GECU (formerly Government Employees Credit Union) is a federal chartered

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisi ...

headquartered in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. GECU is regulated under the authority of the

National Credit Union Administration The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is a government-backed insurer of credit unions in the United States, one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions, the other being the Federa ...

(NCUA) and each of their members is an owner who has a vote and a share in the credit union.

History

GECU is the oldest credit union formed in

. In 1932, eleven El Paso civil servants pooled $5 each to form a credit union inside of the broom closet of El Paso's federal building. In one year, the capital funds of the credit union had increased to $1305. In 1947 there were 135 members which grew to 690 members in 1950. In 1956, a new building was opened to accommodate customer growth, which had increased to 5,500 members. By 2011, there were more than 297,000 members with $1.5 billion in deposits. T.C. "Ted" Prewitt served as GECU's president starting in 1988. El Paso Women's Hall of Fame#Harriet May, Harriet May, who started working as a Bank teller, teller at GECU in 1974, became the CEO in 1996. Crystal Long took over as CEO in 2011, recommended by May and later elected by the credit union board. Others involved with GECU included Raymond Telles and Adolfo Loera who served as early directors. Loera served as the first treasurer of GECU. A GECU branch run by students was opened in Canutillo High School in 2007. A second student-run branch was opened at Del Valle High School (El Paso, Texas), Del Valle High School in 2008. In 2016, another branch was opened in Coronado High School (El Paso, Texas), Coronado High School. Members of GECU must either reside or work in El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County, be related to a current member, or work as a civil service employee in the US. In 2023, GECU was given permission by the

to expand services into additional counties in Texas and into New Mexico.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Credit unions based in Texas Companies based in El Paso, Texas Banks established in 1932