From Our Board Chair and President & CEO:
To our members,
This past year was one of continued change, challenge and optimism. At BECU, we welcomed new leaders to our executive team, introduced a new vision and strategy to drive our work forward, and delivered new programs and services to increase the value we offer our members. While we experienced continued volatility within the market and a challenging economic environment, we are proud to share that our financial position remains strong.
Our membership is now a community of nearly 1.5 million. We ended 2023 with $29.9 billion in assets, a 3.8% annual increase, and our loan portfolio grew by 13.4% to $18.6 billion. BECU’s Net Worth Ratio of 10.86% is well-above the 7% that is considered “well-capitalized” for credit unions.
Our solid financial foundation and a continued commitment to innovation allow us to better support you. In 2023, we returned $446.5 million to members in the form of great rates and low-to-no fees. That’s an average of $312 per member. We also opened new Neighborhood Financial Centers in Columbia City and Monroe, expanded our Video Banking services and continued to improve our digital experiences by adding features to Online Banking and BECU’s mobile app.
Last year, BECU also deepened our commitment to the communities where our members live, work and thrive. We provided over $8.4 million and more than 19,000 volunteer hours by BECU employees to community partners focused on supporting financial empowerment, affordable housing, equity initiatives and beyond. Our ongoing contributions reflect our unwavering commitment to help build vibrant, productive and healthy communities.
As we navigate 2024, we remain alert, disciplined and ready to respond to an uncertain economy to help you fulfill your dreams and financial possibilities. But this is nothing new for BECU. We were founded in 1935, and our dedication to our members is as true today as it was during the Great Depression. Regardless of the economic cycle we may experience, we will be there for you every step of the way.
We believe in a simple, yet inspiring idea that “people helping people” makes us more powerful and prosperous together. On behalf of our team at BECU, we thank you for your membership and look forward to helping you on your financial journey for years to come.
Debra Somberg, Chair, BECU Board of Directors
Beverly Anderson, President & Chief Executive Officer
Continue to other sections of our 2023 Annual Report:
As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, we aim to provide the right tools and resources to support your financial well-being and help you build multi-generational wealth. We always look for new ways to offer our members more value and invest in your financial future.
Multiplied Members and Metrics
If you are new to BECU, welcome! You're among more than 131,000 new BECU members who joined the cooperative this year. Our total membership blossomed to nearly 1.5 million — 1,457,207 members, to be exact, but who's counting? Well, we are — and we're very grateful that you continue recommending us to your friends and family.
Business membership also boomed to over 79,000 with more than 12,000 new members, reflecting our new, easier digital methods for banking and borrowing from BECU (more on that, later).
Our performance metrics reflect sustainable growth, ensuring we're here to better serve you, year after year. Here are a few highlights from 2023:
- Our assets totaled $29.9 billion, while savings, checking, and CD account balances added up to $24.8 billion.
- Our loan portfolio totaled $18.6 billion with $6.6 billion in originations, which bolstered your investments in homeownership, new businesses, autos, remodels, college tuition and other financial needs.
- Our Net Worth Ratio is 10.86%. This ratio reflects a credit union’s financial strength and ability to protect against unforeseen or unusual losses. (Fun fact: A credit union is considered “well-capitalized” if it has a net worth ratio of 7%.)
Return to Member
At BECU, we don't send profits to external shareholders. Instead, we tally how much we return to you in the form of great rates and low fees. At the end of the day, BECU is your credit union, and your financial well-being is why we exist.
In 2023, we returned $446.5 million to our members, an average of $312 per member. The total is an increase of 23.2% over last year. The Return to Member total reflects:
- Saving nearly 48,000 members more than $3 million last year with our Reprice Program. If your credit score improves, this program automatically lowers your eligible BECU loan's interest rate if you’re not already paying our lowest published rates.
- Solidifying a low and no monthly maintenance fee philosophy to our checking accounts and rewarding our members with interest.
