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Monday, Mar 18, 2024

Logix’s Expansion Continues into Next Year

Logix Federal Credit Union has spent the summer in expansion mode. Two new branches of the Burbank financial institution opened, one in Santa Clarita in June at Bridgeport Marketplace and the other in July at 18700 Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana. Logix is the largest credit union in Los Angeles County and is No. 1 on the Business Journal’s Credit Unions list ranked by assets as of June 30. Next year, Logix plans on opening yet another new branch, this time in Calabasas, a prospect the institution is excited about, said Alethia Calagias, head of community relations. Also next year, Logix is moving to its new headquarters building under construction in Santa Clarita. The 180,000-square-foot headquarters on 12 acres in the Valencia Commerce Center is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020 and employees will move in during the third quarter. “This new headquarters building will consolidate all of the Logix headquarters team from three separate Burbank locations,” Calagias said. There were four changes to the Credit Unions list from a year ago. Dropping off the list after moving its headquarters out of the Valley was Farmers Insurance Group Federal Credit Union, which last year was No. 9. Airco Federal Credit Union also dropped off after the company it is affiliated with, Acco Engineered Systems, moved from Glendale to Pasadena. CBS Employees Federal Credit Union dropped off after being declared insolvent due to an embezzlement scheme done by its chief executive. Joining the list was Glendale Federal Credit Union at No. 15 with $88 million in assets as of June 30. Shrinking numbers A report this month from CUNA Mutual Group, a Wisconsin-based company that provides insurance to credit unions, estimated there were 5,488 credit unions in operation as of August, a decrease of 207 from the same month a year ago. “The credit union movement contracted at a 3.6 percent pace over the last year, which (is) above the long run average decline of 3.5 percent set over the last 39 years,” the report said. “Small credit unions continue to struggle with earnings.” As for membership, the credit union sector added 386,000 new members in August, a decrease from the 561,000 new members added in the same month a year earlier. The report anticipated a net gain of 4.4 million new credit union members in 2019. The report concluded that the growth in membership was driven by job gains and demand for credit. It was supported by an unintended consequence of the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act capping the fees big banks can charge merchants to process debit card transactions – 21 cents plus 0.05 percent of the total amount charged. “To make up for this lost revenue, banks increased their monthly fees for having a debit card or a checking account,” the report said. “The higher charges are driving many bank customers to their local low-or-no-fee, not-for-profit credit union.” Nine of the top 10 credit unions on the Business Journal’s list saw membership increases since last year. The smaller institutions toward the bottom of the list, however, in general had membership losses. Sunkist Employees Federal Credit Union, for instance, saw a drop from 711 last year to 682 this year. Columbus Club Federal Credit Union, in San Fernando, saw a decrease from 493 members to 415. In addition to providing savings and checking accounts, home and auto loans and credit cards, credit unions are also involved in giving back to the communities they serve. Los Angeles Federal Credit Union in Glendale, No. 7 on the Business Journal’s list, has donated funds to and had employees volunteer at Operation Gratitude, a Chatsworth charity that ships care packages to veterans and first responders; Habitat for Humanity, which built six townhomes for needy families in Glendale; and at the large downtown warehouse of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Gain Federal Credit Union in Burbank, No. 10 on the list, supports area organizations such as Family Promise of the Verdugos, a Glendale nonprofit helping the homeless, and the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, which assists the working poor and homeless. The institution also offers a free four-week program on financial literacy aimed at teens 15 to 18 years old, said Eric Foster, vice president of marketing. The program teaches the students about savings, balancing a checkbook, establishing budgets and how to access their account be it by teller, mobile banking or an ATM, Foster said. “By the fourth night they come away with a savings account, a checking account, a debit card,” he added. “More importantly, they know how to use all these things.”

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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