The relief effort by credit unions to aid victims of the Japanese disaster continued this week with Western Bridge Corporate waiving international wire fees for CUs acting on behalf of their members.
“Effective immediately and until the end of May, we will not assess the standard $10 WAVE fee or $62.50 per wire for call-in,” wrote Philip R. Perkins, president/CEO, in a notice distributed to members.
A spokesman for NCUA said the humanitarian gesture by Western Bridge was approved “subject to certain conditions.”
Perkins, in his operational advisory, acknowledged that the waiver is “not much but is supportive of members who have or will waive such fees for their own members.”
And he added, “If any of you have further ideas of anything else Western Bridge can do to provide assistance to the people of Japan or natural person credit unions doing the same, my phone lines are open.”
Meanwhile, the $1.1 billion Hawaii USA FCU in Honolulu said it will start this weekend a formal donation program to benefit the American Red Cross relief effort by setting up drop boxes in all 11 branches on Oahu and Maui.
“Additionally, the credit union is matching employee donations dollar per dollar, up to $2,500,” said Brenda Ito, marketing director, adding that “According to Lisa Chun, assistant vice president community and business development, the current total donation amount is upwards of $6,000.”
