Verity - Home

Help Us Keep Kids Warm this Winter

2009-11-04T18:22:00Z

You can make a big impact on a child’s life by giving something as simple as a new coat.

We need your help keeping local children warm this winter. From now through Saturday, November 14, we are collecting coats and other warm clothing items to benefit the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Clothes for Kids and NW Center.

Please bring any new or gently used coats, sweaters, gloves, hats and scarves to any one of our six branches: Auburn, Alderwood, Beacon Hill, Federal Building (downtown), Northgate and Wallingford. Branch addresses can be found here.

You can make a big impact on a child’s life by giving something as simple as a new coat. A representative named Richard from St. Vincent de Paul related this story to a Verity staff member. (The following is paraphrased):

A young girl arrived at the facility one day to receive her new coat. She was accompanied by her 16-year old brother. I asked the brother if he too was there to pick up a coat and he shyly said no, that he was just there with his sister. I noticed that the coat he was wearing was well worn and was much too small. After talking with the boy, I found out that the coat he was wearing had been given to him when he was 10, six years ago! I told him to pick out a coat for himself and his reaction was priceless. The look on his face and especially in his eyes expressed extreme gratitude. The smile he wore as he put on his new coat lit up the room.

Will you help us give a child a reason to smile this winter?

The economy struggles, but Verity remains strong

2009-10-13T18:23:00Z

"...while it remains a challenging year, we are still financially strong and expect to remain that way."

Over the last several months, we have really felt the impact of the struggling economy. Despite this, we are still in great financial shape.

In the month of September, we examined our portfolio of mortgage loans and decided to record “impairment. ‘ Impairment is recorded when you come to the conclusion that the decline in housing values may result in an eventual loss on a loan. We decided to get many of these potential losses behind us by recording a large expense in the month of September.

Many of our members are understandably under financial stress due to job loss and declining income. Our financial counselors have been busy helping these members develop plans so that they can meet their financial obligations to the greatest extent possible. Sometimes, these plans include a modification to their mortgage or other loans with Verity. When this occurs, we record impairment when the amount of the loan exceeds that value of the property. Only after the member has demonstrated the ability to make the new payments do we reverse the impairment.

The extra expense for September due to impairment in our mortgage portfolio was a little over $1.7 million. For the month of September, we show a net loss of over $1.6 million. For the first nine months of 2009, we show a net loss of $1.1 million. This has been an unusual year. In addition to the high loan losses, credit unions were assessed a premium by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund to cover the losses at two large corporate credit unions. We do not receive a bailout. We actually fund the bailout for other credit unions.

By taking a proactive stance now, we get a lot of the loan losses behind us. We do expect to continue to experience higher than normal loan losses into 2010, but with the belt-tightening that we are doing, the worst should be behind us.

As of September 30th, our reserve ratio is at 7.76%. The standard for being considered “well-capitalized” is 7.00%, so we have a nice cushion.

In summary, while it remains a challenging year, we are still financially strong and expect to remain that way.

Secure or Not Secure? There's no question.

2009-09-14T23:22:00Z

A couple of issues held us back from launching our new website today. They're fixed-- but we're going to wait until tomorrow to launch.

We choose secure.

Due to some issues with some new security features we are applying to the new veritycu.com, we were not able to launch today.

I was, ahem, peeved. I was steamed. But we're going to do this right or not at all. So knowing that the site will work as it should tomorrow gives me a sense of calm.

So, look for a new website to appear tomorrow morning around 7:00 a.m. PT. You get one more day to enjoy the current website.

Thanks for your patience!

The new veritycu.com: Not just another pretty web face

2009-09-10T23:05:00Z

veritycu.com is pretty, but it's got smarts, too.

So when visitors go to veritycu.com Monday morning (9/14/09), they'll see the new home page (screenshot below). We haven't been phished. We haven't been bought out-- it's really us.

While the site was designed for optimal Internet cruising on the latest and greatest browser versions (and on a 1024x768 screen), the minimum requirements are Internet Explorer 6.0 with 800x600 screen resolution. And, it will even work with a dial-up connection.

