Archive for the ‘News Desk’ Category

“Top of Old Smokey”

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

When we hear the traditional American folk song “On Top of Old Smokey,” many southerners think of escaping to the Appalachian Mountains for vacation.  Splish, Splash!!  Now think of a winning a trip to the Wilderness at the Smokies Hotel and Waterpark Resort!  That’s right, refer a friend to be entered into a drawing to win this trip.  A drawing for both the referring member and the new member will be held at the end of the entry period.  For official rules and to print an entry ticket visit http://www.tvfcu.com/friends-family/   You have until June 30, 2010.  The MORE you refer…the MORE entries you get…the HIGHER your chances of winning!

TVFCU Money Machine

Friday, February 26th, 2010
Join us Saturday, March 6th from 10:00am until 2:00pm at Hamilton Place Mall.  Be sure to visit the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union MONEY MACHINE! Spend part of your Saturday learning  how to save money AND the environment!  We can all use a little more green in our lives.  Can I get an Amen?!

Try your luck in the TVFCU Money Machine!

$2,000 Video Contest!

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Theme: “Why I Love My Credit Union”

Calling all creative geniuses, video aficionados and credit union-loving students. Now is your chance to express your hidden (or not so hidden) creative talent and make some dough towards your college education.

Can life get better? We submit that it cannot! But if YOU submit a 2 minute or less video about why you love your credit union you could win big bucks to help pay for school.

Face it-

  • You want your 15 minutes of fame.
  • You want to show all your friends the mad skills you’ve developed (or plan on developing) with your video camera.
  • You want money to help you get through college.

(Here’s where we come in)

We want creative attention grabbing videos that spread the word about what’s great about TVFCU. So unleash that creative energy and get started!

Here are a few topics to get you started. Feel free to use these or come up with your own.

  • What was your first experience with TVFCU?
  • Why do you like your Student’s Choice Checking?
  • Why did you choose us?
  • What is one way TVFCU has helped you?

Here’s how it works-

  • Brainstorm the most creative, interesting and captivating way to tell what it is that you like best about TVFCU.
  • Grab your pets, your friends, your friend’s pets or whatever to add your personal style to the video.
  • Film 2 minutes or less of TVFCU-loving genius.
  • Register and upload your video (videos must be in AVI, MOV or MPEG format at a minimum 320×240 resolution) at www.tvfcu.com/scholarship/video_register.php by April 2nd, 2010 (make sure you are a member by the time you upload –you can join with a minimum $5 deposit)

There will be 2 scholarships awarded. The $2,000 grand prize will be awarded by a panel of non TVFCU judges who will be looking for creativity, originality and unique and interesting ways to convey your message.

The second $500 scholarship is based solely on people’s choice. So…

Spread the word! Send your video which will be posted at www.tvfcu.com/scholarship to your friends, family, neighbors, sister’s ex-boyfriend’s dentist, (ok you get the idea) and have them vote for your video. Plus, Facebook, Myspace, blog, text or whatever it is you do to get the word out—do it! Only votes submitted here will count.

Winners will be announced at the Annual Meeting, April 27th to be held at The Chattanooga Zoo at 6 pm as well as posted here.

Good luck and may the creative juices flow!

TVFCU Haiti Relief Fund

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union has partnered with the American Red Cross to raise funds for the Haiti Earthquake victims.  We established a special savings account to make it easy for those who decide to contribute to the Haiti Relief Fund.  The contributions go directly to Haiti through the American Red Cross.  To make a contribution, please visit us at one of our 13 branches.  Thank you so much!

Clark Howard in Chattanooga!

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Syndicated radio host Clark Howard comes to Chattanooga for a special engagement at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre on January 14, 2010 at 6pm.  Howard has been protecting the wallets and pocketbooks of regular Americans for years, and is all about helping you, the consumer, hold onto your money.  Sponsored by Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and Pulse News 95.3. For more information call Brewer Media at 265-9494

International Credit Union Day is Oct. 15th!

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

cudWe want to say “Thank you” to all of our members!  In celebration of International Credit Union Day, we are providing coloring activities for children and complimentary snacks for everyone.  Please stop by any of our 12 branches!

TVFCU Mock Robbery at our Hamilton Place Branch

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Today, Tuesday, Oct. 13th @ 6pm Do not be alarmed if you drive by and see police cars and an armed SWAT team surrounding our Hamilton Place Branch. We are joining forces with the Chattanooga Police SWAT team to conduct a mock robbery at the Hamilton Place Branch on Tuesday, October 13th at 6:00pm. The purpose of the mock robbery is to provide TVFCU staff with the tools for robbery prevention, response and aftermath training. It is also a part of the SWAT team’s official training program.

Banks pass along costs for their mistakes

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Looks like some of our friends in the banking business are passing along the costs of their increased FDIC insurance coverage to some of their customers.  According to an article from the Dow Jones News Service (July 29) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) assessed the nation’s banks $5.6 billion to restock its insurance fund after costly bank failures.   And now some of the ‘big boys’ are passing that additional cost on to some of their customers.

Dow Jones noted that JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid $675 million out of second-quarter earnings and Wells Fargo & Co. paid $565 million. “But those two banks, along with many others, are passing their FDIC bills to some business customers,” the article said.

Both banks confirmed to Dow Jones that they are passing along the FDIC fees to some business customers, including some small businesses. A Wells Fargo spokesman said the fees affect business customers that account for a very small portion of its total deposit customer base.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp said it began passing its $55 million special assessment costs along to commercial customers in March.

Other banks, such as Bank of America Corp., KeyCorp., SunTrust Banks Inc., BB&T Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp., could not verify whether they charge fees to offset the assessment.

The article said line-item details of the fees aren’t readily visible and usually are found in “account analysis” or invoice documents, not on the account’s statement. It also noted banks levy the charges in a variety of ways, including basing fees on average account balance and fixed fees that mirror a bank’s assessment costs.

Credit Union deposits are Federally insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund who, dollar for dollar, is stronger than the FDIC.  If and when any type of assessment is made to increase our insurance fund credit unions don’t pass along that cost to its membership.  And besides, since we are ‘non-profit’ consumer cooperatives we aren’t driven to make profits for stockholders.  That means we didn’t get into those risky business practices that caused the losses for the banks in the first place.

It just seems to me that since the banks are in business to make a profit for their stockholders it should be those stockholders who should pay the cost of this assessment and not the customer.  But I guess that is just one more thing that really sets credit unions apart from the ‘for profit’ banking industry.

Currents – July 2009

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Best of the Best for 2009

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

bob-44-tennesseevalleycredi_t635Last year we were completely honored to receive the Best of the Best award for the Best Credit Union. This was important to us because we were chosen by the community we serve. Our mission is to “Enhance our Member’s Lifestyles” and this award lets us know that the mission was accomplished. But the mission isn’t over. Every day and every year we strive to fulfill it again.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is doing their survey again and we would love to be your 2009 recipient for Best Credit Union and any other category you would like to nominate us for. Here is how it works.

At the bottom of this post is a link to their survey. Please follow the link and fill it out. We would love to have your vote. Not because we win a cute sign that says we’re the best, although that’s nice, but because it means we are living our mission. Thank you for your support.

http://surveys.timesfreepress.com/opinio/s?s=2455