Even Hurricane Sandy couldn't stop New York City's Municipal Credit Union from closing 2012 with a recordyear.

MCU recently reported at its annual meeting that it ended 2012with $1.79 billion in total assets and 340,000 members.

“MCU ended 2012 well positioned to continue to grow strongerregardless of the future economic landscape,” said Kam Wong, MCU president/CEO. “We finished 2012 wellcapitalized, with a net worth ratio of 9.97%, which is much higherthan the industry standard of 7% that is required to earn a toprating for institutional soundness.”

Wong pointed out that MCU continued to actively lend to membersduring the year, as evidenced by its $1.2 billion loanportfolio.

Hurricane Sandy presented many challenges to the credit union,its members and communities. The credit union itself was beset withmember criticism and negative publicity, primarily about longdelays in direct deposit postings.

In response to the storm, MCU offered a special memberassistance program which included emergency loans, deferred paymentoptions on mortgages and auto loans, and credit line increases. Thecredit union also provided assistance to the community as a wholethrough its financial support of the Mayor's Fund.

Mike Mattone, MCU's assistant vice president of public relationsand corporate communications, said that membership and depositsrose mostly because the credit union is part of the community,where the large banks scattered throughout the city can't extendthe personal service that MCU offers.

“I think more and more people are aware of credit unions now,”Mattone said. “New York City is a big place and people appreciatewhat we do, which is treating them like family. They in turnrecommend us to their friends and family and because of that ournumbers continue to grow.”

Wong reported that MCU made strides in becoming more accessiblewhere its members live and work. In 2012, MCU opened itsSpringfield Gardens branch in Queens and expanded its ATM networkin local area supermarkets, boosting the MCU-owned and operated ATMnetwork to more than 200 locations.

“Not only are we pleased with our numbers, but we'repositive that we will continue to grow,” Mattone said. “As Mr. Wongsaid, we will continue to prosper, regardless of the overalleconomic landscape.”