About the Credit Union

	Mission Statement
		The Big Spring Education Employees Federal Credit Union was organized in 1955 to provide its members with a safe, convenient place to save. and a source of low-cost credit when needed. Improving current services and providing new ones for our members is our goal. Our ability to provide these expanded services requires that each of us perform our duties cheerfully, faithfully and conscientiously. The Board of Directors, management and our members (who are actually our employers) expect it.
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	History
		The credit union idea was born more than a century ago in the heart of Frederick William Raiffeisen, mayor of a small town in Germany. The atmosphere of its birth was famine among farmers. Debt of epidemic proportions and unscrupulous money lenders were taking all that the farmers owned. Deeply troubled by the suffering of his people, Raiffeisen appealed to wealthy citizens for aid, but their help was inadequate. This was the time for the dawn of a new idea and it came to Raiffeisen in these troubled times - an idea that people could surmount this common problem of poverty by pooling their own meager savings and lending them to each other at a low rate of interest. This was the credit union idea.
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	Definition of a credit union
		A credit union is a cooperative financial institution, owned and controlled by the members who use its services. Credit unions serve groups that share a common bond, such as where they work, live or go to church. Credit unions are also not-for-profit and exist to provide a safe, convenient place for members to save money and to get loans and other financial services at reasonable rates. In credit unions, the members are the owners. Benefits of ownership include better rates on deposits and loans and better service. Regardless of their size or field of membership, credit unions are different than for-profit financial institutions. Credit unions exist to serve their members. Banks and other financial institutions exist to make money for their stockholders. From World Council of Credit Unions