Spotlight On: Laura King, President, Georgia United Credit Union
September 2024 — In an interview with Focus:, Laura King, president of Georgia United Credit Union, talked about the organization’s achievements amid industry turbulence, emphasizing a commitment to staff upscaling and community investment. King advocates for financial education and upskilling initiatives to empower members, with future goals centered on deepening member relationships and enhancing products to align with community needs.
What have been some major achievements for the credit union over the last year?
This past year has been quite the roller coaster with inflation, high interest rates, and changes we haven’t seen in decades, causing a scramble for all financial organizations. For us, we were already in the middle of major improvements, like our branch transformation project. We updated the look and feel of every branch, added new technology, and cross-trained our team members. This allows them to focus more on our members, provide personalized financial guidance, and use technology for daily transactions. We’re excited about rolling this out, but it’s a lot to handle at once with all the renovations, new technology, and training. One thing we’re particularly thrilled about is upscaling our team members and raising the average baseline salary to $20 an hour.
From a credit union perspective, we offer a robust range of employee benefits that many other organizations do not offer. No matter what, we’re always investing in our team members and the community. We take that very seriously here at Georgia United, which is why we don’t call our clients “customers” – we call them “members.” We believe in being good stewards of their money, keeping our members in mind as we design products and services, and constantly finding ways to give back to our local communities.
We started as an educators’ credit union for teachers and have always focused on financial education. We’ve developed strong partnerships with local businesses, non-profits, and school systems, and we offer free webinars to anyone interested. One of our proudest initiatives is “School Crashers,” where we go to schools in need and help them get the amenities and facilities they need to thrive. It’s all about making a positive impact in our community.
What opportunities do you see from your merger with North Main Credit Union last year?
We excel in serving our rural markets. We’ve noticed that many credit union leaders are retiring or considering it, supported by stats from The Wall Street Journal showing that the number of people turning 65 in the next few years will be the highest in history. With these retirements come succession planning challenges. When the CEO of North Main Credit Union was ready to retire, we had a conversation about our goals and how we could better serve their members and the local community. We realized we could offer more products and services together, increase awareness in the Cornelia market, and provide a solution to their succession planning challenges.
We’ve recently ramped up our efforts to engage in what we call “digging deeper,” which means extending our services to those in greatest need, often in overlooked communities. For example, a member was recently turned down for a credit card, so we reached out to learn more. It turned out he had inherited a home in great disrepair and had maxed out his credit cards trying to refurbish it, leading to overwhelming debt. We explained the benefits of a personal loan, which allowed him to pay off his high-interest debt, restore the property, and eventually sell it. By taking the time to connect with him and understand his needs and goals, we were able to provide financial guidance that saved him significant costs. These are the kinds of stories that highlight how Georgia United stands out in the industry.
What technologies have been incorporated into your ways of working?
We’ve rolled out our ATM+ technology, which are personal interactive teller machines (ITMs), at all our locations, both inside and outside. They’re great for our drive-thrus and walk-ups because they give members 24/7 access to transactions that used to be limited to business hours, like withdrawing cash in different denominations. Inside the branch, ATM+ has freed up our team members to focus on more complex transactions and have quality discussions about our products, services, and solutions. The live-assist feature is also handy for tasks like choosing specific bills and denominations, which ultimately frees up our staff to have in-depth conversations with members who want to open new accounts or need financial counseling.
We’re also using AI in various departments, like drafting job descriptions and marketing, and investing in new software to improve how we handle applications and new memberships. Fraud is a big issue in the financial industry, and we want to provide better solutions for identifying it. We’re facing an unbelievable amount of fraud, including “friendly fraud” from our own members, so we’ve had to invest in new software and change how we look at applications and accounts.
Elder abuse is another serious issue. Many of our elderly members are being convinced to empty their accounts, and they come to us for help. We can only absorb so much of the losses, so we’re really trying to take care of that at-risk population. We’ve also seen a rise in synthetic IDs, fake payroll stubs, and instructional videos on YouTube and TikTok teaching people how to commit fraud. In one week alone, we stopped $300,000 in fraudulent bank loans.
