Courtesy of Breakwater Federal Credit Union Paula Megowen, left, president of Breakwater Federal Credit Union, and Jerry MacInnes, former bookkeeper of Michigan Tech Employees Federal Credit Union, pose together.

There was a constant flow of Michigan Tech employees entering the basement of the Alumni House on Michigan Tech’s campus on a blustery Friday in December 1972. In the main room, two tellers were accepting money and dispensing withdrawals from their accounts at the Michigan Tech Employees Federal Credit Union.

With no computers at that time, the employees had a rolodex to look up the member’s account number. Once retrieved, they would write it down on a piece of paper next to the member’s name. Also included would be the type of transaction and amount withdrawn or deposited. These days there were more withdrawals than deposits as many were purchasing Christmas gifts for family and friends. The slips were then deposited in a shoebox behind the tellers.

Shortly after the series of transactions, a jovial clerk emerged from a connected room and collected the slips from the box. This was Jerry MacInnes, the credit union’s bookkeeper. Jerry returned to her desk for the next step in the process. Each member had a paper file located in a series of file cabinets. She would take the slips, pull the member’s file, and log the transaction in the file. Jerry needed to keep the balance in each account updated manually to calculate the interest each member had earned, logging the added interest onto their account spreadsheet. Jerry used an add/subtract manual calculator that printed out each answer on a spool of paper to tabulate results. Jerry tried to stay ahead of work demands so she could take care of her children and watch her husband’s, Michigan Tech coach John MacInnes, hockey games.

The Michigan Tech Employees Federal Credit Union was created by Michigan Tech in 1952 to serve its employees. Its original services included savings accounts, personal loans and car loans. Loans had to be approved by the loan committee, while some were approved by the credit union manager. Loans were generally granted based on a person or family’s character, as there were no credit scores at that time. The university offered payroll deduction to pay off loans.

As a university-supported service, the credit union offices often moved around based on space availability. Homes included the old administration building, the Memorial Union, the fourth floor of the present admin building, a drafty wood building attached to the then-metallurgy building, the basement of the alumni house and even the garage of Hamar House. Construction on its current location was completed in 1994.

Current credit union president Paula Megowen notes many services have been added for members since she began work there in 1988. New services include credit cards, CDs, home mortgages, ATMs, recreational vehicle loans and many more.

The credit union is a nonprofit entity. This status allows it to offer lower loan interest rates, higher interest rates on savings and checking accounts, and lower operating fees charged to members. Paula also noted that the 2022 name change to Breakwater Federal Credit Union was done to help communicate to the public that it is open to do business with all area individuals, not just Michigan Tech employees as the old name implied.

Technology innovation will help develop future services focused on increasing customer services for young and older customers. Recent surveys found that younger members are looking for more education from the credit union teams on financial issues and options. A hot topic is credit scores, including what actions a member can take to improve their personal credit score to drop their loan interest rates even further. Members want easier access to banking service through online access. Many are offered or in the process of being developed using your cellphone such as depositing checks, applying for car/home/recreational vehicle loans, buying CDs, checking/savings account balance checks, monitoring your credit score and Zoom calls with your credit union customer service representative. This digital transformation of services will continue the focus on personal customer service, ensuring assets remain safe through enhanced layers of cybersecurity protocols, while limiting operational expenses.

Times have changed since the inception of the credit union in 1952. The manual processes that Jerry MacInnes labored over are now all computerized and more easily accessible. As we move further into the digital age, credit union services will continue to increase and become more accessible, yet the one thing that will not change is the focus on individual customer service which continues to be a hallmark of these local serving and funded institutions.

Steve Patchin, PhD, a dynamic and creative education leader, can be reached at shpatchi@mtu.edu.