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MSGCU 2024 Year in Review
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI – Feb. 5, 2025 – Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union (MSGCU) is proud to share 2024 achievements and highlights, including community support initiatives, award recognitions, and member service enhancements. Last year also marked a significant milestone for MSGCU as it celebrated 70 years of serving members.
Making a positive impact.
To support its commitment to the credit union philosophy of “people helping people,” MSGCU provided nearly $300,000 in community support, helping individuals and 234 organizations across its branch office network.
Through its annual Giving Back program, MSGCU selected a deserving local organization near each of its 22 branches to receive a $1,000 donation. The funds were presented by branch team members to various organizations to support their efforts of making our communities a better place, including local fire and police departments, and community organizations like Camp Casey and Hospitality House. The credit union also provided over $20,000 in sponsorship funds to support 37 organizations in the communities it serves.
Last year in the fall, the credit union offered a special promotion to its members where one cent of every purchase made with MSGCU debit and credit cards was donated to Locks of Love. With the help of its members, MSGCU donated over $4,300 to the organization, which helps children suffering from medical hair loss by providing them with high-quality hairpieces at no charge.
MSGCU encourages team members to offer their time and talents to organizations in their communities. Throughout 2024, credit union team members provided 2,872 volunteer hours to 89 local organizations of their choice. Organization-wide, MSGCU also supported various initiatives through donations and volunteerism, including supporting McWarm warming shelter and helping Food Gatherers alleviate hunger through the Lunches with Love program. Team members also purchased and donated new toys to local children’s hospitals during the holiday season.
With a dedication to showing gratitude and support for first responders and their families, MSGCU provided a donation to Mission Oakland for the family of a fallen Oakland County Deputy. The credit union also supported the Rochester Hills Fire Department following the splash pad tragedy, and gave a donation to help first responders purchase tactical gear.
To help small businesses near its branch offices, MSGCU participated in CU Lunch Local, an annual credit union initiative where team members purchase lunch from their favorite local eateries. MSGCU was proud to support locally owned restaurants with $3,750 in purchases.
The credit union also supported small businesses and the local economy by presenting Shop Local, Bank Local last year. The goal of this program was to give back to local businesses and community members, while introducing MSGCU to neighbors around its new branches in Ann Arbor and Saline. MSGCU teamed up with 12 businesses in Ann Arbor and Saline to hold Shop Local, Bank Local events, where community members shopped at participating local retailers and played a fun MSGCU spin-to-win game for the chance to receive a variety of prizes.
Helping students and educators.
As a credit union founded by educators over 70 years ago, MSGCU strives to honor its educational heritage by supporting local students and teachers. MSGCU was proud to support Ann Arbor Public Schools last year through a donation of 20,000 eclipse glasses, which allowed students and staff to safely view the historic eclipse in April.
MSGCU also has robust scholarship and Classroom Cash Grants programs to benefit local students and teachers. Since the inception of these programs, MSGCU has given close to $2 million, furthering 625 educational journeys for local students, and funding over 1,200 innovative classroom projects for educators. In 2024, MSGCU provided over $155,000 through scholarships and grants to support career goals and enhance local classrooms.
Scholarships were awarded to students, certified educators, first responders, and those pursuing skilled trades certification. In 2024, $110,500 in scholarships benefited 47 deserving individuals who were celebrated at an award ceremony and reception. The application period for the 2025 scholarship program is open through February 25 on the credit union’s website, msgcu.org/scholarships. Starting this year, MSGCU is awarding 10 additional scholarships to high school students, an increase of $25,000. In total, the credit union will provide over $130,000 in scholarships with recipients announced in early May.
MSGCU’s Classroom Cash Grants program launched 20 years ago. This initiative provides up to $750 grants to teachers to help them bring innovative project ideas to life in their classrooms that would otherwise go unfunded. Grant recipients are determined through a public voting period. The 2024 program inspired the public to cast over 117,000 votes for their favorite projects, and the credit union funded $45,000 in grants to 62 teachers from 51 schools in Michigan. Educators purchased resources to provide fun and interesting lessons for their students, enhancing their curriculum in science, math, literacy, and more.
Providing financial education.
With an educational heritage, MSGCU is dedicated to sharing financial literacy with members and the community. Throughout 2024, the credit union provided financial education to over 17,000 individuals through classroom presentations, Reality Fairs, in-person and virtual workshops, and through its blog and Interactive Financial Education platform, which allows users to take quick lessons or a full playlist on a variety of topics at their leisure.
Honored by awards and accolades.
Last year, the credit union received the Michigan Credit Union League Outstanding Credit Union of the Year Award for its member service enhancements and community support activities. MSGCU also received a Top Workplaces recognition from the Detroit Free Press for the 12th consecutive year.
“Providing an exceptional workplace for our team members is important to MSGCU,” said Steve Brewer, MSGCU President/CEO. “This recognition means a lot to us since it's determined by our team members and reflects their passion for helping our members achieve financial success.”
Enhancing member services.
To make banking in person more convenient for its members, MSGCU opened two new branches in 2024 to expand its branch network to 22 locations. The Ann Arbor branch office on West Stadium Boulevard opened in January, marking MSGCU’s second location in Washtenaw County. In April, the credit union opened its third Shelby Township branch office, located on 26 Mile at Van Dyke.
To fulfill its commitment of providing convenient and efficient member services, MSGCU launched various service improvements last year. Highlights include online chat, Video Banking, an AI-assisted chatbot, and advanced card controls.
With the rollout of its upgraded online chat in February, MSGCU members can quickly and easily connect with a team member to ask questions. This channel also offers extended service hours for added convenience, and members can easily transition from online chat to Video Banking for services requiring authentication. MSGCU’s chat functionality also features an AI chatbot to assist members with commonly asked questions 24/7.
MSGCU launched Video Banking in June and members can now conduct their banking right from the comfort of home. Friendly MSGCU team members can help members open an account, close on a loan, share documents securely, and much more. This feature is easily accessible through the credit union’s website, msgcu.org, by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner.
To help members manage their debit and credit cards, the credit union introduced the option to set travel alerts in the MSGCU Mobile App. Travel alerts allow members to notify MSGCU of any upcoming travel plans to ensure card purchases are not blocked due to suspicious activity when they’re away from home.
Moving forward.
The credit union experienced another successful year in 2024 and the MSGCU team is looking forward to serving members in the year ahead. MSGCU will continue to provide value to its membership by keeping fees low and providing competitive rates to help members achieve financial success. The focus on enhancing products and services will remain as MSGCU looks to continue its momentum of adding convenient banking options.
“MSGCU is dedicated to delivering an excellent service experience for our members, and this drives our team to continually improve our products and services to make it easier to bank with us,” said Steve Brewer, MSGCU President/CEO. “Last year’s accomplishments reflect our commitment to helping our members and the communities we serve reach their financial goals.”
2025 will be a year of growth for MSGCU as the credit union opens a second branch office in Rochester Hills, located on Rochester Road at Hamlin. In early 2025, T&I Credit Union and MSGCU announced an intent to merge, pending a successful member vote from T&I Credit Union members in March. If the vote is affirmative, the merger will be effective on April 1, 2025.
“MSGCU and T&I Credit Union share common core values and a dedication to the credit union philosophy of people helping people,” stated MSGCU President/CEO Steve Brewer. “We are excited to welcome T&I Credit Union members and team members into the MSGCU family following a successful member vote.”
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