This past Saturday, several Financial Center employees took part in the 2008 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Indianapolis. As a team, our employees raised $1,180 for the event. Overall, the event had 5,800 walkers and raised $257,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Roger Youngs, Financial Center President/CEO

By now, you have all read or heard about the financial crisis that is affecting financial institutions. What you need to understand is that the institutions that are in trouble have put themselves in harm's way. They loosened the credit criteria to an extreme degree and made loans they should not have. Those loans were then securitized and the resulting investments purchased by other institutions have brought those purchasers into the problem as well.

We have to maintain constant vigil in this marketplace. Jobs are still being lost and prices are rising on every commodity and service we purchase. That being said, I can tell you that Finance Center Federal Credit Union is in extremely solid condition. Here are some reasons why your money is safe with us:

• We have not been involved with the risky types of loans that are causing the problem
• We have approximately 13% capital, well above the industry average
• We have spread our investments over a number of sources, thereby mitigating risk
• We have multiple sources of liquidity if the need arises
• Credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, and no depositor has ever lost a cent due to a credit union failure
• Finance Center Federal Credit Union provides an extra $250,000 of insurance, making your deposits guaranteed up to $500,000 on most accounts

Our capital position is a source of strength for us. You will probably not find a bank in the country with our level of capital, and you will find very few credit unions with that level. We have been prudent in our guardianship of your funds. We were not greedy in seeking huge returns because we knew that the bubble would have to burst at some point and those returns (and likely more) would have to be written off.

I am so confident in our ability to handle the current marketplace that I would challenge each of you to talk with your neighbors and friends about their financial institutions. If their institution cannot make the statements that I have made above, convince them that they should become a member of our credit union. With continued growth, we can bring more and better products to the market for you.

In the final analysis, that is what it is all about - our members. We are proud to have the opportunity to serve you and we will continue to do so in a prudent manner.

Kimberly Palmer from U.S. News&World Report had an interesting article this week on the benefits of joining a credit union.

In the article, Palmer notes that 90 million Americans are members of a credit union, and that most Americans are eligible to join a credit union - even if they don't realize it. She also highlights that credit unions typically offer lower rates on loans and higher rates on savings accounts.

If you live, work, worship, attend school, or volunteer in Indianapolis or Marion County, you're eligible to join our credit union. And, we do our best to bring you the most competitive rates in Indianapolis on everything from checking accounts to auto loans.

Become a member today by clicking the link on the right hand side of this page, or visit our website at www.fcfcu.com.

I've always been an avid sports fan. I really enjoy going to games and taking in the entire atmosphere of a sporting event. Living in Indianapolis, there is seemingly always a game to go to whether it be the Colts, Pacers, Fever, Indians, or Ice. if you live in the Indianapolis area, chances are that you're a fan of at least one of these local franchises. There is a certain amount of pride that comes from rooting for the home team.

An aritlce in USA Today this morning talks about how some regional banks are struggling. Several of these banks have locations in the Indianapolis area. What I found interesting from the article was where some of these "local" banks are headquartered.

• Key Bank - Ohio
• National City - Ohio
• Fifth Third - Ohio
• Regions - Alabama

Financial Center is a true Indianapolis financial institution. We've been serving this community for the past 55 years. Nearly 80% of our members live or work in Marion County. We understand the needs of Indianapolis and we provide products and services designed with those needs in mind.

If you live, work, worship, volunteer, or attend school in Marion County, consider doing business with an Indianapolis based company like Financial Center. Become a member today by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this page, or visit our website at www.fcfcu.com.

On Saturday, Financial Center hosted a member education seminar on how to avoid fraud and identity theft. We had about ten members attend the seminar, and we want to share the presentation with all of those who were unable to attend.



If you have additional questions on how you can protect yourself from fraud and identity theft, visit our website at www.fcfcu.com or call us at 317.916.7700.

This morning I was able to attend a training session on the credit union's latest product, REALTunes Checking.

REALTunes Checking is much like our Reward Checking product in that we will give you an incentive if you satisfy several qualifiers:

• Make at least 12 debit card transactions  each month with your FCFCU debit card
• Receive your monthly statement electronically
• Access Financial Center Online (online banking) at least once per month

The monthly reward for doing these three things is up to $4.95 in credit for the iTunes music store and up to $25 in refunds for ATM surcharges nationwide.

We'll be rolling out this product to the Indianapolis community in the first week of November. Keep reading the blog and check out our website at www.fcfcu.com for more details.

