State Employees’ Credit Union’s (SECU’s) Board of Directors recently met to review fiscal year-end results, and I am pleased to provide the membership an update on the past year.
Let’s start with a look at our financials. Earnings were higher in the last fiscal year (2025), coming in at $283 million, compared to $209 million in the previous year. While dividend expenses grew as deposit balances increased (primarily due to favorable money market and share term certificate rates), loan interest income also increased because of steady loan growth across the portfolio – a testament to the members’ trust in our lending products and attractive rates. Higher earnings were also a result of the work of SECU’s entire team to hold overall expenses lower than budgeted, being good stewards of member dollars. Asset growth was relatively flat because of SECU’s repayment of some strategic borrowings, which left us with no debt and in a good liquidity position. It is important to note that if you exclude that repayment, our asset growth was just over 9%, which is impressive for the year. But even more impressive was the number of new members we welcomed to SECU over the last fiscal year — 174,878!
What were some major accomplishments at your Credit Union in the past fiscal year? Initiatives included the implementation of a new mortgage servicing system, a first step towards bringing back a construction loan program at SECU and solidifying our long term ability to continue offering the popular fixed-rate mortgage loan product, as well as the rollout of a rewards credit cards program –by far our most requested product over the years. SECU also introduced a new interactive voice response system to complement the 24/7/365 service being provided in our Member Services Support Center (now offering chat services and voice biometric authentication) and our Lending Contact Center. Upgrades were made to numerous internal computer systems, and great progress was made in preparing for SECU’s core replacement. In terms of additional enhancements, we began the replacement of our SECU CashPoints® ATMs, the installation of digital displays in our branches, and expanded our email communications with our members. SECU’s new digital platform for Member Access and the mobile app is now in the employee pilot phase, with an anticipated launch in the first quarter of 2026.
Great work is being done by talented team members across our cooperative, all with members top of mind. Our entire SECU team understands the importance of differentiating the Credit Union from other financial institutions and we recognize that, as I often say, “our people are our secret sauce!” Our focus has always been and will continue to be on our members. We don’t seek to merge with or acquire other financial institutions, but instead we focus on relationships and organic growth. It’s what our organization has done best for the past 88 years!
That focus resonates well with members, as our latest membership survey yielded nearly 32,000 responses. Results showed a world-class Net Promoter Score of 79.5, reflecting very high member satisfaction, with more than 85% of respondents indicating they would recommend SECU to others. Net Promoter Score runs from -100 to +100, with anything above a +50 viewed as a great score! As a member-owned cooperative, our job is to listen, and we did that in the past year not only through membership surveys, but also through our Board of Directors and executive team Roadshows/MemberConnect events, and by surveying our more than 3,200 Advisory Board volunteers in our local branches. This is in addition to the consistent feedback received through our “always on” channels via our Member Services Support Center, digital platforms, and correspondence from members directly to our teams.
We are pleased to provide members the convenience of branches located in all 100 North Carolina counties (275 total), as well as digital/web services, the SECU Mobile App, nearly 1,100 CashPoints® ATMs across the state, 24/7/365 Member Services Support via phone, our Lending Contact Center, investment, brokerage, and retirement planning options via Credit Union Investment Services and SECU Brokerage Services, insurance services including life insurance products through SECU Life Insurance Company, trust and estate planning services, and SECU*RE – our property management company that maintains close to 1,900 rentals across our great state. The list of member services and benefit options goes on and on!
For SECU, it’s also important that in addition to providing benefits for our members, we also support our North Carolina communities. Our members and employees step up in big ways with school supply drives for students and teachers, holiday toy drives to benefit those in need, financial education classes for youth and adult learners, and summer camp scholarships for young members. That commitment was also evident when Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina last September. SECU branches mobilized as collection sites for needed relief items, employees donated funds to assist their fellow employees in need, members and employees volunteered countless hours (and are still volunteering), and the member-funded SECU Foundation, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, committed nearly $9 million in disaster relief grants.
The “People Helping People®” mentality of your volunteer Board of Directors and our more than 7,700 full-time and nearly 600 part-time staff, in addition to our interns and contract workers, resonates in what we do every day for over 2.9 million members of State Employees’ Credit Union. The accomplishments of fiscal year 2025 were many and we are already looking forward to what our team can achieve for our members in the year ahead. Thank you for supporting YOUR Credit Union!