Other things of note:

The entire site will be locked down with an Extended Validation SSL Certificate. So, if you are using Internet Explorer 7.0, Firefox 3.0 and up, or Safari 2.0 and up, you'll see the "green bar" in your URL field which means you are on Verity's official website.
We've lost a little weight. We whittled away obsolete content and streamlined our product pages, creating comparison tables to help you pick the services best for you. And when you're ready to open an account, you can do so with a click of a button on our secure, online application. You can fund your new account at the time you apply, too.
Our Community. Over the years, Verity has grown its social media presence. We've found a way to gather our blogs on our home page. The most recent posts from all of our blogs can be found here.
Optimized for screen readers. If you are vision impaired and use software to "read" websites, veritycu.com is ready for you.
Text widget. Text a little small? Don't mess with your browser settings. Just click on the text widget at the top of the screen "AAA" to adjust the page to your liking.

Those are the highlights. I'm looking forward to launching on Monday and am very curious to hear what you think about our new website.

Home Page

Product Table

It will all be different on Monday morning: A new veritycu.com

2009-09-10T00:19:00Z

On Monday, Verity will have a new website. Here is a sneak peek.

I am happy to announce that the new veritycu.com will launch on Monday, September 14!

The process took a little over a year to complete. Unlike past redesigns, this was a project that involved a lot of people and a lot of gathering of data about how we do business and who does business with us (you, our members!) Before getting to the "fun" stuff of picking designs and layouts, our interactive web design partner took us through a discovery process that made us examine ourselves and our interactions with members. We did usability studies with volunteer members, non-members, and staff. We took advantage of best practices for navigation, search, content and layout. All of this discovery work resulted in a site that, hopefully, balances business strategy with optimal user experience.

Please note that this is a launch of our website, not of the new Online Branch and our new online banking system. I hope to have news of the status of that project at a later date.

So, here is a screen shot of the new home page. Tomorrow, I will post another screenshot and talk about the new features. I will also share some tips on how to be prepared for perusing our new website come Monday, September 14.

Home Page

FREE Credit and Money Management Seminars Next Week

2009-09-09T19:15:00Z

If you are struggling with making ends meet, are rebuilding your credit or are simply in need of a kick in the pants to jump start your savings, we hope to see you next Wednesday or Thursday.

Faced with new economic challenges, many people are paying closer attention to their finances these days. As the nation’s savings rate slowly continues to climb, it’s clear that habits are shifting. With this renewed focus on financial sustainability, Verity is offering a free seminar on Credit and Money Management.

You can choose to attend Wednesday, September 16, at our Alderwood Branch, or on Thursday, September 17, at our Northgate Branch. The seminar begins each evening at 6:30 and concludes at 8:00pm. You are welcome to attend both nights if you wish!

Verity’s financial counselor, James Lupori, will cover the basics of credit reports as well as money management techniques designed to help you save more and spend less. He will also take some time to answer audience questions.

If you are struggling with making ends meet, are rebuilding your credit or are simply in need of a kick in the pants to jump start your savings, we hope to see you next Wednesday or Thursday. To reserve your spot, call Joe Lancaster at (206) 315-6718.

Our Alderwood Branch is located near the Alderwood Mall at 18530 33rd Ave W in Lynnwood. The Northgate Branch is at 11027 Meridian Ave N, in North Seattle, on the west side of I-5.

Verity Gains 2,828 Pounds for a Good Cause

2009-08-26T19:46:00Z

Verity gained 2,828 pounds and then lost it, all in one month! Or rather, we gave it away to food banks in our community.

Our last quarterly breakfast started off like any other, with lots of food. We’re generally served by 7:30 and have half an hour to eat and socialize before we get down to business. Just as 8:00 approached, Pete Spalding, a member of our Corporate Citizenship Committee, stood up and asked everyone, “Did you get enough to eat this morning?” We all nodded our heads, most of us with satiated grins on our faces.

Pete went on to make a passionate plea for those families in our community who did not have breakfast that morning. He reminded us of the many people currently out of work, or struggling to make ends meet.

He reminded me to be thankful for the abundance surrounding me and to be thoughtful of those less fortunate.

His reminder must have touched a lot of people that morning because in less than one month the staff of Verity collected 2,828 pounds of non-perishable food items for local food banks as part of our second annual Dare To Care food drive. We also donated $460 in cash. An internal chili cook-off and bacon bowl (don’t ask!) helped our internal fundraising efforts and we also received donations from members.

September is Hunger Action Month. Find out how you can help fight hunger at Feeding America. Not only can you make a donation through their site, you can also find ways to get involved in your own community, read stories from Americans affected by hunger, and become an advocate to engage your elected officials and support Child Nutrition legislation.