- Dedicating more than $2 million toward down payment assistance for nearly 230 mortgages through our First-Time Homebuyer Grant program. We have granted over $9.5 million to support over 1,400 loans since the program launched in 2018. Eligible members pay as little as 1% toward the down payment or closing costs on their first home.
Excelled in Member Service
Whether you visited us in person at one of our Neighborhood Financial Centers (NFCs), interacted with us digitally or contacted us by phone, we were excited to assist you in your financial journey. Our products and services helped you open accounts, pay bills, purchase a home, start a business and so much more. Here are the ways you counted on us in 2023.
We want to ensure our members are always satisfied and use Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to measure member experience. BECU members are asked: “How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend, family member or colleague?“
A score of 50 or more is considered excellent. In 2023, we earned an average NPS of 65.12, an increase from 2022. Thanks to the feedback you've shared about your experiences at BECU, you've provided us with the opportunity to improve and better serve your needs. Every year we're committed to your satisfaction and remain ahead of the finance industry's NPS average.
“So thankful I switched to BECU years ago. The customer service is perfection. I have never had a single issue after many years with BECU and I have had people on the BECU team fight for me.“ — Brittany B., BECU Member
Delivered Unmatched Member Service
You weren't imagining it — we heard your feedback and your wait times got shorter. We added more employees to serve you in our NFCs and Contact Center and increased efficiency all around. We can assist you even faster with everything from express transactions to more complex loan and membership applications.
We want to be where you live and work and ensure everyone benefits from helpful financial advice, expertise and one-on-one support for accounts and transactions. So, we opened two new NFCs in Monroe, Washington and Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood, refreshed five NFCs with interior design updates and replaced 27 aging ATMs with newer models. In 2024, we'll add three more BECU locations in Gig Harbor, Ballinger and Pierce County, Washington and continue to refresh and modernize our experience to make it more convenient and easier to do business with BECU.
Our upgraded telephone banking system provides responsive, helpful virtual assistant support, similar to Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri. Next time you call BECU, try out our new intelligent virtual agent and let us know how it works for you.
Our expanded Video Banking platform allows you to complete your financial to-do lists while still in your pajamas. Call us from the comfort of your home or any location. You can open new accounts (including Early Saver accounts), apply for loans, and make inquiries on your account or mortgage.
“As a financial cooperative, BECU works hard to find locations where our members may be underserved or in communities where we have opportunities to grow and improve convenience for our members and communities.“ — Debbie McLeod, BECU’s Senior Vice President of Retail Delivery
Boosted Member Benefits
BECU membership comes with a bevy of no-cost benefits. We provide access to products, services, tools and resources to help improve your financial health. Our financial health surveys, financial counseling, community partnerships and annual Member Summit event always keep you top-of-mind.
Enhanced Member Products and Services
In 2023, we launched Mobile Insights and BECU Envelopes in the BECU mobile app. Mobile Insights provides valuable information on your transactions, such as identifying unused subscriptions, flagging double payments, and personalizing habits and trends to inform your financial decisions.
BECU Envelopes allow you to organize savings into separate categories for your next big spend, such as a vacation, school tuition or the holidays. Members can create up to 12 envelopes, each dedicated to an individual savings goal within their BECU savings or Money Market accounts.
Our fresh version of Zelle® makes sending and receiving money to friends, family and people you trust a breeze.
We also launched new digital services for our small business members. We enabled businesses to apply for membership and unsecured lines of credit online and receive near real-time decisions on their loan applications.
We also partnered with you to continue to help you keep your money secure and reduce debit card fraud. We now prompt members to enter a one-time passcode to authorize some online debit card transactions. In addition, our new Fraud and Security Center on BECU.org provides a cohesive review of all fraud and security information.
