60th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Meeting
2022 Annual Report
Chung Bothwell, JD, LLM
Chairman of the Board
People Helping People is a phrase we use regularly to describe how our credit union supports its employees, members, and our local community. As we reflect on what UNCLE has accomplished throughout 2022, it is clear People Helping People was at the top of our priorities when celebrating our 65th year in business and this motto has continued to be our goal for the credit union.
As part of our 65th anniversary celebration, UNCLE Credit Union focused heavily on community involvement and service. Our group of leaders and employees contributed over 900 hours of community service as part of UNCLE’s employee volunteer program. These volunteer opportunities included food packing around the holiday season, bringing cheer to hospice patients, collecting food for shelter animals, and many hours volunteering for a variety of professional groups in our industry. Our team is proud to have contributed this many hours, exceeding the organization’s goal of 650 hours of community giveback.
In addition to volunteered time, the organization contributed more than $150,000 in sponsorships and donations to other local charitable organizations, including the sponsorship of Livermore Valley Arts at the Bankhead. While UNCLE has been a proud season sponsor for going on five years, this new sponsorship included the naming of the Bankhead’s art gallery, the UNCLE Credit Union Art Gallery. This art gallery located inside the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore features a lineup of unique art themes that rotate throughout the year. The sponsoring of the art gallery is just one example of how our credit union encourages members and employees to give back to our neighboring communities and support the local economy.
Further community support came in the form of events and educational seminars that were held throughout the year. These events included our yearly Shred Fests and Wealth Management seminars, both of which were offered completely free to current and potential members. During our Fall Shred Fest, we partnered with a corporate e-waste company to host the “Tech for Good” event, which asked community members to donate used laptops which are refurbished and given back to our city’s community members in need. Partnerships like these are how UNCLE Credit Union continues to live by our People Helping People philosophy.
In addition to celebrating our own anniversary, we had the honor of sponsoring and attending the 70th anniversary of the Lawrence Livermore Lab Foundation. It is always with great honor to be included in these milestones with Lawrence Livermore National Lab, as our credit union continues to be the preferred financial institution by most laboratory employees.
UNCLE continued celebrating in big ways in 2022 including receiving the Top Workplace designation from San Francisco Chronicle. This is a highly coveted title that many companies and organizations strive for and will continue to help UNCLE grow as we recruit more talented individuals in this current competitive job market.
Among other awards and accolades received by UNCLE in 2022 included “Best Credit Union in the East Bay” by the East Bay Times, and runner up in four categories for the “Best of San Joaquin” hosted by the Stockton Record. Our “Best in East Bay” title has earned us Hall of Fame status, for a consecutive 5-year sweep for the credit union category. These competitions are voted on by readers of each newspaper outlet, and do not categorize companies by size or employee number, which means we are put up against competitors two-to-three times our size—a great accomplishment in itself!
At the end of December 2022, we achieved assets over $734 million and served over 34,000 members. This remarkable growth rate further reinforces our reputation for providing excellent services to our members.
While we know that 2022 has been a challenging year for many, we want to remind our members, employees, and community that UNCLE’s number one priority is keeping your money in good hands. UNCLE has taken every measure to protect each member’s share as we navigate through high inflation, sophisticated scammers, and a potential recession. In doing so, UNCLE also continues to focus on growth within our organization, which will ultimately help us continue to be stronger and resilient for years to come. We support all our members to the fullest regardless of financial circumstances and will continue to do so as we progress along this path together.
Chung Bothwell, JD, LLM
Chairman, Board of Directors
Harold Roundtree
President and CEO
UNCLE Credit Union closed out 2022 on top, with a successful merger, strong membership and loan growth, and new technology and services for members, despite an unpredictable economy, including several interest rate hikes. Throughout the year, UNCLE’s dedicated and talented staff remained ready to take on each new challenge.
A key highlight of the year was the successful merger of UNCLE Credit Union and Moore West Federal Credit Union. Moore West was a small, San Leandro-based, credit union with limited ability to continue to provide expanded financial products and services to their membership. After weighing the outcomes and risks, the credit union decided completing this merger would result in a big win for UNCLE, as well as the members of the former Moore West. As a result, UNCLE acquired nearly 800 new members, along with nearly $12 million in assets, contributing to the credit union’s strong asset growth and over 10% membership growth in 2022. The credit union also welcomed the staff of Moore West who joined the UNCLE team and continues to serve the combined membership base which now extends further into Alameda County and the greater Bay Area.
Along with growth within the membership, the credit union also saw a significant increase in loans, with over 23% in annual growth. UNCLE’s total loans grew by over $115 million in 2022, demonstrating the credit union’s ability to quickly meet the financial needs of the membership. Auto loans and home equity lines of credit were in high demand and the credit union took great pride in offering highly competitive products to be the lender of choice for many consumers. While there continues to be fluctuations in federal interest rates, home equity lines remain a great option for members who own real estate, whether owner or non-owner occupied.
Another success the credit union celebrated throughout 2022 was the implementation of Zelle, a digital payment platform that offers real-time money transfers. This project was supported and executed by several key areas within the credit union to ensure the product was fully functional when introduced to members. With the implementation of Zelle, members can now easily and directly transfer funds to family, friends, or between their accounts at different institutions, all within UNCLE’s digital banking platform. Having this capability available to members is an immense achievement for the credit union, as we continue to compete with larger financial institutions that offer these types of services. At the end of 2022, over 51,000 Zelle transactions were successfully processed through the UNCLE mobile app, which currently holds an average app rating of 4.78 in the Android and IOS app stores.
As the credit union expanded our digital services, UNCLE also continued to upgrade technology systems to mitigate potential threats of fraud. For example, additional measures were taken to protect members from new and emerging vulnerabilities by creating a dedicated Fraud Department in 2022. This team works diligently to prevent and mitigate fraud losses across all channels, including ACH, mobile deposits, online banking, and real-time payments. UNCLE consistently makes fraud prevention a priority to ensure the safety and soundness of the credit union, and most importantly, members’ investments and earnings.
We look forward to continued successes and achievements at UNCLE Credit Union as we work hard to deliver the products and services to meet members’ needs well into the future.
Harold Roundtree
President and CEO
