Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues at 7.53, it's currently 6.00. And I have Katie Foley joining us here this morning, and I would say that Katie is from CFCU, but that's the actual story, is that CFCU is undergoing a name change. Katie, good morning. How are you?
Katie Foley: Good morning, Paul. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, appreciate you being here. So what is the new name, and where did the idea for the new name come from?
Katie Foley: Sure. Sure. I'll give you a little background. First I'm happy to report that we are now officially, as of July 1st, Beginnings Credit Union. And I have to tell you that this change has been sort of a strategic decision over many years. have been had at really important milestones we've had as an organization through different charter changes over the years. And we finally knew that it was time to do it. Many people don't know this, but CFCU actually has changed its name over the years since our beginnings in 1953, a few different times. We started as Cornell Federal Credit Union, later changed our charter where we were Cornell Finger Lakes Credit Union. And for the last handful of years, CFCU as CFCU Community Credit Union, the acronym actually hasn't stood for anything, which from a marketing perspective, from a member experience, from a staff experience, has actually caused us some challenges over the years. So we finally decided it was time and we worked with an organization who specializes in rebrands for financial institutions to ensure that we're suited to best serve our members and started research a couple years ago with many focus groups with members and non-members and landed on Beginnings Credit Union, which we're quite excited about.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And this name change, does this change anything for credit union members or any of the programs that the credit union offers?
Katie Foley: No, rest assured that even though our colors will change, our logo will change, we'll have sort of a fresh new look, that the organization and the people who work here are the same. There's been no merger. There's no changing of accounts or passwords. We have the same products and benefits that our members have known and loved over the years. So it's just a new, fresh look and a better way to tell our story.
Paul Szmal: Is now, you mentioned that the name change is now official, that it's Beginnings. When will we start to see that at the actual physical locations, branches, et cetera, et cetera?
Katie Foley: It's happening. It's happening already. We actually started kicking off what we call sort of our brand teaser campaign back in April where we started communicating with our members, letting them know that this was happening. We didn't just want to rip the bandaid off, but really bring members along with our story, letting them know the why and what was going to be happening. And I'm happy to share that just over the last month or so, if you walk into all of our branches, you will see the new color, the new logo. We've been working diligently for months to update a handful of our documents. So it's a seamless process for our members. And over the next month is when the exterior signs will begin to change. So it's already happening. So if you're a member, you probably already know that we're well underway here.
Paul Szmal: And you've got a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony that's coming up here in just a few days to celebrate this.
Katie Foley: We do. So next week, we're going to be at our Waterloo branch on the 23rd with the Chamber. And we're going to be hosting a handful of these over the course of the next month or so at a variety of our branches to sort of celebrate and commemorate this big milestone for us.
Paul Szmal: How many branches does Beginnings have now?
Katie Foley: Right now we have like 17 locations across our counties. So Ithaca, Cortland, Syracuse, Waterloo. Some may or may not know, but back in 2022, we merged with CORE, Federal Credit Union in Syracuse. And, you know, that was, I wouldn't say an impetus for us really doing a name change, but it certainly added to our already existing interest in thinking about a name that was more encompassing for all the members that we serve. So excited for our Syracuse members as well to join us in this celebration as we are now Beginnings.
Paul Szmal: And final question here this morning, what can we expect from Beginnings going forward? Any new programs or new ideas on the horizon? Or is it going to be a continuation of the services that you're already providing?
Katie Foley: You know, I would say it's both, Paul. I would say that our commitment to our members with the competitive rates and services that we've provided for decades will remain the same, but with continued enhancements. You know, progress and sort of transformation has always been at the core of who we are and will continue to be. So digital banking, the ability to bank anywhere with the palm of your hand, with tiles, working with third party vendors. So you have the ease of banking from anywhere will continue to be a priority for us. So stay on the lookout for some additional services through digital banking. We also just launched a sort of a competitive certificate. So I encourage both members and non-members to check out our new Beginning six-month rate as a way for us to say thank you and let folks know that we're going to continue to provide great rates and options to save. And we just kicked off something this week, which is sort of also in celebration of Beginnings called a Tell Your Friends referral program, where members and non-members alike can actually make referrals to open a checking account at Beginnings Credit Union and earn a $25 gift card. It's kind of a fun entrepreneurial program where you can refer as many as your friends as you'd like. It's easy to access online, share through social media, email, as well as word of mouth. And we're going to continue to think about how we can get to our members and serve them where they're at. And the last thing I'll mention is a big focus for us here in the near future is going to be our continued look at financial literacy, specifically for youth. So we just launched a new program called Bonsai, which has some incredible online resources, really for people of all ages. But we're excited to think about some of the youth aspects of this program and how to teach kids and families at a young age how to be smart with their money and decision making as they become adults.
Paul Szmal: Katie, thank you for the information. Congratulations on the new name of Beginnings Federal Credit Union and continued success in the future.
Katie Foley: Great. Thank you so much, Paul. I appreciate it.
