Island Federal Credit Union Holds Grand Opening

Island Federal Credit Union, the newest business to open its doors in the Bellmores, had its grand opening celebration Saturday at 2752 Sunrise Highway.

Radio station Z100 was present, and DJ Greg T was on-hand, offering onlookers a chance to win an exciting giveaway by guessing the correct combination to open a safe holding  $100,000.

In these hard economic times when the average family is having difficulty finding two pennies to rub together, finding the right financial institution to handle money is vital. Island Federal Credit Union, hopes to not only help customers get by during the current recession, but actually thrive while in their care.

Mary Wyman, director of Marketing and Sales for Island Federal Credit Union said she hopes that locals will come by to see what they're all about.

"Today is our grand opening event for our sixth branch," she said. "We're very excited to be a part of the Bellmore community...we're the first Credit Union in Bellmore, so we're hoping that we're going to have a great response here, and I think we will."

With the endless stream of banks sprouting up all over Long Island in recent years, residents might find it hard to get excited about yet another opening up. However, Island Federal isn't a bank- it's a Credit Union, and according to Wyman, that makes all the difference.

"All banks are all owned by outside stockholders," she said. "Credit Unions are completely different- we offer all the same services of a bank, such as checking and savings accounts, loans and mortgages. The difference is that we're owned by our members...we have no outside shareholders, and because we're self-owned, we can usually give better rates on services than what you'd get at a bank."

Wyman also pointed out that, because everyone that banks there is technically an owner, customers can expect better quality service than what they would get at a bank as well.

"We have checking accounts that are completely free," she said. "In fact, when you open an account, we give you the first five dollars for the account."

Through Island Federal's partnerships with other credit unions, they can offer customers a network of 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs throughout the United States.

"Frankly, that's a larger network than what Chase Bank has," Wyman added. "You can go to Bethpage Federal Credit Union or one of the others and do your banking there."

One thing Wyman says that banks have walked away from in recent years are kids' accounts, something Island Federal Credit Union embraces.

"We really believe that kids should start learning how to save from the time that they're born," she said. "So, we will open kid's accounts from birth. We'll give them the first five dollars to open the account, and we'll give them a treasure chest bank to save money and a coin sorting machine that's free, so kids can come in with their saved change and deposit it here."

Wyman said that getting kids to learn how to pinch their pennies is simply a part of Island Federal Credit Union's local community attitude.

"We believe that banking should be an all-family thing," she said.

Related Topics: Bellmore