“Meeting our members where and when they want to bank is really about putting people over profits.“ — Jessica S., BECU Employee
Evolved Financial Health Resources
We offer financial tools, resources and programs to ensure you can pay bills today and build financial freedom tomorrow. In 2023, we served nearly 13,500 people through our financial health programs, including our free Financial Health Check, which coached more than 800 members on important topics like building a savings plan and tackling debt.
We also partnered with GreenPath Financial Wellness so you could benefit from free one-on-one financial counseling. More than 5,750 members used GreenPath’s credit and debt counseling services to put $3.6 million toward debt repayment and help improve their financial well-being.
Our collective hard work is paying off! As an outcome of our annual financial health survey, we found that BECU members are overall financially fitter than their Washington peers. The survey also highlighted that BECU members are:
- Less vulnerable or stressed about money matters.
- Better about their financial health due to an ability to pay bills on time and in full.
- Good about their credit scores and short-term savings.
“I realized the personal loan was the right option for me. These days I'm healthy, I have all my finances under control and I'm a lot less stressed.“ — Oliver V., BECU Member
Sparked Member Discussions
We welcomed 75 members to our first in-person Member Summit event in four years. Our seventh annual summit at the beautiful Seattle Art Museum included a moderated Q&A between GeekWire Co-Founder John Cook and BECU President and CEO Beverly Anderson. Members got the inside scoop on BECU's strategies, successes and vision for the future as BECU leaders engaged with members and answered important questions about our cooperative.
We followed the in-person summit with a virtual event for over 200 members featuring highlights from the in-person event and live, educational breakout sessions on financial topics including:
- Building a thriving business.
- Buying a home.
- Investing and retirement planning.
- Protecting yourself from fraud.
Remember, if you missed Member Summit, it's never too late to binge-watch and catch up.
Committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Member Equity Commitment: For our members, we must provide greater access to banking services in BIPOC communities to support healthy financial futures for all.
Through our Multilingual Capabilities Program, we offer Spanish language capabilities via Video Banking and at several NFCs, bridging critical communication gaps and promoting cultural understanding.
We celebrated History Heritage Months with employees and members through internal events, programs and content on the BECU blog, as well as through our social media channels, newsletter and on BECU.org. Together, we acknowledged Black History Month, Latinx Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Pride Month and many more!
In partnership with the Intentionalist, we continued coordinating the Equity in Action: It's On Us Initiative. This initiative engaged members and employees with a (free!) treat on BECU at local participating BIPOC- and woman-owned small businesses. We also expanded our Intentionalist partnership by supporting over 64 small businesses in BECU's service areas.
“For me, besides the awesome customer service we've always had... it was setting up accounts for my son with autism. The young man who helped us at the Maple Valley branch was so patient and friendly, he made what we thought would be a complicated process, painless.“ — Amanda W., BECU Member
Partnered with Powerful Players
Every year, we work with other brands to offer new savings opportunities for our members and find innovative ways to give back to our communities.
Sparked Savings
Our member deals and discounts last year encouraged community engagement through local events, concerts, and sports games, saving members some serious money. Members could score discounted tickets to Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs games or get reduced admission to the Museum of Flight, the Pacific Science Center and more.
BECU members saved over $545,000 in 2023 using the Passport Member Discount Program. This website and app allowed members to search for everyday savings by location, category, price and other variables. Members saved on everything from dining out and hotels to car rentals and cruises — the choices were endless!
Music to Members’ Ears
Our duet with nonprofit Seattle radio station KEXP just keeps humming. Whenever BECU members use their debit card featuring KEXP's cassette tape art, one cent per transaction goes to KEXP.
In total, KEXP debit card activity led to over $505,000 in donations last year. Total contributions to KEXP since 2020 add up to more than $1.25 million — money that funds everything from operations to visits from your favorite musical guests.
Sparking Entrepreneurial Spirit
This past year, we also worked to bestow local entrepreneurs with funds and access to the creativity-fueled University of Washington's CoMotion Labs. The 2023 FinTech Incubator competition cohort included:
- My Financial Therapist: An app designed to transform individuals' relationships with money.
