Verity - Home

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

Happy Flag Day

2009-06-14T13:00:00Z

Having one daughter born on Flag Day and another born on the 4th of July, flags have started to have special meaning in our house (my three-year-old insists that all flags are her flags). When she sees one she says, “My fwag!” I thought you might find a quick lesson on flag etiquette useful this morning.

The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.

The flag should not be used as a drapery, or for covering a speakers desk, draping a platform, or for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.

The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard

The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.

The flag should never have placed on it, or attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind.

The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

For more helpful information about our countries flag, visit www.usflag.org

Green (and thrifty) Tips from Grandma.

2009-06-03T21:10:00Z

A must for your blogroll: Things Your Grandmother Knew

More and more people are unknowingly joining the Green movement in an effort to save money and live a simpler life. After all, the more you reuse and reduce, the less you’ll spend while making a smaller impact on the environment.

If you are among this new wave of ‘accidental’ environmentalists, I recommend this awesome blog called Things Your Grandmother Knew for thrifty tips taken from the pages of vintage magazines and handed down through generations.

According to the author, “Some of the best kitchen and household tips were published during World War II when recycling & rationing was vital not only for the nation’s economy, but necessary for the survival of each family.”

Recent posts include tips on how to darn socks from a 1941 issue of Modern Woman Magazine, crochet patterns for do-it-yourself slippers, and unusual recipes to increase your iron intake.

Although this blog isn’t updated consistently, it is worth reading the archives for entertainment’s sake. You might even learn something new…er, old. You know what I mean.

What Is Your Financial Health Grade?

2009-05-26T18:48:00Z

Check out this quiz that takes about six minutes to complete. I got a B- Ack!

Link is here.

If your grade isn’t what it should be, consider visiting one of our financial counselors. It is free for those who have a loan with Verity.

Was veritycu.com my first born?

2009-05-21T23:17:00Z

I'm raising a toddler and a tween-- one is potty training while the other is bugging me for a new infrastructure and content management system.

For several months, I've been working on our new website and Online Branch projects, pushing towards a completion date that keeps flitting just out of my grasp. Such is the nature of managing projects of this type and scale. We're aiming for June 22 as a go-live date.

Last Friday, I took a break from the testing and the drudgery of reporting issues to dig up images of our past websites. It was like looking at photos of my son, aka Baby Verity, when he was born. I realized that veritycu.com has been the virtual "baby" I've been nurturing for more than 10 years. Veritycudotcom could almost be considered my first born! So right now, I'm raising a toddler and a tween at the same time -- one is potty training while the other is wanting a new [insert latest and greatest thing here] in the form of a total website rebuild. What follows is a little walk down memory lane featuring screenshots of veritycu.com (born nwfcu.com) and how we both have grown up over the years.

June 1998

The website was already up and running when I came on board in February 1998. I was the assistant marketing director then and I wrote the copy, but had to give it to IS to have to uploaded. I learned HTML and began to do it myself. There was no CMS or templates. I hardcoded HTML, edited images and FTP'd pages to a production site. I didn't have a staging site, so if I didn't catch a typo in my review, I saw it in production and had to make the edit ASAP. (Of course, I was never near a computer when that happened and I didn't have VPN then.) The illustrations and design were custom and designed to make Home Banking and the website feel fun and full of whimsy. NW Federal was one of the first credit unions to offer free online banking services. At the time, the Internet was this novel, mysterious, scary thing. I remember our main selling points of Home Banking being "free, easy, safe and fun!" The "What’s New" exclamation point and finger was an animated GIF that moved from left to right.

January 2001

Kept the whimsy, but cleaned it up a bit. By this time, I became handy with Dreamweaver and Photoshop and was able to change out the home "splash" image every month, depending on the marketing focus. As we added new menu items, I had to create new oddly shaped rectangles (parallelograms?). Looking at it now, I kinda miss the bright colors, but looking at these bright colors for too long makes me thirsty. Hmm.

November 2002

Major redesign! Gone are the illustrations and cartoons. We changed our charter from solely Federal employees to Washington State residents, so we had to change our name from NW Federal Credit Union to Verity Credit Union. This was my first website rebuild with a web developer who I "found" at a conference. I finally got a CMS that enabled other staff members to post and update content. And there were handy shortcuts like being able to select and bold, link and italicize without having to type in HTML. A HUGE improvement to my work flow and it gave us the ability to feature our products and services better. A number of members did miss the illustrations, though. Our Home Banking made use of the illustrations, too, but we also changed online banking systems and the option to customize at that level went away. That is one of the disadvantages of using a hosted solution versus an in-house solution.

Our website today: May 2009

We had a little design tweak in March 2003 when we added Business Services, We also added "Quick Links" and our contact information on the home page. But at 7 years old, the website was due for a change and needed to take advantage of today's technology. We've added so much info and "stuff" that if the website were a pair of worn jeans; its seams would be frayed and ripped at some embarrassing places. A re-design is underway and it will debut this summer. Online Branch (our new online banking system) will launch before the new website.

