COLUMBIA, S.C. – Feeling the brunt of 14% unemployment in economically-depressed South Carolina, credit unions starting this month will ease loan terms and implement large-scale financial education and counseling programs.
"We traditionally offer our members an option to pay a fee and skip a payment on loans at the end of the year but in 2008 we offered the option to skip two loan payments for one fee and this may not sound like such a big deal at first," said Faye Crocker, president/CEO of the $10.5 million Greater Abbeville FCU
However, as a small credit union "our members tell us it allows them to fund their family's Christmas and get them through the year-end period of unemployment," said Crocker noting that many South Carolina communities were devastated during the year by plant closings.
And in a separate example of the economic fallout, the $1.4 billion South Carolina FCU of North Charleston said it witnessed a whopping 60% increase in budgeted attendance at its free financial education seminars during 2008.
"Our goal in 2008 was to reach 2,098 people through free public and in-school seminars and that was surpassed by June with 4,906 attending by the end of November," said Kimberly Riggs, public relations manager at SCFCU.
The CU in November also tapped one of its marketing managers, Leslie Howard, to devote full time to meeting with SEGs "to extend free financial workshops to their workforces."
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