When Gregory Clifford, the chief magistrate of the Cleveland Municipal Court, needs to cash a check or withdraw money from his checking or savings account, he goes to the basement of Cleveland City Hall, where the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union has its offices.
Michael Bowen, who works downtown as a partner with the law firm Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, does the same.
“Honestly, it’s kind of a hidden gem that people just don’t really know about right now,” Bowen said.
Clifford and Bowen are two of the approximately 2,800 members of the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union. Credit unions offer many of the same services as traditional banks, including checking and savings accounts and loans, but they’re cooperatively owned and use their profits to offer reduced fees and lower interest rates on loans.
The Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union offers loans with lower interest rates than traditional banks, as well as programs to help people build credit history.
“We are a credit union that is mission-driven,” said Steve Sims, the credit union’s president and CEO. “And a big part of our focus is ensuring that people that are unbanked and underserved and might otherwise be locked out of the opportunity to have a banking account or to work with a financial institution or to get credit, are able to do that.”
When it started 86 years ago, the credit union exclusively served civil service employees. The credit union expanded its membership eligibility about seven years ago, and now “anyone who lives, works, studies, worships, or attends school in Cuyahoga County” can become a member of the credit union by paying $5 for a share, Sims said. The member fee goes into the member’s savings account, and the credit union gives them that money back if they decide to leave.
Christopher Howse, another member of the credit union, said that the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union is “one of Cleveland’s best-kept secrets.”
The credit union is trying to change that. It’s creating a new website to increase its online presence and continuing outreach to faith-based organizations, community groups, and historically Black colleges and universities. The credit union also plans to expand and reconfigure its space at City Hall to make more room for storage and employee workspace, and to create more space for members to meet with credit union employees. Sims hopes the update will be complete by the end of this year.
Helping people access banking services, build credit history
About 75% of the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union’s members are minorities. Since a majority of its members are minorities, it’s designated as a minority depository institution. It’s also a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a designation given to banks, credit unions, and other institutions that focus on underserved communities. Sims said the credit union plans to use its CDFI designation to build partnerships with foundations and other philanthropic organizations that will benefit the credit union’s members.
Many community members don’t have a credit card or debit card, Sims said, and the credit union focuses on serving people who face barriers to accessing financial services like credit and loans.
About 6% of U.S. adults did not have a bank account or a spouse with a bank account in 2022, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. That means they’re “unbanked.” Low-income people, Black and Hispanic people, young adults, and people with disabilities were most likely to be unbanked, the report found. In 2021, 6% of adults were unbanked, and 13% were “underbanked” because they had a bank account but also used alternative financial services like short-term, high-interest loans known as “payday loans,” that year’s Federal Reserve report found. (The 2022 report did not include the percentage of underbanked adults. See breakdowns and charts of the 2021 data in this article from USAFacts.)
Predatory loans, including payday loans, often target majority-Black communities, Marketplace, a business news website and radio program, reported. Sims said the credit union offers an alternative, providing financial services with affordable rates and terms.
The credit union has programs that help people build wealth and establish a credit history. It personalizes loans to meet individuals’ specific needs and never charges more than 18% interest on its loans, Sims said. Building a credit history also opens doors for people to access traditional loans, he said.
“We’re not looking for people to place large sums of money into the credit union,” Sims said. “We’re looking to put resources in the hands of individuals.”
The credit union’s Youth Savings Program rewards students for good grades. Students under age 18 who maintain a balance of $50 or more in their account and earn straight A’s on their report call can receive an additional $50 from the credit union, or they can get $25 from the credit union if they earn a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The credit union’s “Wealth Builder Program” offers perks, including a no-fee Individual Retirement Account (IRA), free wealth-building consultation, and opportunities to waive one loan processing fee, credit card balance transfer fee, and one loan payment each year.
Members’ experiences, investing in the community
Christopher Howse, the owner of a technology company called Howse Solutions, has had a signature loan, checking account, savings account, and a business line of credit with the credit union. He said the credit union helped him access credit when his business was struggling at the beginning of the pandemic.
“My personal credit took a hit,” Howse said. “Just trying to grow and make sure the company was saved, I personally sacrificed a lot of different things. So Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union was truly responsible with allowing me to get a line of credit and take advantage of some of these services.”
The credit union takes an “empathetic” approach to its lending decisions, giving people an opportunity to explain their situation and any blemishes on their credit history, he said. He compared the credit union’s way of evaluating loan applicants to determining the quality of a suit by taking the time to feel its material and observe its cut rather than simply looking at the brand label.
Rev. Charles P. Lucas, chair of the city of Cleveland’s Community Relations Board and president of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority board of trustees, has been a member of the credit union for about two years.
“When I retired from being a pastor and my earnings took a dip, I needed a loan to tide me over until I got my new pay structure. And I went to them, and they were very understanding,” Lucas said.
Bowen, the partner at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, owns real estate throughout the city and said becoming a member of the credit union allowed him to access credit he probably wouldn’t have been able to access through a traditional bank.
Chief Magistrate Clifford became a member of the credit union around the time he started working for the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1986. At that time, it was the Cleveland Public Service Employees Association Credit Union. Since then, he has financed his cars through the credit union.
The credit union’s staff bring a “hometown feel” to the credit union’s office in the basement of City Hall, said Bowen.
“They’re very friendly, and they’re very warm,” Lucas said. “They don’t have a so-called cold bankers’ atmosphere down there. They’re very loving, and they want to help you out.”
While Lucas is no longer looking to buy a home or car himself, being part of the credit union means he’s helping other members achieve these goals, he said.
Howse also chose to become a member of the credit union because of its focus on helping the community.
“It is mutually beneficial. You become part of the organization with the motivation that the things you do for the credit union will in turn help you as a member as well,” Howse said. “So it allows you to become vested.”
To learn more about the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union, call 216-664-2217 or email its president and CEO Steve Sims at stevesims@greaterclevcu.com. The website is currently under construction, but you can visit it and sign up for updates here.
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