Focus Group

2009-08-10T21:05:00Z

Are you a landlord with between one and three rental houses? Are you thinking of purchasing a house as an investment property?

If so, we’d like to ask you a few questions about some finance options we are considering.

The focus group is tomorrow night at 5:30 at our Northgate location.

It will last one hour.

We will pay you $50.00 for your participation.

If you are interested, please email Shari Storm at shari.storm@veritycu.com

Verity Is Looking for a Few Good Moms

2009-08-07T13:57:00Z

Well, techically, we are really only looking for one.

We are looking for one wildly creative, funny, talented mom to be out spokesperson for the next 12 months.

This blogging, video posting, funny, talented mom will receive a $20,000 year salary, a fancy new laptop and a HD video camera.

Want to know more? visit VerityMom.com

I have good news and bad news: Online Branch Update

2009-07-24T21:42:00Z

"...my impatience and frustration is heavily tempered by our desire to present a system that not only works right-- it must work right the first time."

As Shari mentions below in her post, Unintended Consequences, our new online banking system will not launch in August as planned, but later in the Fall.

I liken my work on this project to a kid waiting to open their gifts on Christmas morning. I've been been good all year (with a little 'bad' thrown in to make things interesting), but I know Kris Kringle is going to bring me something pretty cool to unwrap.

I've been working on the Online Branch project for well over a year, but the actual work on the Online Branch site (for members and businesses) has taken place for the past 2+ months. The look and feel of the site is clean. Members will be able to do and see more from the first screen they see when they log-in. It will be more secure. An eDocument library will have the ability to present all your statements, notices and tax forms and archive them for up to seven years. I could go on. And I will, once our launch date is firmly in place. You won't be able to shut me up. ;)

But my impatience and frustration is heavily tempered by our desire to present a system that not only works right-- it must work right the first time. My teammates here at Verity, who've been a huge part of the testing and vetting process, are with me on this one. In an email I sent to my pilot testers, I wrote:

"When we release the pilot site to you, it needs to be fully functional so that you can report issues that are unique because of the uniquenesss of how you use online services-- not because of a programming issue.

Okay-- that was the bad news. The good news is that our new website will launch on September 14. I'll be posting screenshots of our lovely new site in a few weeks. Hang in there-- I am!

Unintended Consequences

2009-07-24T16:36:00Z

The recent news in the credit union world is the arrival of the Credit CARD Act. It was designed to give consumers more protection.

Philosophically, this Act is OK with us. Most of the stuff it is trying to regulate we have long been doing, so mostly we are fine.

But right now we are working on one part of it that really has us scrambling.

The Act says that all bills must be sent 21 days in advance. OK, that’s fine. That makes sense.

Except for the fact that many of our members don’t want bills for certain types of loans. For example, auto loans. Auto loans are the same every month and most of our members have it set up on automatic payment. We’ve been setting auto loans up with coupon books since any of us can remember. It’s way cheaper for the credit union and it cuts down on the amount of paper a member gets in the mail.

However, these coupon books will essentially be illegal come August 20.

On August 20th, 2400 of our members will start getting bills for loans they have never gotten bills for. We don’t really want to send them, but we must in order to be in compliance with the Credit CARD Act.

We are diligently working on an online solution so we can send email alerts and have bills housed in a secure environment, but that was designed to be behind our new Home Banking system, which has been delayed until later in the fall.

If you are one of the 2400, you’ll be getting some communication from us soon. I apologize in advance. We are between a rock and a hard spot on this one.

We’ll work it out though.

Housing Trifecta for First Time Buyers

2009-07-06T17:39:00Z

This might be the best time in US history for someone to buy their first home. Not only do housing prices continue to drop and interest rates hover at all-time lows, there is now an $8,000 tax credit available for first time buyers.

The guidelines for the tax credit are fairly simple:

Members applying for the tax credit must be first time buyers or have had no ownership interest in a home for the past three years.
The tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price of a primary residence, up to $8,000
The tax credit must be repaid if the member moves out of the home before three years.
A single buyer may have an income of up to $75,000 to qualify, married buyers may have a joint income of up to $150,000.

Verity Credit Union has been offering first time home loans for decades. Our seasoned employees will take the time to explain the process and guide you through the steps.

If you are considering buying your first home, please call us today at 206-361-5320.

The Pursuit of Perfection

2009-06-30T23:24:00Z

Recent events in pop culture have reminded me how the pursuit of perfection manifest itself across many endeavors.

