4 min read June 2023 — Vince Market, executive vice president and CFO of TruMark Financial Credit Union, talked to Invest: about the banking sector in Philadelphia and how TruMark Financial is working to offer a diverse mortgage portfolio to help its members navigate the region’s housing market. “We take our fiduciary responsibility very seriously,” he said.
What are the most important milestones that TruMark Financial Credit Union reached in the last year?
As the local economy came out of the pandemic, we were in a strong financial position. We were able to pivot a large percentage of our workforce to remote work during COVID and have successfully employed a hybrid workforce, post-pandemic. Philadelphia has also been performing well considering the current high interest rates. We have been in Southeast Pennsylvania since 1939, so we are knowledgeable about this area and we have been doing a lot of activities in this marketplace.
How would you describe the state of the banking sector in Philadelphia and what trends are you looking out for?
The banking environment in Philadelphia is highly competitive. It is dominated by several large financial institutions but there are also many regional and small institutions competing for a tight segment of that marketplace. A banking crisis consumed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, but those were unique situations. The issues impacting those financial institutions were not impactful issues for us as a credit union. That has made our members feel safe about us as a credit union and about financial institutions in the Philadelphia marketplace in general.
What is TruMark Financial Credit Union’s strategy to ensure the safety of its members’ funds and provide sound financial services?
We have always been a fiscally conservative organization. We take our fiduciary responsibility of safeguarding our members’ deposits very seriously. Additionally, from a regulatory standpoint, credit unions are required to maintain higher levels of capital compared to other types of financial institutions, so we are well-capitalized. TruMark Financial represents the financial needs of over 130,000 members, which has a major impact on the local community. We treasure the confidence and loyalty of our members by running a sound financial organization. We are not a risky type of organization and we keep a conservative posture regarding our financials.
What is the strategy of TruMark Financial to navigate these uncertain economic times?
One of the bigger challenges that our members are facing is the housing market in Philadelphia. Higher interest rates have crimped the mortgage market for a lot of our members, which also impacts them from an affordability standpoint. Additionally, there is a tight housing inventory in Philadelphia, which presents its own challenges. In lieu of this situation, we make our mortgages economical for our members and try to provide as much guidance as we can to help them find properties they can work with.
It is nevertheless challenging from an affordability standpoint because some members that were borrowing at a 3% rate are now paying at a 7% rate. Additionally, rising housing prices and rapidly changing mortgage payment rates often mean high monthly payments. We help our members by offering a full suite of mortgage products for affordability, including adjustable-rate mortgages that are more economical and fixed-rate mortgages. Additionally, our members appreciate the fact that the mortgage is serviced at our headquarters as we do not rely on third parties to evaluate loan applications. We also do not sell mortgages to other service providers, which keeps things local.
What technologies is TruMark Financial adopting to better service its members?
Last year, we converted our digital platform. We broke through the $3 billion asset mark and we converted to a digital banking platform that makes more controls and more products and services available to our members. The velocity of change in the digital era is higher. We have noticed that members are now able to do things more quickly and to manage multiple banking relationships digitally, so we must adapt to that as a financial institution. We must be mindful that members can make choices very quickly, move money and move relationships.
We are constantly looking for things to improve, especially on the digital side, but it is important that we offer a personal touch. We have 26 branch offices in our community and many members visit them, so we are using both digital and in-person to service our members and we do not see that going away anytime soon.
What strategies is TruMark Financial implementing to give back to the Philadelphia community?
We are big on financial literacy. We are actively engaged with local schools and higher education institutions to teach financial literacy. We recently had an event at LaSalle University called Financial Reality Fair in which about 200 students participated. We have students go through a simulation in which they get a fictitious job with a salary and they must go through phases, such as renting a property, buying a car and getting health insurance or life insurance. The students need to budget what their financial profile will be. We have noticed that youths are generally uninformed and unprepared for the financial situations that they will face upon graduating. Students often dramatically underestimate their housing expenses, the cost of credit and even how much it costs to have a pet.
What is your outlook for TruMark Financial and for the financial industry in the Philadelphia region?
The economic pendulum does not swing too widely in Philadelphia. We have a diverse economic base but pharmaceutical companies and educational institutions are what stand out in this region. In other words, “eds” and “meds” is what we are all about in Philadelphia. This is important because, while the national economy could be going into a recession, our members are still borrowing and buying things. Of course, we have seen a slowdown but nothing unusual for a credit union. I am comfortable about where we are economically. Even if we have a pronounced recession, I do not think we would take a hard hit and am not concerned about significant job losses. We have great infrastructure and a lot of things to offer as well as solid financial institutions that are ready to help stimulate growth.
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