“ Selected a top choice local credit union. A review of a local credit union that has been steadily growing; and serving the incredibly scenic city of Yakima and surrounding areas for many years".
By: Allan R Kirby
Credit Unions are often considered geographically small, irrelevant and just do not have the depth and breadth of services that big banks have to succeed in today's technology driven world. Mysmallbank.com believes differently.
In fact Mysmallbank.com believes Credit Unions provide a superior customer service experience. As well as attractive products and services and provide its members competitive savings and mortgage rates. Additionally Credit Unions provide critical support to small businesses owners and the agricultural community which is often left behind by the big banks. For example, by leverage local deposits from its members, a local Credit Unions can provide loans back to local businesses and customers from the same community. A win for the entire community.
Mysmallbank.com feels compelled to find the best credit unions and community banks in order to write a small review. These reviews are to help you learn more about community banks, possibly one that's in your area that you might be interested in. In this review we are choosing the following local Credit Union:
Name: Solarity Credit Union
Location: Yakima
Headquartered: P.O. Box 2922, Yakima, WA.
Branches: 7.
Year Established: 2011.
History:
In October 2011, Solarity Credit Union was created but don't' let the short period of time fool you. Solarity CU was created as a result of a merger between Yakima Valley Credit Union and Catholic Credit Union. Both had a long history of providing banking services to its membership in the Yakima community and surrounding areas.
Just before the 2011 merger; the two credit unions were Yakima Valley Credit Union which had approximately $287 million in assets along with five branches and 30,380 members. the other credit union was Catholic Credit Union had $185 million in assets, three branches and 18,000 members. When combined the newly formed Solarity CU had $472 million in assets, eight branches and nearly 50,000 members. Source
At the time of the merger a decision was made to change the newly formed credit union to Solarity. One reason for this was because both credit union names were considered at the time to be too restrictive and too focused. Secondly as stated by Mina Worthington, President/CEO of Solarity, the new name was designed to "represents energy; the liveliness of our people and the vigor that we put into the communities that we serve.” Source
Today Solarity Credit Union has grown its assets by over 50% since 2011 from $472 million to over $719 million, additionally membership has grown to almost 60,000 members. ibanknet Clearly Solarity Credit Union has become the choice of many new customers in the areas they serve.
Solarity Credit Union is located in Yakima and surrounding area, an incredibly scenic region of the United States. Although I have have not specifically visited Yakima, I have visited areas a little more north. I can attest this is an beautiful and safe part of the country to live and work.
“Yakima is located in the Yakima Valley, a productive agricultural region noted for apple, wine, and even hop production". The name Yakima originates from the Yakama Nation Native American tribe".
Finally we found that Solarity Credit Union is federally insured credit union through NCUA (Note 1).
Reviews:
Mysmallbank.com did take the time to read reviews on Solarity knowing that reviews only provide a partial picture of the Credit Union. What we mean by this is that reviews do not always reflect the true banking experience you will receive at one of their branches.
Solarity is one of those credit unions I love to review because it was very difficult to find bad reviews from either customers or staff working at this credit union. In fact checking a number of social media and review sites it was clearly evident that overall; customers love this credit union. Secondly looking at employee reviews working at the credit union seemed to be relatively high. This proves that Solarity has a great working environment and we all know that good working environment reflect well with the members experience. Additionally it was incredible to see Solarity Credit Union employees donate over $13K to Habitat for Humanity, it was great to see employees being socially responsible.
I also found a recent news article where Solarity Credit Union in Yakima has created an internet/social media campaign to support small businesses in the community. The theme is "Don't Roam, Support From Home." Solarity officials want people to continue to support local businesses by eating at local restaurants and posting the information on social media. news break. These two examples clearly shows Solarity is socially responsible and endeavors to give back to the communities they serve. Finally I do like the youtube videos Solarity has made for spanish speaking customers. Including and helping other segments of Solarity's membership again shows Solarity is looking out for all members of the credit union.
Given the customer and employee reviews along with their social responsibility we are giving Solarity a designation of Top Choice Credit Union. Currently Solarity is the only credit union to be given this distinction from mysmallbank.com. (Note 2) So if you're looking for a great community based credit union and you live or plan to live in the areas Solarity Credit Union serves, this could be a great financial institution for you.
The following provides additional information on Solarity's Credit Union's services, branches as well as fees.
Services Offered:
Full Service Credit Union: Yes
Banking: Checking/Savings.
Investing: Real Estate Investment Loans
Credit Union Loans: Mortgage, Auto and Home Equity loans.
Credit Card: Visa.
Small Business: Business banking available.
Safe Deposit boxes: No
Routing Number: 325183796
Credit Union Online
Online and Mobile Banking: Yes
Solarity CU Branch Locations:
North Fifth Avenue 110 N. 5th Ave., Yakima, WA Get Directions Drive-up only. Lobby by appointment only.
Nob Hill Engagement Center 2412 W. Nob Hill Blvd. Ste 100, Yakima, WA Get Directions ATM Vestibule only.
Westside 122 North 50th Avenue, Yakima, WA Get Directions Drive-up only. Lobby by appointment only.
Terrace Heights 171 Iron Horse Ct, Yakima, WA Get Directions This location is a drive-up only.
Selah 703 N Park Centre, Selah, WA Get Directions Drive-up only. Lobby is temporarily closed.
Toppenish 308 Washington Ave., Toppenish, WA Get Directions Drive-up only. Lobby is temporarily closed.
Ellensburg 900 South Ruby Street #A Ellensburg, WA Get Directions Drive-up only. Lobby is temporarily closed
Fee Schedule:
Yes: Click Here
Learn more:
Contact Number:
Toll-Free: 1-(800) 347-9222
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 2922, Yakima,
WA 98907-2922, USA
Solarity Credit Union on Youtube
Notes:
1. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions. NCUA's standard maximum share insurance amount at $250,000.00.
2. Periodically Mysmallbank.com will name a credit union as a top choice (Top credit union) based on a number of criteria such as customer and employee reviews, complaints, satisfaction, growth, locations, brand and social responsibility. We only select the best credit unions, so they must meet minimum standards of excellences (Excellent Choice) in order to be reviewed by Mysmallbank.com
In Review is a segment of the MySmallBank.com blog written by Allan R Kirby, who writes and produces Personal Finance articles and videos along with My Success Magazine.
Disclosure: mysmallbank.com nor the author received any compensation from the mentioned credit union for this article. The article is our opinion only and is written to help readers learn more about local credit unions near them. Every credit union we review is notified via email at the time of publication.
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