Mainstreet credit union
Mainstreet Credit Union was created by a group of teachers in 1953 and initially the company was named Northeast Johnson County Teachers' Credit Union. It represents a non-profit financial cooperative whose main purpose is to provide financial assistance for all the registered members.
In the beginning the head quarter of the company was in one of the Shawnee Mission School District classrooms and the company’s activities were made by volunteers. In 1961 the company advanced to a higher level of performance by hiring a manager and two employers. A year later Mainstreet Credit Union rented an office and moved out of the school. By that time many people become interested about the services provided by MCU and the cooperative gained new members each year. The company had an important number of new members coming from other Credit Union cooperatives that ceased their activity. The internal policies of the company changed and they started to accept members located all over the Johnson County. Also the name of the company was changed to Johnson County Teachers' Credit Union. The company registered a big expansion with the new rules. Once again the policies were changed in 2005 when members from the entire Kansas City Metropolitan Area were allowed to register in the cooperative. The impressive development has led to a series of mergers that happened between 2008 and 2010. As a result of the increased business potential the members decided that it will be good to change the name of the company into something more representative and so on February, 2010 Mainstreet Credit Union was the new name of the company.
More than 52,000 members have joined the cooperative since its launching in 1953. Everyone residing in Kansas City Metropolitan Area can become a member of the company and benefit from a range of financial services such as; Savings Accounts, Checking Accounts, High-Yield Investment Accounts, Convenience Services, Consumer and Real Estate Loans and other.
Each member of the cooperative has the right to vote and to be elected in the Board of Directors, the executive structure of Mainstreet Credit Union. In addition every member of the family has the possibility of becoming an MCU customer and to take advantage of the low rates on all the financial services available.
The most important difference between Mainstreet Credit Union and a regular bank is the structure of this institution where each member has a “share” of the company and can influence the decisions with his vote. While banks are always trying to make profit for their stockholders and shareholders Credit Unions have the interest to provide their members different financial solutions and low cost services. These are non-profit organizations that try to provide the lowest interest rates and fees for their customers.
Today Mainstreet Credit Union represents a well established financial community which is very appreciated by its members. Almost all the traditional financial services can be found there with the single exception that they charge much lower interest rates that the ones you will find in a bank. The member customers have the possibility to opt in for: vehicle loans, personal loans, home loans, consumer loans, mortgage loans, savings, checking and other services that are available online.
The annual report release for the year 2010 has shown that Mainstreet Credit Union has a total of $263,361,398 in assets and an annual net profit of $1,257,233. The stability and the intelligent management of the funds represented a considerable advantage on the financial crisis time period.