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A recent article in the Los Angeles Times reported about the financial issues that some credit unions are encountering. Telesis was not mentioned in the article, and we continue to be a safe, secure place for your money.
At the same time, Telesis has not been immune to the financial crisis that is affecting our country. As the LA Times puts it, a “credit union might not have been part of the disease, but it's dealing with the symptoms.” Many of the members and community businesses that we serve have been impacted by the economic downturn, and that in turn has impacted our business.
Here are some important facts to consider regarding our safety and soundness:
- No sub-prime lending. Telesis has never made sub-prime mortgages or any other type of sub-prime loan. Sub-prime loans are made to consumers with risky credit. Our lending standards at the Credit Union have always focused on balancing the needs of our members with making sure that we are taking a reasonable and appropriate amount of risk.
- No bad mortgages. Because of our lending standards, Telesis has avoided problems with bad mortgages (only two mortgage loans have defaulted since the start of mortgage lending over 22 years ago).
- Well-capitalized. The Credit Union is classified as “well-capitalized” by the National Credit Union Administration, or NCUA, our federal regulator. That means we have a large amount of funds set aside to help the credit union deal with downturns in the economy and other “bumps in the road.”
- Federally insured. Deposits at Telesis are federally insured up to $250,000 per account by the National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. government agency. According to deposit insurance experts, the NCUA insurance fund is the strongest and healthiest of the federal financial institution insurance funds. Plus, depending on how your accounts are structured, you may be eligible for additional coverage, potentially increasing your insured total significantly. Click here to learn more.
- Extensive resources. Telesis is in the top 5% of all credit unions in terms of assets, giving us a great deal of resources to weather the current economic downturn.
- Strong earnings. The credit union continues to have good earnings. In the short term, we’ve taken more of those earnings and put them aside to protect against potential loan losses. The LA Times calls that strategy “a prudent policy for the long run,” even though it affects short-term profitability.
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The LA Times article mentions a few web sites that assign ratings to banks and credit unions. It’s important to keep in mind that these web sites often only look at a narrow range of numbers that may not accurately reflect the overall situation at Telesis or our performance in relation to other credit unions of our size and region. As one site itself states, it uses “conservative measures when assigning these ratings and consequently the ratios will often be lower than those supplied by other analysts or the institutions themselves.”
In summary, you can rely on Telesis to be a safe, solid place for you to put your money now and in the future.
Please
contact us at (800) 895-8328 ext. 3601 Monday –
Friday 8AM to 6PM PT or on Saturday from 8AM to 2PM PT with any
questions.
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