BALTIMORE-Medical Area Federal Credit Union is out to prove thata little can go a long way. Despite MAFCU's size at just $42million in assets, it can compete with the big boys in the fightagainst predatory lending. "Whatever the resources that we have wedo the best we can," CEO Nicole James told attendees of the latestPartnering and Leadership Successes workshop. She stressed that thecredit union's philosophy is not to think `can't' but how can westart out? This has been applied to many areas of credit unionbusiness, including financial education. James encouraged creditunions to partner with organizations like-minded to achieve theirgoals. MAFCU started out small in its partnership with ConsumerCredit Counseling Services, initially just doing referrals. Then,she asked CCCS to begin holding seminars. Now, the group comes intothe credit union twice a month for financial education courses, forwhich MAFCU requested bilingual staff, and also trains MAFCU'sstaff to discuss budgetary matters with their members. MAFCU hasalso partnered with Neustra Communidad Development Corp. to offer10-hour first-time homebuyer classes. Ironically, James said thecredit union had more success getting people in the door and tokeep coming when they charged $20 for the course than offering itfor free. She added that they also offer a scholarship if that $20truly is prohibitive to the member. MAFCU also takes advantage oflow-cost marketing and delivery channels. James said they useMAFCU's newsletter not only for advertising but also to highlightsuccess stories to encourage members to seek help. They also employtheir Web site and branches. In addition, MAFCU uses its SEGs asambassadors for their programs. James emphasized that this can gobeyond human resources departments to marketing and communicationsdepartments and employee assistance programs. She pointed out thatemployers like this because employees with financial problems havebeen shown to have lower levels of productivity. -

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