Navy Federal Credit Union  NFCU Opening Two Branches In Colorado Springs By The End Of 2009 ( nfcu.org )

Navy Federal Credit Union ( nfcu.org ), the largest credit union of the United States is making its way to the opening two branches at Colorado Springs by the end of 2009 with the aim of serving all military personnel including Air Force and Army. Jennifer Sadler, the spokeswoman for this credit union based in Virginia has referred this plan as an extension to its May 22 expansion plans.

As per Cutler Dawson, the president of this Virginia- based credit union; this membership would be made available to all military personnel, both former as well as current because all branches of the armed forces share the same resources and use the same commissaries, exchanges and medical facilities.

Of the two branches, one would be opened at 1139 Space Center Drive just outside Peterson Air Force Base and the other at 1265 Kelly Johnson Blvd. which is much nearer to the southern entrance of the Air Force Academy. The choice of these locations was due to the fact that majority of the army and air- force personnel were located in and around these areas. In fact, the credit union targets to get close to 80- 90 percent of its members by means of its branches within the coming six years.

At present, there are 150 branches of Navy Federal in 24 states and 10 other countries. But plans are underway to increase the number of branches to 180. The credit union that was opened in 1933 with just seven members consists of 3.07 million members at present with 6000 members already residing in the Springs area. The credit union expects that this number would increase in the next few years.

This move of Navy Federal Credit Union ( nfcu.org ) to expand branches in the Colorado Springs has brought it in direct competition with Ent Federal Credit Union which is the largest financial institution of South Colorado and with Security Service Federal Credit Union that serves a large number of military members. As per Larry Martin of Bank Strategies LLC, a bank consulting firm based at Denver, Ent would face its biggest challenge with this move of Navy Federal.

The reason why the military personnel would choose credit unions above banks is that these unions are owned by the members and are exempt from certain taxes which permit the unions to pay high interest on deposits and offer low- cost loans.
www.navyfcu.org
www.nfcu.org

These 2 websites are the same ( both navfcu.org and nfcu.org )