South Carolina CUSO Capital Campaign to Help Fuel National Expansion

The year was 1969 and in a move to help credit unions meet more of the needs of their members, the South Carolina Credit Union League invested $45,000 to start a new subsidiary to make it happen.

Over the years, the only way to add capital seemed to be through retained earnings, said Mark Curran, senior vice president of business development at Palmetto Cooperative Services LLC, which had since evolved from Credit Union Marketing Services Inc. and South Carolina Service Corp., the CUSO’s previous names. As Palmetto expanded into check processing, e-statements and other technologies, the operational expenses continued to grow. The services brought in $6 million with all of it coming from retained earnings.