Recent events in pop culture have reminded me how the pursuit of perfection manifest itself across many endeavors. …Of course, we know that perfection is impossible. The pursuit of excellence is far more reasonable, and is encouraged in lieu of perfection for the sake of sanity. But perfection is honorable if for no other reason in that it dares to dream the impossible.

Perfection to me realized itself when I saw Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” from Moonwalker. Of course I speak of the full version – the nearly 10 minute epic – that was the centerpiece of the Moonwalker film; not the 4 minute music video that you usually see on TV. …To me, this story was everything close to perfect. The song, the style, the moves. When I first saw it I thought, “My God, he can even defy gravity!” I wanted to be everything I saw in this video.

That’s a very personal story, but everyone has their own variation on this theme – MJ related or not. Okay so let me tie this into working at Verity. What’s awesome is that I am surrounded by people who have this same level of dedication and tenacity towards their work. Sure, working at a financial institution isn’t as glamorous as being the King of Pop. But that same pursuit of perfection/excellence is sought after by many of my colleagues. It’s one of the biggest reasons why I am inspired to come to work everyday.

Now if only I can incorporate a sequenced glove into my daily routine…

Verity has the Shredder!

2009-06-24T18:52:00Z

Verity has always made it known that we are a credit union “where you truly matter” and this means protecting and educating our members in fraud and identity theft prevention. One way we do this is by hosting Shred-A-Thons to benefit our branches’ communities.

Protecting our identities and personal information should be a top priority for consumers today, especially given the times in which we are currently living. With the current recession (recovering slowly as it may be) and unemployment rates, the increase of fraud and identity theft is on the rise and unfortunately, is to be expected. Verity has always made it known that we are a credit union “where you truly matter” and this means protecting and educating our members in fraud and identity theft prevention. One way for Verity to do this is by hosting Shred-A-Thons to benefit the surrounding branches’ community.

What is a Shred-A-Thon? Read on for details and an update on our Saturday, June 13, event.

Shred-A-Thons provide the surrounding communities of Verity the ability to rid their lives of the increasing personal and sensitive paper information (credit card pre-approvals, miscellaneous mail, old financial records etc.) in a safe and secure way. We do this by hiring a large shredder or shred-truck to be on-site at selected branches so that the community can bring their bags and boxes of sensitive paper waste to be destroyed properly, eliminating the worry and risk of possible fraud or identity theft.

On Saturday, June 13th, Verity hosted its 3rd annual Shred-A-Thon at its Beacon Hill and Alderwood Branches. The events kicked off at 10:00 am and continued steadily through the business day (shred-a-thons end at 2:00 pm or until the truck is full).

In addition to providing a resource to destroy sensitive paper waste we utilize Shred-A-Thons as a way to help the local food banks raise money and non-perishable food items. To have Verity assist in shredding your sensitive information, we simply ask for a mere $5 donation to the local food bank or to donate as many non-perishable food items as possible. No amount of shred is too much and no donation is too high. As stated above, the current recession has left many families in need of a little extra assistance in providing for their loved ones.

Both events were a grand success with Alderwood raising $466 in monetary donations and a barrel of food for the Lynnwood Food Bank and Beacon Hill raising $524.01 and a barrel of food for the Beacon Ave Food Bank. Of course, the success of each Shred-A-Thon could not have happened without the help and assistance provided by the following volunteers or Shred-IT (our shredder provider for the past 3 years and counting):

Joe Lancaster (Alderwood Branch Shred-A-Thon Organizer)
Courtney Ilsley (Beacon Hill Branch Shred-A-Thon Organizer)
Andrea Martineau (Verity Volunteer)
Kathy Karrasch (Verity Volunteer) and son Ryan
Clayton Aderhold (brother of Verity Employee Katie Stevenson)
Hector Montano (Verity Volunteer)
Vivian Valencia (Verity Volunteer)
Pete Spalding (Verity Volunteer)
To all members and their surrounding communities for their participation and donations

Verity Launches New Financial Resources Site

2009-06-18T20:04:00Z

Last month we quietly went live with a new site. It’s been in the works for awhile. I think it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful and has a lot of relevant helpful information.

Terrell Meek did the writing and the finding and the organizing. Trabian and Brent Dixon were the designers and creaters. Laurel McJannet helped out too.

Please take a gander and let us know what you think.

You can find it at SpendSaveLive.com