President's Blog

by Kerry Wahlen, President/CEO

Providing Critical Financial Resources

April 16, 2020

Together, we are pushing forward through the most unique global health and economic challenges of our lifetimes. Goldenwest Credit Union has proactively engaged in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing local businesses and Utah families with critical financial resources.

The tasks before us are monumental. But as I recently heard a respected leader proclaim, “We did not come this far, to only come this far.”

Our expanded Commercial Lending Team has worked around the clock for weeks, with more than 40 employees inputting SBA loan applications, verifying documents, opening new accounts, and following-up with business members. Our efforts have resulted in just under $80 million in federal CARES Act funding to local businesses through the SBA Paycheck Protection Program.

Goldenwest is delivering uninterrupted account access to members through our drive-up windows, ATMs, member contact center, online branch, and mobile banking app. I’m pleased to report that we now have drive-up window service available in Utah County at the new Goldenwest branch located at 1020 East 800 North in Orem.

More than 22,000 member collectively received $49 million in Economic Impact Payments directly deposited into their Goldenwest and USU Credit Union accounts on April 15th. Please know that some members may not receive their direct deposits from the IRS for several days or weeks. Unfortunately, we don’t know which payment round members are in until we receive the designated funds via ACH from the IRS. More information about Economic Impact Payments is available on the IRS website.

We have established an employee task force that is contacting hundreds of members each day. During these calls, our staff is educating members about conducting transactions through online and mobile banking, telling them about services available at branch drive-up windows, helping members order Visa cards for online shopping needs, explaining skip-a-loan-payment options to improve cash flow, and offering free quotes to save money on auto and homeowners insurance. The members we have contacted are grateful the calls, and appreciate our extra efforts to protect their health and finances at this time.

This week we were notified that Goldenwest was named “Best of State” in the Credit Union category for the 13th time, and that we earned an A+ health rating by DepositAccounts.com for the sixth consecutive year. Goldenwest is ranked 45th out of the Top 200 healthiest credit unions in the nation. At this defining moment in time, we are keenly aware that consistently practicing sound financial principles is what provides stability for our Credit Union family.

We will get through this together. Stay strong. Stay safe. And please know, we will continue doing our very best to take care of you.

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