And the new veritycu.com? Where's the screenshot of that?

Sorry-- I'm putting my protective parent hat on. The kid isn't ready to be seen yet. The designs have gone through usability and user experience testing. Development is well underway. I promise to haul out the brag book and show screen shots of the new site in a few weeks, as any proud parent would do.

Verity's Financials Explained by Bill

2009-05-19T21:16:00Z

We are handling the economy just fine. We are as financially sound as an institution could be and we fully expect to remain that way far into the future.

With so many banking institutions having financial difficulties during this troubled time in the economy, some of our members are probably wondering how Verity is doing. One of our members recently asked this question after reviewing our financial statements for the first quarter of 2009:

"I have been a member for over 20 years and am very concerned that Verity may under.
If you only had $486,000 at risk at Westcorp why was the loss over $2 million for the quarter? Please explain where the other losses came from.
If the Westcorp loss has been written off should Verity expect a profit next quarter?
I would rather receive less interest than have Verity invest in high risk stuff in the future."

I thought that I would take a few paragraphs and explain what is going on with credit unions, in general, and Verity, in particular.

In January of this year, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Find (NCUSIF), the fund that insures member deposits in federally-insured credit unions, took two large corporate credit unions into conservatorship, which means that two institutions financial problems were so great that they could no longer operate on their own. A corporate credit union is one that serves the needs of natural person credit unions, such as Verity. The total cost to the NCUSIF of these conservatorships was $5.9 billion. The cost had to be borne by the rest of the insured credit unions, including Verity. Our share was $2.8 million. So, although we did not have anything to do with causing the loss, we have to record our share on our books.

We recorded our cost in March of 2009. Our Income Statement for the first quarter shows a loss of $2.1 million. Before recording our share of the cost of the conservatorships, we actually had a profit of $685,000. Even after recording the loss of $2.1 million, our reserve ratio, the primary measure of our financial soundness, is in a very good position. We are considered a well-capitalized credit union even after this one time event.

This economy is tough and we have certainly being impacted by it. We have experienced loan losses greater than ever before and we believe that loan losses will be high for the next several quarters. However, we are taking whatever steps we have to take to minimize these loan losses and to offset them with greater profitability in other areas of our operations.

In summary, we are handling the economy just fine. We are as financially sound as an institution could be and we fully expect to remain that way far into the future.

Four Frequent Fees

2009-05-15T18:44:00Z

These are the four most common fees that I see on accounts and what you can do to avoid them. These are the four most common fees that I see on accounts and what you can do to avoid them. Due to the fact that they can change, I haven’t included the dollar amounts. However, you can see our full, current fee schedule here. I recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. The few extra minutes now can save the money (and the headache) later.

1. Single Service Fees

HOW IT HAPPENS: We require our members to have an account that establishes their membership with us. This is usually a Prime Share Savings account. If there are no other accounts held by a member and the average daily balance is less than $200, it incurs a quarterly Single Service Fee.

HOW TO AVOID IT: There are two ways to avoid this fee. You can keep at least $200 in the account or open an additional account. As long as there is another account in your name, there is no minimum balance on the Prime Share Savings.

2. Inactive Checking Fees

HOW IT HAPPENS: If there are no transactions on your checking account for 365 days or longer, you will be charged a monthly Inactivity Fee.

HOW TO AVOID IT: Any transaction on the account will make it active again: deposits, withdrawals, transfers, etc. You can even call us at Member Services and we can do a transfer for you. Hopefully, you’ll want to start using the account again, but this will avoid the fee for another 365 days.

3. Reg D Excess Fees

HOW IT HAPPENS: Regulation D is a federal regulation that governs withdrawals on “non-transaction accounts.” Non-transaction accounts include savings and money market accounts. You may only withdraw six times per calendar month. Each withdrawal exceeding six incurs a Reg D Excess Fee.

HOW TO AVOID IT: Regulation D has provided a few exceptions. If you do a withdrawal at an ATM, in person at a branch, or are transferring to a loan, they do not count toward the monthly limit. Be sure to stay aware of how many times you have withdrawn, and anticipate how much you’ll need from that account for the month (then you can do one lump transfer into your checking). If you’re worried about getting close, stop into a branch and see us!

4. Overdraft Fees/NSF Fees

HOW IT HAPPENS: A common misconception with these fees is that they are assessed on the ledger balance (also called the current balance.) These fees are actually charged when the available balance becomes overdrawn. The difference between the ledger and available balances is whatever is pending on an account (check holds on deposits, outstanding debit purchases, etc.) Each transaction overdrawing the available balance incurs an Overdraft or NSF fee.

HOW TO AVOID IT: There’s nothing more accurate than keeping a transaction register and balancing it with your account. However, for those times when we slip up, there are Draw Accounts. If you have another account with us, you can opt to do an automatic transfer should you overdraw your checking account. If you choose a savings or another checking account, there’s a transfer fee which is much lower than an overdraft fee and only charges per transfer, not per transaction. If you choose a Ready Money or HELOC, there is no transfer fee.

