year and at that time, LGFCU will officially change its name to Civic Credit Union,” VanGraafeiland said.

All LGFCU members can now take advantage of Civic’s digital, online banking through the use of an app on their smartphone. If a personal touch is needed, a LGFCU member can visit one of the Civic branches or use a network of ATMs.

“We’re digital first as the future of banking in many ways is on a phone, a tablet, laptop, desktop,” stressed VanGraafeiland. “We realize that’s not the way that everyone wants to do everything all the time, and even though we have some neat digital technology there’s always a human behind everything that we do. Our contact center is open 24/7 so members can call us at anytime. You can open an account online in about five minutes. We call it sofa banking…you sit at home on your sofa and take care of your banking needs. That’s the convenience part we’re trying to build at Civic Credit Union. But you can also visit one of our branches if that’s what you want. We’re just trying to make it easy for folks.”

He added that Civic Credit Union prides itself in providing security for digital banking.

“We have measures in place to ensure the identity of our members who are logging in online,” VanGraafeiland stated.

Ashlee Battocletti, Civic’s Director of Retail Banking, said the space inside a branch is designed in several ways.

“We’ll greet you at the door to understand what brought you in. If you are eager to learn more about how to self serve, we have private spaces where we’ll educate you on that. If you’re here to add someone to your account, get a cashier’s check, or if you need $20, our staff is here to help you,” she said.

There will be 11 Civic branches, all in North Carolina. Other than Ahoskie, those currently open for business are located in Murphy, Asheville, Charlotte, Lumberton, and Wilmington. The other five to open are in Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Greenville, and Hickory.

Bear said there is “shared branching” with other credit unions in various locations that are part of a network in North Carolina and other states.

Danielle Golden is the branch manager for the Ahoskie location. Business hours are 9 am until 5 pm, Monday through Friday.