In 1949, seven employees at the National Advisory Council forAeronautics formed a credit union. The agency was destined tobecome the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958,on the cusp of a time period when the space race with the SovietUnion was to end with a man on the moon.

NASA has seen budgets grow and shrink, personnel hired and laidoff, and its efforts sometimes viewed as awe-inspiring, other timesas a yawner. Through the decades, the credit union, now known asNASA Federal Credit Union, has kept pace with member needs.

While the membership covers people in a range of jobs, includingthose in more than 900 SEGs, many are highly educated engineers andscientists and so are members of the majority of more than 900 SEGson the NASA Federal roster.

The SEG list includes the American Association for theAdvancement of Science, American Astronautical Society, AmericanAstronomical Society, American Geophysical Union, ConsumerElectronics Association, Mathematical Association of America, MoonSociety, National Space Society and Women in Aerospace.

There are also SEGs for people who didn't necessarily excel inscience, such as the Montgomery County Road Runners Club and theBusiness Forum for HR Professionals. Then there's always theAmerican Consumer Council. Join that consumer education andawareness group, and you qualify for NASA Federal membership.

Even with a solid membership base, tough economic times meantsome members recently found money tight. The business model forchecking accounts was challenged. So last fall, the credit unionlaunched an EarlyAccess Payroll option as part of a new premierchecking program.

In announcing the program, President/CEO Doug Allman explained,“We developed EarlyAccess as an innovative way to provide NASAFederal members greater control of, and access to, their moneyduring these challenging economic times. One day or more can make abig difference to those on tight budgets and facing financialchallenges.”

In July 2011, NASA Federal took another step to help memberscope with the shifting economy. With the threat of a governmentdebt default and delayed federal government payments, the creditunion announced a short-term loan program. If government paycheckswere delayed, members could apply for a Paycheck and FurloughRelief Loan. The offer was extended to cover members depending ongovernment payments such as Social Security. Fortunately, at thelast minute Congress avoided the crisis.

Another move by the CU last year attracted mention in The WallStreet Journal. The credit union introduced a 100% loan-to-valuemortgage with no private mortgage insurance. The program was billedas a limited-time-only offer, but is still available.

Allman commented, “Changing times call for innovative andflexible mortgage products. For a limited time, consumers can getadditional flexibility and affordability with our two uniquemortgages not readily available through other home lenders.”

The 100% LTV mortgage allows consumers to purchase a primaryresidence costing up to $650,000 with no down payment. Members arealso offered refinancing up to $650,000 or 95% of the home's value,again with no private mortgage insurance.

NASA Federal has been active in commercial lending, offeringcommercial real estate loans over $1 million with variable andfixed rates. Loans are available for first and second mortgages oninvestment property, as well as property for constructiondevelopment. For loans over $1 million, NASA Federal works withPotomac Business Services CUSO.

Allman said business lending has been growing, backed by astrong commercial real estate market. Overall, Allman indicated theimpact of federal belt-tightening in Washington has been relativelymodest on NASA employees in that area, putting them in a betterposition than residents of other localities.

Even so, with a wary eye on the economy, members have beenseeking investment advice through NASA Federal. Pension plans andretirement expectations are challenged, resulting in what Allmandescribes as “very good growth” in the credit union's investmentservices.

He expects to see technology continue to impact credit unions.That ever-changing technology, coupled with regulatory changes,will affect the overall dynamics of financial services. Heconsiders NASA Federal a leader in its market area, with membersexpecting the credit union to be on top of the latest on-lineservices. Member feedback helps guide that effort.

For example, NASA Federal has already introduced version 1.2 ofits mobile remote- deposit program that added iPod Touch 4Gsupport, enhanced image usability and reports on deposits held forreview. A member simply snaps a photo of the back and front of acheck on their iPhone, then downloads it to their credit unionaccount.

Like other credit unions, NASA Federal faces the challenge ofkeeping up with constant regulatory changes. One example isenhanced requirements for protecting member data. So as part of abackup system from Evault, the credit union data is encrypted whileat the server site, while in transit during the backup and while atrest in the storage vault. Backup and restore operations must beauthorized and authenticated before data transfer can begin, andthose backups and restores are carefully tracked and logged.

Allman can trace his credit union background back to his collegedays, when he worked for a credit union during the summer. Heearned his B.S. in accounting from the University of NorthCarolina, an M.B.A. from George Washington University and is aCPA.

In 1992, when he was 33 years old, he became president/CEO ofNASA Federal.

Immediately prior to that, he was chief financial officer atDepartment of Justice FCU. With two children, 11 and 17 years old,and membership on a list of boards that includes Co-Op FinancialServices, the Credit Union Mortgage Association, Allman's sparetime is pretty much spent on family activities. 

ABOUT NASA FCU

• Assets: $1.16 billion
• Members : 79,642
• Primary sponsor and SEGs: NASA and 900 others
• Branches: 12
• Capital-to-asset ratio: 10.05%
• Loan portfolio: $716.3 million
• Employees: 257 FTE

ABOUT DOUG ALLMAN

• Married, two children.
• President of NASA Federal since 1992.
• BS from University of North Carolina; MBA from George Washington University.