Happy New Year! While many of you have surely made resolutions and set goals for the coming year, our resolution for 2015 remains the same as ever – provide our members and local community with Financial Wellness.

Before we jump ahead though, let’s take a look at 2014 where there was much to celebrate. Net worth continued its positive momentum, and delinquencies were reduced to pre-recession levels (thanks, members!). We reintroduced our ITIN lending program, allowing us to provide needed financing to those with non-traditional identification. We unveiled Mobile Deposit, allowing you to deposit checks wherever, whenever using your smartphone. And, we became a community charter and launched our social media platforms, including our Community Impact Map (see it for yourself at www.facebook.com/pointwest).

2015 is shaping up to be another busy and productive year. In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out some fantastic initiatives, including our Business VISA credit card, giving our business members additional purchasing power with a low rate and access to ScoreCard Rewards, and LoansPQ, our online loan application platform that will make it quicker and easier for you to apply and receive approval for Point West loans.

And that’s just the first quarter! We’re also working behind the scenes to improve business continuity, network integrity and data security. Collaborating with our strategic business partners, we’re creating the infrastructure necessary to carry Point West into the future.

Later this year, we’ll bring you ExpressAccounts, allowing you to sign up for new accounts and services online. We’ll also begin implementing EMV payment cards (a.k.a. “chip cards,” the newest in security for credit/debit cards) toward the end of 2015, ensuring compliance with the latest payment platforms and reducing fraud worries for both you and the credit union.

Finally, we continue to ramp up our community development and outreach. As a CDFI Certified credit union, serving underserved communities and businesses is at the core of our mission. Together with our strategic community partners, we’ll seek new opportunities and build lasting relationships to improve Financial Wellness for all.

We truly believe the best is yet to come. Together, we will continue to prove that the not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative model is the BEST model for all financial institutions. Thank you for your continued support and membership here at Point West – here’s to a great 2015 and beyond.

Cooperatively,

Amy Nelson, President/CEO