A merger of credit unions will provide expanded hours, more services and better access to customers of Huntington Schools Federal Credit Union.
The credit union, located at 621 Cherry St., merged on March 1 with Partners 1st Federal Credit Union based in Fort Wayne.
Partners 1st has more than $255 million in assets and serves more than 27,000 members nationwide from 28 branch office locations. The merger was approved by Huntington Schools Federal Credit Union members in January.
Beth Blocker, who managed the Huntington Schools FCU, will remain as the manager of the Partners 1st location. Jennifer Felone is assistant manager.
Blocker says the changeover from a small to a larger credit union will benefit customers in several ways.
"The lobby and the drive-through can be open more, and we've added a couple of part-time tellers," she says. "It will just be better for our membership."
New services that will be available include home mortgage equity loans, a variety of savings accounts that earn more money and CDs, which were not available before, Blocker says.
In addition, customers can take advantage of what she describes as "shared branching" - allowing banking to be done at affiliate branches nationwide.
"If you're on vacation or something like that, there are credit unions all over the country that you can go to and transact business," Blocker explains. "That would be a perk, if you're down in Florida and you need to do some business or need to make a withdrawal. You can just go into a shared branch and they can conduct the business for you."
Teachers Credit Union, at 313 W. Northpoint Ave. on Huntington's north side, is one of the shared branches that Partners 1st customers can use to make deposits and withdrawals, cash checks, transfer funds and make loan payments.
New hours of Partners 1st are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lobby and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the drive-through window; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon for both and lobby and drive-through service. The branch can also be reached at the same phone number, 356-4456.
Complete caption: With the new sign in the background, employees of the former Huntington Schools Credit Union are now serving customers as Partners 1st Federal Credit Union, which will remain in the same location at 621 Cherry St. in Huntington. The credit unions merged effective March 1. Pictured (from left to right) are Bernie Hammel, customer service teller; Caitlyn Shrock, customer service teller; Kelsey Knight, customer service teller; Jennifer Felone, assistant manager; and Beth Blocker, manager.