Joyce Moed | News Samples

The New Eastside Financial Center

By Joyce Moed, Reporter

ST. Paul. Minn.–After two years of planning, St. Paul’s historic Old Swedish Bank Building will once again become a financial institution.

This week, the new Eastside Financial Center will open its doors there, with plans to offer a combination of affordable financial products along with financial education and counseling programs.

The Center is the result of an alliance among US Federal Credit Union, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The center will combine credit union products–such as checking and savings accounts, consumer loans and mortgage services–with financial education programs, debt and credit counseling services in addition to offering and hosting individual development accounts (a matched savings program).

While the Center is designed to meet the financial needs of all East Side residents, special attention has been given to include services and programs for the underserved, said Bill Raker, president/CEO of US FCU.

“We are going to be competition for the payday lender down the street,” Raker said.

US FCU will be operating a branch within the Center, offering its usual products, in addition to specific services designed to meet the needs of the local neighborhood. These include: check cashing, bill payment, remittance services, and access to a short-term emergency loan product. The staff will consist of a branch manager, two full-time tellers, one part-time teller, and a financial services representative. It is expected that the branch will attract new members, in addition to a small percentage of already established members. One of the employees is transferring from another one of the CU’s branches, while the rest are new hires, as Raker explained bilingual employees were needed for the St. Paul branch in order to serve the diverse community there.
Lutheran Social Service will serve as the Center’s managing partner, responsible for overall planning, staff and operations of the Center’s financial education, counseling and mentoring programs.

Thrivent Financial–which is a funding partner but will not be playing a role in the operation of the business–has contributed more than $2.1 million to fund various start-up and operational costs, in addition to committing funds for the Center’s individual development account program. Also, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved a $470,588 grant to match the private funding committed to the IDA program by Thrivent Financial.

“We have looked at this Old Swedish Bank building on our own,” Raker said. “This building was constructed in the 1920s, and later was converted into offices. It has sat as an abandoned building for the past six years.”

US FCU and Lutheran Social Services will share a receptionist and conference room. The credit union will refer people to Lutheran Social Services for financial counseling
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“In many ways, we’ll be working together. Lutheran is providing the learning part of it, and credit repair and financial repair,” Raker said.

The Center’s IDA program–known as the Payne-Phalen Saves 3:1 program–will enable low- to moderate-income individuals to have their savings matched on a three-to-one basis. Every dollar–up to a maximum of $1,333–will be matched with $3 from Thrivent Financial and the Federal Government to be used for a first-home purchase, small business development or financing a post-secondary education, up to a combined total of $5,333. Participants can remain in the program from six to 24 months, and will be required to take a financial education course.

The area is underserved, Raker said, and is currently going through revitalization. There is a bus stop in front of the building, which should make it more convenient for people to visit the CU, Raker said.

The Center marks the 12th retail location for the 71,000-member credit union, and the first in the city of St. Paul. The credit union has various activities planned to let people know of its new location, Raker said, including meetings with small business in the community. US FCU has $742 million in assets.

“We wanted to be in that community,” Raker said. “We wanted to leave our footprint there.”