Rock of Ages Bus Trip
It's time for a trip to the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago. Rock of Ages is based on a small town girl from the Sunset Strip, who in 1987 meets a big city rocker and in LA's most famous rock club, they fall in love to the greatest songs of the 80s.  Don't miss the premiere of this awesomely good time about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on!  Tickets are $105 each for the Sunday, October 3rd performance and include the bus ride and ticket to the show.

$250,000 NCUA Share Insurance Protection Now Permanent
July 22, 2010, Alexandria, Va. – President Barack Obama yesterday signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Included in this sweeping legislation are provisions making permanent the current $250,000 maximum federal deposit insurance level, which had been temporary until December 31, 2013.

Federally insured credit union member accounts are insured to at least $250,000 by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, a federal insurance fund backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

A temporary increase from $100,000 to $250,000 was effective from October 3, 2008, through December 31, 2009. On May 20, 2009, the temporary increase was extended through December 31, 2013, and now the $250,000 federal insurance protection becomes permanent.

The National Credit Union Administration charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, also operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the accounts of over 90 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of statechartered credit unions. NCUA is funded by credit unions, not federal tax dollars.

-NCUA

Butter Braid Pastries “Rose” to the Occasion for SOCU Charities & Streator Kiwanis Club
Our latest fundraising secret was “let out of the bag” recently as the final numbers were tallied for our July Butter Braid pastries sales.  With an initial goal of around 400 pastries between SOCU & Kiwanis Club, both parties were elated when sales well exceeded both groups’ expectations and hit nearly 650!

This means that SOCU will have an additional $2,000 and the Kiwanis Club will have an additional $800 towards their fundraising efforts! SOCU & the Streator Kiwanis Club is very appreciative & thankful to the community for their support.

SOCU – Pontiac donates over $1,500 to Livingston County Relay for Life.
Pontiac High School recently held the annual Livingston County Relay for Life at their sports grounds.  Among the many campsites set up for the event, Streator Onized Credit Union was one of the “brighter” spots to be with their lighted item sales.  In addition to selling a multitude of lighted items for $3 or 2/$5, SOCU sold pink ribbon t-shirts and hot/cold packs, focusing their energy on breast cancer awareness. 

2 More FREE ATM's
All SOCU members are now able to the Financial Plus ATM's in Peru & Mendota absolutely free!  SOCU members now have access to all 3 of Financial Plus's ATM's in Ottawa, Peru & Mendota free of charge.  This is just another benefit of SOCU and offering easier access to your cash if you are not near one of our ATM’s.

Scholarship Winners Announced
Streator Onized Credit Union has chosen it's scholarship winners for the 2010-2011 school year.  Thank you to all that turned in an application & remember to reapply next year if your name was not chosen this year.  ALL college students are eligible to receive a SOCU scholarship as long as they are members of the credit union.

This years winners receiving $500 are:
$500 - Nicholas D Hart, Cody M Doran, Thomas J Renner Jr., Brianna M Lucas, & Jeffrey R Armour, Jr.

The $250 winners are:
$250 - Jorden L Hillyer, Jaron J Burash & Paige E Neaterour.

Again congratulations on behalf of the board, employees and fellow members of SOCU and best of luck to all college students for the coming school year.

Pay your Loan with your SOCU Visa credit Card
As of April 2010 all members have the ability to pay their loans online with a Visa Credit card.  Simply sign onto your online banking account, click on the 5th link down - Pay Loan with VISA, fill out the form & submit your payment.  If you have any questions, contact the data processing department or Visa department at 815-673-1589.

We Continue to Support our Community
Streator Onized Credit Union has helped raise $3,200 donated to local charities in the past month!  SOCU's employees donated $500 to the Streator 4th of July celebration raised through casual days & a Cubs bus trip at the beginning of May.  Then, Kathy Lucas & Lisa Billups partnered with Star Ford in Streator where they were "celebrity saleswomen" and raised $800 for the Streator Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition for selling 8 cars on their shift. 

SAFE, STRONG & LOCAL

RATINGS EXPLAINATION

BauerFinancial has deemed SOCU a 5-Star Superior credit union based on certain criteria related to its operations.

BauerFinancial rates credit unions based upon a complex formula which factors in relevant data including, but not limited to: capital, historical trends, loan delinquencies, differences in the book and market values of the investment portfolio, profitability, repossessed assets, reserves, charge-offs, regulatory compliance and asset quality. (Although credit unions are not-for-profit institutions, losses can impact capital and safety.) Negative trends are projected forward to compensate for the lag time in the data. BauerFinancial employs conservative measures when assigning these ratings and consequently the ratios will often be lower than those supplied by other analysts or the institutions themselves. More than twenty years of experience has shown ours to be a prudent course of action.

As of December 31, 2009 BauerFinancial  awarded SOCU a five-star ‘Superior’ rating on its zero-to-five-star scale. This means the credit union is safe, financially sound and is operating well above its regulatory capital requirements which means SOCU has a capital to assets ratio of 9% or higher.

DEPOSIT INSURANCE
Your money is safe at SOCU. Checking, savings, money market, and certificate accounts at Streator Onized are federally insured to at least $250,000.00 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). IRA accounts are insured separately to $250,000 by the NCUA.

Independent Performance Reviews
We have multiple layers of independent performance review: we are examined by the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions since we are state-chartered, and we annually engage an outside CPA firm to assess accounting practices and report to the volunteer Supervisory Committee as representatives for the membership.

National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund
Member deposits are federally insured by the NCUA, and backed with the full faith and credit of the United States government, just as FDIC covers banks. Taxpayer dollars have never been used to bail out a credit union.

For More Information
This helpful resource contains additional details on your deposit insurance coverage and the stability of the National Credit Union system:

• Your Insured Funds
• NCUA Insurance Estimator

IMPORTANT ONLINE SECURITY INFORMATION
SOCU wants to ensure the online protection of your personal and Account information.

Please note:

• SOCU will not ask you to submit personal or Account information via email.
• For your protection, any email sent from SOCU including member service emails or email alerts will require that you successfully login to our secure website at www.streatoronized.org before entering any personal information.
• If you ever receive an email appearing to be from SOCU that asks for personal information such as your Account Number or Social Security Number, do not respond to the email. Please notify us immediately at (815) 673-5577.

Responding to E-Mail and Internet-Related Fraudulent Schemes
The number one rule….don’t respond!  Call or contact SOCU and let us know of the unusual email.

SECURITY INFORMATION

Beware Of Phishing Scams
NCUA recommended credit unions reinforce these messages to members:

1. Never provide your personal information in response to an unsolicited request.
2. If you believe the contact may be legitimate, contact the credit union yourself.
3. Never provide your password over the phone or in response to an unsolicited Internet request.
4. Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges are correct.

Tools To Prevent Identity Theft

1. Do not give out financial information unless you are sure you know and trust the person.
2. Report lost or stolen checks and credit/debit cards immediately.
3. Notify your credit union of suspicious phone inquiries such as those asking for account information to verify that you have won a prize.
4. Closely guard your ATM Personal Identification Number.
5. Shred any financial solicitations and documents before disposing of them.
6. Put outgoing mail into a secure, official Postal service collection box.  Do not leave outgoing mail in your outside mailbox.
7. If regular bills or checks fail to reach you as usual, call the company to find out why.
8. If your bills include questionable items, don’t ignore them.  Instead investigate them immediately to head off any possible fraud.
9. Periodically contact the major credit reporting companies to review your file and make certain the information is correct.