On the recommendation of several sources we selected 17 local (or regional) banks and credit unions. We asked them questions you might ask, if considering moving your money.
The following are the 9 institutions that responded and what they said:
Bank of the Cascades – Julie Miller, Executive VP and regional manager
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 2/3 in Oregon, the rest in Idaho.
2. Where is your headquarters? Bend, Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) There’s a pure and simple concept in community banking: invest in your local bank and the bank will invest in you.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? Every BOTC lender is focused on growing this segment within our markets, working with local business owners to help them achieve their objectives.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? Every BOTC lender is focused on growing this segment within our markets, working with local business owners to help them achieve their objectives.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? BOTC pays competitive interest rates on all of our savings or money market accounts, with minimums that vary by account type, but start as low as $100.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? Switch Kit – YES.
ATMs – “BOTC has ATM services at all of our free standing branches throughout Oregon and Idaho. BOTC customer pay no ATM fees for using BOTC ATMS, and are subject to normal fees charged by other banks for utilizing their ATMs. “
Bank of the Cascades
3 branches in Salem, Keizer; numerous in Oregon
503-399-7891
www.botc.com
Central Willamette Credit Union – Holly Hood, Executive Assistant/Public Relations Officer
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 100%.
2. Where is your headquarters? Albany, Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Member owned-financial cooperative .
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? As the CEO of Central Willamette Community Credit Union, I see our members every day, at the grocery store, school plays or high school football games. Our members are our friends and our families. It’s in my interest – and in my communities’ interest to treat these people as friends — day in and day out. “
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? 5. 72%.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Basic checking is free. Interest for basic saving is a tiered rate, based on account balances; starting at 0.05 through .10 Minimum is $5.00.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? Switch Kit – No.
ATMs – we own 6 ATMs and are a part of the Co-Op ATM Network which has 30,000 surcharge free ATMs across the U. S. & Canada.
ATM fee policy – $1.00 for withdrawals made at non- Co-Op ATMs.
Central Willamette Credit Union
Branches in Salem, Corvallis, Albany
503-371-4846
www.centralwcu.org
Maps Credit Union - Jill Nowacki, VP of Development
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 100% Oregon.
2. Where is your headquarters? Salem, Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) nonprofit financial cooperative.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? Maps was founded in 1935 by a group of teachers to provide a way to pool their financial resources to better themselves and their community. And we continue to live that principle today. We invest heavily in providing financial education to our community through partnerships with such local nonprofits as Marion-Polk Food Share, Polk Community Development Corporation, and Mid-Valley Prosperity Network.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? 5. 92.3%.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Basic checking – Maps offers four checking account options. 1) Free Community Checking is our signature free checking account. 2) Passport Checking is designed for members 55 and older. 3) President’s Club Checking rewards our members who maintain balances of $30,000 or greater. 4) Finally, our Dividend Option Checking offers dividends on balances greater than $750 and has a monthly service charge of $7.50.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? 6 local ATMs and a mobile app.
Maps Credit Union
Branches in Salem, Keizer, Woodburn, Monmouth, Silverton; numerous in Oregon
503-588-0181
www.mapscu.com
OSU Federal Credit Union – Mike Corwin, Asst. Vice President-Public Relations and Business Development
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 12 branches in five Oregon counties (Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion and Polk).
2. Where is your headquarters? Corvallis, Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Member-based cooperative not-for-profit.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? The basis for those advantages are “local decisions and local investment.” Decisions are more timely and informed in the needs of the local area as leadership is right here to live it everyday. The benefit of local financial institutions is also in the percentage of investment back into our communities. Just in 2012, OSU Federal’s 203 employees are on pace to volunteer more than 10,000 hours of their own time and credit union time into our communities.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? Based on loan balances in our MBL and BPL programs, 64% of our loan portfolio is in loans that have balances less than $1 Million. Based on the number of loans in the MBL and BPL programs, 96.6% of our loan portfolio have balances less than $1 Million.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Checking through OSU Federal is free other than the cost of checks, which is also free for Platinum (age 55 and over) Contact bank for savings info.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? No switch kit per se, “but we make joining and moving accounts over as easy as possible online and through our branches.” 21 ATMs in our five counties and our fee policy applies to non-members at $2 a transaction. OSU Federal members use our ATMs for free.
OSU Federal Credit Union
Branches in Dallas, Albany, Corvallis
503-623-2794
www.osufederal.com
Oregon Community Credit Union - Cherie Kistner, Marketing Manager
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 100%.
2. Where is your headquarters? Eugene, OR.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Member-Owned Cooperative
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? Like all credit unions, we are not-for-profit. We exist solely to serve our members and our communities. Each Oregon Community Credit Union member owns a share, making them an owner and the reason behind everything we do.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? N/A.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum?