To tackle these issues, we’ve created an internal task force focused on fraud and a digital committee that invites active online and mobile banking members to our corporate office for feedback. We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to protect the credit union and our members, provide valuable products and services, and automate repetitive tasks so our team can focus on what really matters.
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How are economic challenges impacting your operations and members?
Fortunately, we’ve built strong financials to be prepared for rainy days. We’ve done the work and are ready, but like everyone else, we set a budget expecting the Fed to cut interest rates six or seven times this year. Now, with all the uncertainty around when the Fed will lower rates, we’re not sure what’s coming next. Thankfully, all credit unions, including ours, focus on maintaining safe financials. Because of our excellent capital and liquidity, we can absorb some of those expenses and navigate this uncertainty more confidently.
How are you attracting and retaining great talent?
We’ve embraced a great work/life balance for our team members. Many of our non-member-facing or back-office positions are hybrid, with a few workdays in the office for collaboration and the rest at home. We also have some fully remote team members in addition to the in-person staff at our branches.
Every year, we conduct anonymous surveys to ask our team how we can improve. We review those results and implement changes. Based on feedback from our Q4 2023 survey, we’ve launched a new health and wellness platform where team members can engage in group challenges. We believe it’s important to act on the feedback we receive to make continuous improvements.
One of my favorite initiatives is giving each full-time team member three paid days to give back to the community. One day is for Georgia United Foundation’s School Crashers program, another for volunteering with Junior Achievement of Georgia, and the third for any 501(c)(3) organization of their choice.
We’ve also made good use of our extra office space by partnering with a local charity that serves minority communities. This partnership has been a great way to utilize our resources and support our community.
What advice would you give to members looking to improve their financial health and reach financial goals?
Georgia United started as a teachers’ credit union, and as we’ve transitioned to a community credit union—where membership is based on where you live, work, and play, not just where you work—we’ve made sure to keep that teachers’ mindset.
We believe financial education is incredibly important, which is why we’ve partnered with Junior Achievement of Georgia (JA) in all six of their statewide locations. We’re one of only two organizations to make this commitment. Students learn about starting a business, how an economy works, budgeting, and more in the classroom. Then, they spend a day at a Junior Achievement location putting their knowledge to work. Our goal is to reach as many middle school students as possible, sharing the power of early financial education to help set them up for success as young adults.
For those looking to improve their finances or who have questions about mortgages or credit scores, we offer free in-person seminars and digital webinars on various topics. Recently, we hosted a webinar on managing debt and setting up budgeting tools. We also have a learning center on our website with articles, financial calculators, personal finance manager tools in online banking, and educational videos on YouTube. Plus, our team members receive ongoing training to better support our members’ individual needs.
I can’t stress this enough: our in-branch team members haven’t been replaced by technology. Instead, they now have more time to spend with our members, listening to their needs and suggesting ways to improve their finances and achieve their goals. Part of their training includes learning to do financial consultations, offering honest advice that may not even involve our services. Individualized and personal service is another way Georgia United is making a difference and standing out.
What are your major goals for the next two to three years?
We’ve gone through major changes with our branch transformation initiative, so our next step is to see what the economy brings and ensure stability for the organization. We’re focused on going deeper to help our members and the local community by understanding where they are in their personal journeys and how we can contribute.
We invest a lot in the communities across the state. This cycle, we’re evaluating all of our products and services, doing a deep dive into the ones most used, and finding ways to enhance them and drive value for our members. Right now, our transaction accounts are a big focus for us.
Georgia United’s core values—Shared Strength, Embrace Change, Responsibility, Value, and Empower—spell out the word SERVE. Our mission is to serve, and our purpose is to enrich lives. We take these words seriously and strive to walk the walk. Each year, every team member gets a culture guide that reminds us of who we are and what we’re trying to accomplish. We also schedule quarterly “SERVE sessions” where our entire team joins a remote call to hear about organizational updates and connect. These sessions help us discuss goals, get feedback, and find ways to improve.
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