About Us
SM Federal Credit Union was founded on September 15, 1960, under the name of SM Postal Federal Credit Union. We started in the basement of the Main Shawnee Mission Post Office, where we still reside today. On January 31, 1974 our charter was amended to include Federal Aviation Administration employees in Olathe. Later, we expanded to add a branch more accessible for FAA members. It is located in the secured offices of the Air Traffic Control office in Olathe. On June 12, 1998 we changed our name to SM Federal Credit Union.
What is a Credit Union
Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives serving members who share something in common-employment, association membership, or residence in a particular geographic area. More than 70 million U.S. consumers are member-owners of, and receive all or part of their financial services from, the nation's 12,047 credit unions.
Regulation & Supervision
Credit unions are chartered under either federal or state law. Federally chartered credit unions are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an independent agency of the U.S. Government. NCUA's three board members are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. State chartered credit unions are regulated by their state credit union department. NCUA administers the federal insurance fund,NCUSIF, which covers all federal credit unions, and most state chartered credit unions. No taxpayer money is used for regulating and overseeing federal credit unions, as all activities of NCUA and the NCUSIF are funded by credit unions.
Credit Union History
The credit union idea is a simple one: People should be able to pool their money and make loans to each other. It's an idea that evolved from cooperative activities in 19th century Europe. Since that time, the idea's guiding principles have remained the same:(1) Only people who are credit union members should borrow there; (2) loans are made for 'prudent and productive' purposes; (3) a person's desire to repay (character) is considered more important than the ability (income) to repay. Members are, after all, borrowing their own money and that of their friends. These principles still govern most of the world's credit unions. As the 20th century began, the credit union idea surfaced in Canada. Canada's successful efforts profoundly influenced two Americans: Pierre Jay, the Massachusetts banking commissioner, and Edward A. Filene, a Boston merchant. The tow men helped organize public hearings on credit union legislation in Massachusetts, leading to passage of the first state credit union act in 1909.
Safety & Soundness
Credit unions primarily engage in consumer loans and residential real estate lending to their members. Credit union performance is at a historically high level. Currently, credit union capital nationwide is 10.28% and the equity ratio of the federal insurance fund, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), has operated above 1.25% for 11 consecutive years.
Insurance Fund
Since 1984, credit unions have fully funded their federal deposit insurance program on a pay-as-you-go basis. Each year, credit unions deposit sufficient funds to ensure that the fund's equity ratio is maintained at or above 1.2%. While the NCUSIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, the structure of the insurance fund ensures that only if all of the capital in the credit union movement were to be exhausted would taxpayer funds be spent on credit unions. Like other deposit insurance funds, NCUSIF protects member deposits to $250,000.
