September 2023: A letter from the President
Dear Members,
As part of our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Centra celebrates Hispanic heritage during the month of September. In honor of this celebration, I’d like to highlight some resources Centra has available for our Spanish-speaking communities. First, Centra’s digital banking is available in Spanish. If your device’s language is set to Spanish, your digital banking will display in Spanish by default.
Next, I’m excited to share that our partner Zogo now has a Spanish option! Zogo is a financial education app where you can complete short lessons while earning pineapples. The pineapples are like points that you can redeem for gift cards. Like Centra’s digital banking, Zogo will default to Spanish if your device is set to Spanish. Finally, we regularly send surveys to a portion of our Members to identify what we’re doing well and where our opportunities are. This quarter we added a Spanish language version as well.
In addition to promoting DEI, Centra also creates value for our Communities through charitable giving. Unfortunately, total giving across the United States decreased by 3.4% in 2022. During times of economic stress, many individuals rely on nonprofit organizations to help meet their basic needs. That’s why Centra places a high value on giving back to our Communities, and we continue to increase our giving. In fact, our Team Members set a new record for our United Way workplace campaign in 2022, donating a total of $103,350 to the United Way agencies in the Communities we serve. We’re honored to give back to our Communities in so many ways, and we thank our Members who also support our Communities through efforts such as our Holiday Giving Program.
Finally, financial security is still at the top of many people’s minds given the events of recent months in the banking industry. The safety and soundness of the financial institution(s) you do business with is very important. As a reminder, Centra’s financial foundation is exceptionally strong. Your Credit Union has a net worth (capital) ratio of 12.35%, which is well above the threshold to be considered “well-capitalized” by the NCUA. It’s also notably higher than the average for Centra’s peer group. So what does this mean? A strong net worth, or capital, ratio means Centra can withstand times of economic uncertainty. Furthermore, this healthy capital level positions us well for continued future growth.
Sincerely,
Rick A. Silvers
President and CEO
