Member Financial Counseling/Education Program Available Through CUNA, Accel Partnership

February 24, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Katye Long, CUNA Communications
(608) 231-4038
klong@cuna.com

MADISON, Wis. – Credit unions can now offer their members a low-cost, comprehensive financial counseling and education program through a new partnership between CUNA and Accel Members Financial Counseling.

Accel, a program of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based GreenPath, Inc., offers confidential financial counseling at no cost to the member or their dependents and includes: personal and family budgeting, credit reports and reviews, setting and achieving financial goals, personal money management, debt repayment plans and information on avoiding bankruptcy, foreclosure and repossession.

Accel’s financial counselors are degreed and certified by the non-profit National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Accel was also approved by the U.S. Trustees Program of the Department of Justice to be a nationwide provider of the pre-filing counseling and pre-discharge education required by the new Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

“Providing financial education and counseling to help members improve their lives through better money management goes to the heart of what credit unions are all about,” said Wes Millar, senior vice president of Strategic Services for CUNA.

“Financial education is more important now than ever with the new requirements under the bankruptcy act and credit card companies increasing their minimum monthly payment requirements,” stated Millar.

Director of Accel, Jeff Jorissen, remarked, “Accel is a program that emphasizes proactive financial education as a benefit of credit union membership. It is rare to find such a valuable resource and at no cost to the member, who in many cases is already struggling financially. When our credit union partners were also experiencing a return on investment well over 300 percent in just the first year, we knew we were on to something very good.”

According to Jorissen, “Credit unions love the fact that they can offer a program that not only reduces loan losses, but more importantly creates a more creditworthy member that will return to the credit union for their next loan.”

For more information, go to strategicservices.cuna.org.

CUNA Strategic Services, owned jointly by Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the state leagues, provides credit unions with access to high quality products, services and technologies delivered with a competitive advantage made possible through volume pricing and strategic program development. CUNA serves more than 90 percent of America’s 9,000 credit unions, which are owned by nearly 87 million consumer members. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives providing affordable financial services to people from all walks of life. For more information, visit strategicservices.cuna.org.

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