Checking and savings info can be found on our website.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? We have at least one ATM at each of our 10 branch locations. All are surcharge-free to members. In addition, Oregon Community is part of a nationwide network of thousands of surcharge-free ATMs – as long as member uses one of these, they will not incur a fee.
Oregon Community Credit Union
Branch in Salem, numerous in Willamette Valley
503-588-2347
www.oregoncommunitycu.org
Umpqua Bank – Eve Callahan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 193 customer facing locations –79 (41%) in Oregon and an additional 35 in Washington for a total of 60% in the Pacific Northwest.
2. Where is your headquarters? Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) A publicly held company trading on NASDAQ (ticker is UMPQ).
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? Local community banks provide a different kind of service to their customers and their communities based on personal knowledge and relationships … Umpqua Bank is recognized as one of the country’s strongest banks … Our goal is to create a regional bank with the size, expertise and sophisticated product mix of a large organization, but deliver those services with the personal touch and genuine community engagement of a community bank.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? Approximately 60%.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Checking accounts provide customers with products that reflect how they bank.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? Yes, we offer a Switch Kit. 206 ATM locations.
Umpqua Bank
3 branches Salem, numerous in West
503-588-7424
www.umpquabank.com
Rivermark Credit Union - David Noble, VP of Marketing
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 100%.
2. Where is your headquarters? Beaverton, Oregon.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Member owned financial cooperative.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? At Rivermark, we exist solely to serve our members. We’re a not-for-profit financial cooperative that’s 100% member owned. Our profits are returned to members in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates and cutting edge technology. Rivermark was the first Oregon credit union to offer Mobile Deposit. So far, nearly 10,000 members have deposited more than 31,000 paper checks using the camera on their iPhone or Android device.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? 6%.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Free Rewards Checking earns debit card rewards points, ATM fee refunds nationwide including from other financial institutions, no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement. Savings .15% APY.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? New and existing members can open and fund (no need to drive) a new savings or checking account online in under 10-minutes. ATMs – Rivermark is part of the CO-OP ATM network. Members have access to over 30,000 surcharge free ATMs nationwide. We also participate in Shared Branching.
Rivermark Community Credit Union
8 branches; all in Oregon though none in Salem
503.626.6600
www.rivermarkcu.org
Washington Federal Savings - Cathy Cooper, Marketing Communications
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) About 17%, or 28 out of 166 branches.
2. Where is your headquarters? Seattle, WA.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Publicly owned and traded on Nasdaq under the symbol WAFD.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? Washington Federal’s tagline is ‘invested here.’ We believe that a good bank gives a community a solid foundation that allows the people in that community to build strong businesses, buy homes and invest in their financial future. As a portfolio lender, we don’t sell our loans like other banks. That gives us a long-term interest in the health of the neighborhoods we serve.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? Washington Federal is presently rolling out Community Business Banking products across all 160-plus branches of our company and anticipate this being a larger portion of our strategy moving forward.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Simple Checking account with no minimum balance or maintenance fee. Savings account can be opened with $100 ($10 for minors) and is currently paying 0.20% annual percentage yield.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? Switch Kit comes with concierge-style service. Branch staff help customers plan out the transition of electronic payments and checks back over 2-3 months to make sure the bank has everything switched over. 40 ATMs at branch offices and fee-free access to over 20,000 MoneyPass ATMs nationwide.
Washington Federal Savings
2 branches Salem; numerous throughout Oregon and the West
503-623-2361
www.washingtonfederal.com
Willamette Valley Bank - Neil Grossnicklaus, President and Chief Executive Officer
1. What percent of your branches are located in Oregon? (Or, in the Pacific NW?) 100%.
2. Where is your headquarters? Salem.
3. What is your ownership structure? (Cooperative? Private? NASDAQ/NYSE? etc) Owned by 300 local shareholders. Stock symbol is ORBN.
4. Would you care to make a statement of the advantages of people using local/regional banks/credit unions – and yours in particular? We are a local bank and lend locally. We have helped over 1,000 northwest families purchase or refinance their homes in the last year alone representing over $250 million in dollars lent.
5. What percent of your commercial loan portfolio typically goes to small businesses? 70%.
6. What are your basic fees for a checking account? What is your interest for a basic savings account, and what is the minimum? Bank says its fees are very reasonable and that it provides assistance in moving accounts to its bank; contact them for fees and rates.
7.Do you provide a Switch Kit to help folks transition over? How many ATMs and what is your ATM fee policy? 3 ATMs. Our deposits are all lent locally to northwest businesses and individuals.
Willamette Valley Bank
Branches Salem, Keizer, Albany, Silverton
503-485-2222
www.willamettevalleybank.com