Today, credit unions and their members across the world are celebrating International Credit Union Day. This year's theme is My Credit Union: It Belongs to Me.

Financial Center, much like other credit unions, exists to provide solutions that fulfill our members' needs. Whether you want to buy a new car or home, build a savings account to send your child to college, or save money for retirement - we have a product and trusted representatives that will help you achieve your goal. Providing valued relationships and trusted solutions is at the core of our daily operations.

We'd like to remind all of our members today that our credit union does truly belong to you and that you have a voice in influencing the future of our institution. Without our members, we would not have been able to serve the Indianapolis community for the past 55 years. As you grow and your needs grow and change, we plan to be the place that you turn to achieve your financial goals.

This Saturday, the credit union will host a member education seminar. The topic will be Avoding Fraud and Identity theft. It will take place at our Main Center located at 7101 East 56th Street in Indianapolis from 9 AM to Noon.

Attendees will learn methods on how to avoid becoming a victim of financial fraud. Sign up today by calling 317.916.6250 or by sending an e-mail to dept.busdev@fcfcu.com.

On Thursday (10/16) from approximately 11 AM to 1 PM, our website at www.fcfcu.com will be down for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience. If you need assistance, please call our Member Services team at 317.916.7700.

We've added an additonal Shred Day. The Main Center will host a Shred Day on Saturday, November 15th from 9 AM to Noon. Here's a complete list of the upcoming Shred Days:

• October 18th - Fox Road
• October 25th - Park 100
• November 1st - Southside
• November 8th - Castleton
• November 15th - Main Center

Financial Center will be closed on Monday due to Columbus Day. Online banking and MoneyLine as well as all of our ATMs will still be available for your needs.

On Monday, September 8th, blog reader Sarah commented that she had experienced some problems with our website loading properly. We have since corrected those problems and hope that this greatly improves the experience for all of our credit union members.

If you have any additional problems with the functionality of our website, please give us a call at 317.916.7700 or 800.473.2328.

Financial Center will provide free shredding services tomorrow at our Emerson Center from 9 AM to Noon. The Emerson Center is located at 7915 S. Emerson Avenue in Indianapolis. See you there!

With last week's Senate approval of an increase in the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, Financial Center can now insure your savings up to $500,000.

$250,000 of insurance is now provided by the NCUSIF and we also offer an additional $250,000 through Excess Share Insurance.

With the recent failures of several large banking institutions across the country, we want you to know that Financial Center is standing strong against the turmoil in our industry. We are securely capitalized and offer you insurance that few other institutions can match.

If you're not a Financial Center member, join today. Click on the link on the right hand side of this page and fill out our online membership application. We promise that you won't be disappointed in the great products and services that we offer.

Check out our website at www.fcfcu.com for more details.

MoneyLine, our bank by phone system, will be down until 2 PM today for a service upgrade.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

UPDATE: MoneyLine is back up and running. Thank you for your patience.

The Financial Center team was out in full force at last Friday night's football game between Carmel and Warren Central. Check out the video below of several of our staff members firing t-shirts into the stands!

At Financial Center, financial literacy education is not only our mission - it's our passion. We seek to bring you the best professional advice possible on a variety of topics.

We're currently scheduling our member education seminars for 2009 and want to know what topics you'd like to see covered next year. Please leave a comment below or send an e-mail to mhostetler@fcfcu.com with your idea.

USA Today reported today that annual deductibles for workers jumped an average of 29% this year. One of the main causes of the increase was a growth in the number of high deductible health plans. Financial Center can help.

If you are covered by a high deductible health plan, you can take advantage of our credit union's health savings accounts. With the money you save on premiums from your high deductible health plan, you can place that money in a health savings account.

The best part about our HSAs is that you own and control the money that you put into the account. Plus, we offer numerous HSA products so that you can choose which is best for you. Here is a list of the health savings accounts currently available:

• HSA Savings Account
• HSA Checking Account
• HSA Interest Checking Account
• HSA Money Market Account
• HSA Premium Money Market Account
• HSA Share Certificate

For more information, visit our website or call us today at 317.916.7700.

We've scheduled five opportunities for you to vist several of our Center locations to take advantage of our popular Shred Days. Each Shred Day will be held from 9:00 AM to Noon. Here's the schedule:

October 11th - Emerson Center

October 18th - Fox Road Center

October 25th - Park 100 Center

November 1st - Southside Center

November 8th - Castleton Center