Coming Together for the Common Good

2009-05-11T17:24:00Z

This program reaches out to the over 50,000 people in the King County area that do not have a bank account. Have you ever had a rivalry with someone? I mean a good, long standing rivalry, where no matter what the person did you would be annoyed by it? Well credit unions and banks have had a pretty good rivalry going on for years. As you can imagine it takes a special issue to bring these two sides together…thank you check cashing institutions!

In September of 2008 Verity along with 21 other financial institutions started participation in the Bank on Seattle-King County program. This program reaches out to the over 50,000 people in the King County area that don't have a bank account. These individuals often need to use check cashing institutions in order to turn their paychecks into cash; paying large fees for this service. This program aims at providing a solution to those individuals, allowing them to stop paying for their money.

The Bank on website provides a great explanation on why this program is so important. Check it out by clicking here.

For more information on this program visit the Bank on Seattle-King County website, call 211 or visit your local Verity branch.

If You’ve Had Velocity, You Still Have Velocity

2009-05-06T16:22:00Z

If you’ve had a Velocity account, you still have your same account, even though we are not allowing any new members into the account.

You are now part of an exclusive club. You are “grandfathered” in to the old account.

We’ve got a new account. It’s called Cartwheel. It’s just like the old account, only the cap is lowered to $10,000.

As market rates continue to drop, we must be smart in the way we price our deposit products. A lower cap allows us to keep the rate high, but still be prudent on pricing.

So… we’ve got two Rewards Checking accounts. Those of you signed up for Velocity will notice no difference. Those of you who have not yet signed up for Cartwheel – it really is a great account. You should consider it.

Smile.

2009-05-05T13:24:00Z

A little something to make you smile on this bleak May day in a blustery economy.

This is who we are

2009-04-30T22:32:00Z

Think of credit unions as socially responsible financial institutions. This is why we are so appealing amidst the turmoil in the global economy.

I just read an article from The Raddon Report that sparked my enthusiasm. Duck and Cover, written by Bill Handel, talks about how many financial institutions are pulling back amidst the economic crisis. What’s interesting is so many institutions are not only attempting to do “more with less”, but also are turning a blind eye to opportunities. Risk aversion can only go so far when it comes to business prudence. To put it more plainly: somebody’s got to start spending money!

Consumers are changing their preferences when it comes to banking. Smaller institutions, and not-for-profit credit unions in particular, are becoming more desirable. Some of my friends who I’ve been encouraging for years to join a credit union are finally starting to see why and how we’re different. Admittedly, I feel a sense of pride that we are in no need of taxpayer bailout money. Credit unions are a cooperative, and if anything we ‘bail’ each other out.

A few credit unions are on board with catchy marketing slogans, and that’s a good thing. Perhaps a more impactful use of funds would be to engage in more services, volunteerism, and social responsibility that appeals to our philosophy. Actions such as these certainly have public appeal right now. Consider the NBC Nightly News “Making a Difference” segments each night, or Ivar’s canceling their Independence Day fireworks show to expand their support local hunger relief agency Northwest Harvest. There’s plenty of ways we can spend money, support a cause, and feel good about it.

There is indeed opportunity in all of this. Bill Handel’s article also talks about how Gen Y’ers embrace social responsibility, and expect similar values in the places where they do business. As a Gen Y’er myself, I can confirm this is true, and credit unions do an excellent job in this arena. We help members borrow responsibly because we want them to be lifelong members. We educate with ongoing events and seminars. We support our community and causes that benefit those in need. All of these things cost money, yet are not a part of our core business function. Yet at Verity, this is not a PR stunt – we do it because it’s a part of our philosophy and who we are.

By being a member of a credit union, we can all feel proud for supporting the local, cooperative, socially responsible financial services industry.

Ten Fun Facts About My Department

2009-04-29T22:22:00Z

I have come up with ten things you don't know about my department, the Member Service Center. I like statistics; I like fun facts and learning things that I wouldn’t have thought about before; and I like researching. Therefore, I have come up with ten things you don’t know about my department, the Member Service Center (MSC). This is going to feel a bit like one of those internet surveys that gets passed around various networking sites and e-mail inboxes, but I promise that at the end of it I will not request you to fill it out and pass it on.

The current staff of the MSC has 65 cumulative years at Verity.
If you take the first initials of the MSC staff (sans the supervisor and manager), the anagram comes to “Me? Talk Mecca.”
In 2008, we serviced 98,507 phone calls.
Out of the current employees at Verity, 27% do work or have worked in the MSC.
66% of us are currently enrolled in or have graduated from Verity University (an award-winning internal professional development program.)
If we stood on each other’s shoulders, we would be 71 feet tall, which is the same height as the Pentagon.
Our department opened 374 accounts in 2008.
33% of us regularly bus or carpool to work.
Of the CPR certified employees at Headquarters, 30% work in the MSC.
The department has traveled 13% of the globe, including all 50 states. You can see where we’ve traveled on this map below!