- Nickels: Partners with credit unions and banks to improve consumers' credit card health.
- Stakana: Improves credit union performance with AI-optimized marketing.
Winners receive a one-year membership to the CoMotion Labs technology incubator at UW's Startup Hall, as well as access to training, events and BECU mentors. BECU selected teams based on their innovative fintech solutions and alignment with our goal of fostering innovation in the financial services industry.
Served as Your Advocate
BECU advocated for credit union policies with state and federal legislators and regulators.
Our team worked to advance conditions fair to credit unions and addressed issues potentially impacting our members. Important topics included:
- Preserving the credit union tax preference: Not-for-profit financial cooperatives like BECU are exempt from Washington state business and occupation tax, allowing us to return more money to members, keeping fees and interest rates low.
- Protecting consumer information: We supported legislation that protects members' sensitive information from fraud while ensuring compliance with all state and regulatory requirements.
- Creating access to housing: BECU and other credit unions play an essential role in creating pathways to homeownership. We supported legislation that provides down-payment and closing cost assistance, as well as access to credit for consumers.
- Financial literacy: To help students better prepare for a financially healthy and vibrant future, BECU supported policies that promoted financial education opportunities within our education systems.
“As a BECU retiree and longtime member, I continue to be proud of the work you do.“ — Ilene P., BECU Member
Empowered Your Business Success
Whether it’s providing stable jobs to local employees, feeding the Pacific Northwest population or constructing affordable housing, small businesses contribute to thriving local economies. We're here to help you realize your dreams.
Eased Business Banking
We're reducing paperwork and timelines so you can do what you do best — run your business. In 2023, we launched a digital experience that helped small business owners join BECU and use intuitive and simple features, including opening Business Checking and Savings accounts and requesting debit/ATM cards.
We also introduced the option for new business members to digitally apply for an unsecured Line of Credit of up to $50,000.
“With BECU, we don’t feel like customers. We feel like business partners.“ — Nik P., BECU Business Member
Offered a Passport to Promotion
BECU-banked businesses advertised for free through our Passport Discount Program, Power in People and Small Business Saturday campaigns, helping drive even more awareness of their services. BECU members using the Passport app can also search for BECU business members, including Black Coffee Northwest.
Promoted Small-Biz Smarts and Success
Our financial education team responds to business members' questions while BECU makes tools for economic success more accessible:
- Business members' financial education webinar topics include loan preparedness and understanding business financial statements.
- Our Investment Services professionals offer financial education for business members, including retirement planning for owners and employees.
- We partnered with local nonprofit Business Impact NW, which presents in-person and webinar-based training and counseling for business needs and accounting and marketing referral services.
- Our Business Impact NW scholarship program committed $100,000 to BIPOC, woman- and veteran-owned businesses between 2022 and 2025.
Built Abodes
We funded nearly $95 million in Commercial Real Estate Loans to support almost 800 new affordable housing units in our communities. In addition to standard loan offerings, we supported our members by acting as a conduit for the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Affordable Housing Grant program. The program offers grants of up to $1 million to eligible affordable housing projects and sponsors and is awarded annually.
Local developer barrientos RYAN developed the 89-unit, multi-generational project in Seattle's former Northgate Shopping Center. WF Northaven was developed in partnership with Gaard Development, the affordable-housing development arm of the nonprofit organization The Gorder Family Foundation. The building's ground floor holds a seven-classroom early learning center operated by the Refugee Women's Alliance (ReWA).
The project is part of a larger, innovative, multi-generational campus featuring shared outdoor spaces and programs with neighboring Northaven Senior Living. The seven-story mixed-use building features parking stalls, bike storage, a community room and a pocket park doubling as a play area. It's also within walking distance of the Northgate light rail station, easing the environmental impact thanks to a greener commute.
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Read other sections of our 2023 Annual Report: