Firstmark Credit Union

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Firstmark Credit Union

Firstmark Credit Union's Corporate Office
Type	Credit union
Industry	Financial services
Predecessor	San Antonio Teachers Credit Union
Founded	1932
Headquarters	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Key people	Donald Pinson, Chairman Nathanael Tarwasokono, President/Chief Executive Officer Mike Grundon, SVP/Chief Financial Officer Priscilla Navarro-Fox, SVP/Interim - Chief Risk Officer Gregg Thorne, SVP/Chief Alliance Officer Danny Smith, SVP/Chief Experience Officer
Products	Personal and Commercial Account Services, Checking, Credit cards, Consumer loans, Commercial loans, Home loans, Savings, Investments, Financial planning, Online banking
Total assets	US$1.1 billion [1]
Number of employees	246 [2]
Website	firstmarkcu.org

Firstmark Credit Union (formerly San Antonio Teachers Credit Union) is a federally insured, state-chartered, member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative. The credit union was founded by educators in 1932, and changed its name to Firstmark Credit Union in October 2002.^[1] Serving over 100,000 ^[2] members and managing assets of more than US $1 billion,^[3] the Credit Union is the fourth largest in San Antonio, Texas’.^[4] With eleven financial centers(including the acquisition of Southside Credit Union and St. Joseph's Credit Union), the Credit Union offers a full range of financial products and services, both personal and commercial. Firstmark Credit Union is community-chartered. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in include all counties contiguous to Bexar County and Gillespie County. Under new field of membership, Firstmark has grown full community membership from 8 counties to 21 counties; Kerr County, which is contiguous to Gillespie County, is being added as the one county where Firstmark did not previously have any field of membership included in its bylaws. These new membership qualifications make it easier for individuals in these communities to become members of Firstmark Credit Union.

Firstmark Credit Union is insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an Equal Housing Lender and a member of the Better Business Bureau.^[5]

Mergers and acquisitions[]

Southside Credit Union(2013).^[6] Southside Credit Union was chartered in 1996 and largely focused on servicing members in the southern communities of San Antonio. Firstmark Credit Union acquired Southside in November 2013 to develop and strengthen their relationships with members throughout south San Antonio. With the merger, members of these communities were able to take advantage of the expanded products and services available, technology, and larger ATM network. Firstmark also gained 3 additional financial centers through the expansion.^[7]

St.Joseph's Credit Union (2015).^[8] St. Joseph’s Credit Union was chartered in 1933 to support the catholic communities in San Antonio, Del Rio, and Fredericksburg. Firstmark acquired St. Joseph’s in 2015, expanding Firstmark’s member base and helping the credit union achieve over $1 billion in assets. The merger provided St. Joseph’s with the additional resources needed to help ensure its members had access to the recent advances in technology services, cybersecurity, a larger ATM network, and an expansion in products and services.^[9]

Membership Qualifications[]

Below are the Firstmark Member qualification requirements:

In addition to those included above, the groups below are also eligible for membership with Firstmark Credit Union:

• Employees of:
  • Concordia Lutheran School
  • Healy-Murphy Learning Center
  • Incarnate Word College
  • Keystone School
  • Our Lady of the Lake University
  • St. George Episcopal School
  • St. Luke’s Episcopal School
  • St. Mary’s University
  • Alamo Community College District
  • San Antonio Academy
  • Texas Lutheran College
  • Texas Military Institute
  • Trinity University
  • The University of San Antonio
  • Christian Heritage Schools, Inc.
  • San Antonio Christian Schools
  • Texas A&M University Extension Systems
  • Schreiner College of Kerrville, Texas

• Members of:
  • St. Cecilia’s Federal Credit Union
  • Bexar County Medical Society
  • VIA Federal Credit Union as of 1/1/94
  • Catholic Life Insurance Company
  • Catholic Credit Union, Del Rio, Texas, as of the effective date of the merger

• Members and Employees of a Catholic church in:
  • Del Rio County
  • Brackettville County
  • Rocksprings County
  • Comstock County
• Employees, retired school employees or students of public school districts, colleges or universities in Bexar County and 12 surrounding counties, including Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Guadalupe, Kendall, La Salle, McMullen, Medina, Wilson and Zavala.

All relatives of those listed above are also eligible for membership.

Community involvement[]

Credit Unions for Kids.^[10] Since 1987, Firstmark Credit Union, along with other local credit unions, have supported a fundraising program called Credit Unions for Kids (CUFK) that benefits The Children's Hospital of San Antonio in partnership with the Children's Miracle Network. Through their many years of partnership, Firstmark has donated more than $1,000,000 total to CUFK through various fundraising and community events.^[11]

SA Reads.^[12] Firstmark Credit Union is a partner of SAReads which is a project of Literacy San Antonio. Each summer, SAReads holds a citywide book drive where book banks across the city, including Firstmark branches, collect donations and then distribute the items collected to schools, learning centers and non-profits throughout the community. In addition to supporting the annual drive, Firstmark had donated a 2,000 square foot space at one of their branches to serve as an SA Reads program office and book bank.^[13]

Academic Planners. At the start of each school year, Firstmark distributes academic planners to educators and academic office staffs. The planners are distributed to school districts, parochial, private and charter schools throughout San Antonio and surrounding counties, as well as Fredericksburg. As a result of the 2020 pandemic, Firstmark held its first-ever contactless curbside event and distributed over 60,000 academic planners. ^[14]

Educator and Student Scholarships. Each year, Firstmark Credit Union awards fifteen $1,000 Frank Price and Helen Shipman Cunningham scholarships to outstanding high school seniors.^[15] In 2007, the credit union also contributed $5,000 towards the Northeast Lakeview College Scholarship Fund.^[16]

Recognition[]

Best Places To Work.^[17] Firstmark Credit Union was named a “2020 Best Places to Work” by the San Antonio Business Journal. This award is based on a survey that measures employee feedback regarding the organization’s culture and employee engagement.

Resilience in Business Awards.^[18] In 2020, the San Antonio Business Journal recognized companies who found new ways to be a positive force for their community despite the challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. Firstmark Credit Union was among those honored for the first-ever Resilience In Business Awards.

Services Provided[]

• Business Banking
• Certificate of Deposits
• Checking Accounts
• Consumer Loans (Auto, Motorcycle, Boat, Jet Ski and Mortgage)
• Credit Cards
• Educator Loans
• IRAs
• Enhanced Online Banking
• Home Lending (home equity and home improvement)
• Savings Accounts
• Auto and Real Estate Loans

Financial Centers[]

Firstmark Credit Union currently has 11 financial centers throughout the regions they serve.

References[]

See also[]

• History of credit unions