Katie BaileyIn a recent feature in Virginia Business, Samantha Beeler, President of The League of Credit Unions & Affiliates, discusses how credit unions like Chartway Credit Union are expanding their branch presence to meet member needs and stay ahead in the evolving financial landscape.
Samantha shares her perspective on credit unions’ commitment to serving their communities and how profits are reinvested to benefit members, not shareholders. Her leadership within The League continues to shape the future of credit unions on the East Coast.
Excerpt from the Article:
Credit unions also have reasons behind opening new branches and keeping others open. Virginia Beach headquartered Chartway Credit Union is one of the state’s largest credit unions, with more than 230,000 members in Texas, Utah and Virginia and $2.7 billion in total assets. In December 2024, Chartway opened a new branch office in Norfolk, and was set to open another location in Virginia Beach in January.
“Chartway’s branch philosophy is pretty similar to other credit unions”, says Samantha Beeler, President of The League, which the Virginia Credit Union League joined in November 2024. “West Coast credit unions sometimes close branches, but that trend has not taken off on the East Coast,” she says.
“How we use our profits might mean instead of us giving a greater return to shareholders,” as commercial banks would do, “our motivation is to give [profits] back to the members,” Beeler says. “It might mean the members say, ‘Hey, we need new technology, or we need more access on XYZ corridor,’ and we’re finding a pretty big trend of abandoned bank branches that we can buy up.”
“Self-service kiosks are popular with members, but so are ATMs and in-person conversations,” Beeler says, requiring an expansive approach. “There’s still demand for all of it. We’re still adding branches.”
For more details, read the full article in Virginia Business.
