Darel Madrid, left, of Pinon Elementary School with Los Alamos Schools Credit Union CEO Matt Schmidt. Courtesy/LASCU

LASCU CEO Matt Schmidt with Los Alamos Middle School teacher Ellie Simons. Courtesy/LASCU

Pinon teacher Jodi Hughes and LASCU CEO Matt Schmidt. Courtesy/LASCU

LASCU News:

• Los Alamos Schools CU, serving area educators, innovates new way to deliver financial services to members

A local financial institution that provides financial services to educators and their families has received a 1st place national award for a “mobile branch” program that delivers the teller window directly to consumers.

Launched in August 2017, Los Alamos Schools Credit Union has established a full-service branch that travels to the schools it serves, making it easy for members to make transactions, meet with loan officers, or conduct any business that typically takes place at a branch.

For this innovative approach to providing financial services, the credit union was awarded the Louise Herring Philosophy-in-Action Award by the Credit Union National Association, the national trade association for credit unions, earlier this year. The award recognizes those credit unions that are leaders in providing service to members.

Matt Schmidt, the credit union’s CEO/President, said that the program not only seamlessly connects its members to the credit union’s traditional services, it also allows them to identify needs and fulfill their underlying mission as a not-for-profit, cooperative financial institution; to improve the financial lives of its members.

“In a time when handheld devices rule and our online social connections are vast, our real-life relationships have suffered,” Schmidt said. “We believe there is still great value in face-to-face interactions and people turn to those they trust in times of need.”

Added Schmidt: “The most rewarding aspect of the program has come many months after implementation, when school employees who were regularly silent began asking for help with their personal finances or sharing stories about a hardship they were facing.”

Los Alamos School CU calls its mobile branch a “full-service station on a tablet,” which travels to local schools three days a week. In addition to delivering high-quality service, the program allows the credit union to raise awareness of new services it offers to meet the financial needs of its members, including financial education.

“We measure our weekly visits on the connections we make, not how many transactions were performed,” Schmidt said.

The credit union also provides financial literacy classes to students of the schools, and sponsors events.

Los Alamos Schools CU, a state-chartered credit union, has served Los Alamos School employees and their families for 64 years. For more information, visit https://lascu.org.

Credit Union National Association is the national trade association serving all of America’s credit unions. It will honor Los Alamos Schools CU at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference the week of March 10 in Washington, D.C.

To learn more about credit unions, visit https://yourmoneyfurther.com.