4Front Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative serving more than 90,000 members across Michigan. In January 2015, 4Front grew from two institutions steeped in member advocacy and locally focused service and the story is one we love to share.
To begin, Governmental Employees Credit Union, which would become Members Credit Union, opened its doors in 1954 in Traverse City. Three years later, Bay Winds Federal Credit Union was founded in Charlevoix, as Saint Mary Catholic Credit Union. Sixty years later, when the volunteer boards of directors of both credit unions announced their shared desire to partner, there was some initial concern based on the results of traditional bank mergers. But the original institutions were not banks and they weren’t terribly traditional either.
Sure, we love baseball, Mom, and apple pie, but we’re financial problem solvers and the status quo would never be good enough for us, or our membership. As independent institutions, we look for ways to help our members succeed and to create greater value for those who trusted us with their financial well-being. We’re pretty successful at it, too. Yet, there was always something missing.
So, imagine the delight our institutions' leadership experienced when they each stumbled upon the kindred spirits separated by less than 50 miles of US 31. The shared dissatisfaction with "good" turned into "maybe there's something here" which morphed into "we'd be silly NOT to do this." Shortly after an overwhelming October 2014 vote of support from the Bay Winds membership, 4Front Credit Union became a reality, opening its doors as a single institution on January 2, 2015.
Now that you know about us, we'd love to learn more about you! Become a member and reach your personal financial goals faster with our tailored suite of financial solutions. Membership is available to anyone living, working, worshipping, or doing business within any of Michigan's 83 counties. And, once you're a member, your spouse, children, siblings, and parents can join, no matter where they live!
As a 4Front member, you’ll enjoy the same smart account management tools offered by big banks, but with one significant difference – simplicity. Your financial well-being is at the heart of our pledge to you, and while plenty of financial institutions make promises, we follow through by ensuring our members enjoy some of the lowest rates on loans and the highest rates on deposits available. We pair these great rates with minimal service fees, rewarding our members for doing right by their fellow members. Our mission isn’t to make money for shareholders at your expense; it’s to do everything we can to ensure the financial needs of our members are met and their expectations exceeded. Wherever you are on your financial journey, we make banking smart and simple.