Year End Review

2020 started off normal enough. Plans were progressing on our new office in Big Lake. We successfully conducted another record-setting Chain of Hearts fundraiser for CU4K and the Children’s Miracle Network. In February, we live-streamed the presentation of the check to Gillette Specialty Healthcare, followed by yours truly taking a pie in the face.  News of a virus in China began to be discussed more each day. 

By mid-March we began to see the effects of COVID-19 disrupting our daily lives. Events were cancelled, businesses were forced to close their doors and we saw our youth shift to online learning – our lives ground to a halt.  Stay at Home mandates were issued. Terms like “essential workers,” “social distancing,” and PPE were becoming part of our vernacular.

Closer to home, Minnco began to reduce hours of service in our lobbies and encourage members to use our drive-thrus and online and mobile banking options. We split staff into rotating shifts to reduce the possibility of needing to shut down an office. Safety protocols were developed and put into practice to ensure the health of our members and staff.

As businesses closed and people began to lose their jobs or have their hours reduced, we immediately began to assist members facing financial difficulties. We waived fees, deferred payments on loans, and created our AnyDay Line of Credit.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Minnco was forced to hold its first virtual annual meeting on June 15, 2020. One week later, on June 22, the doors to Minnco’s sixth office opened in Big Lake!

Any hope that COVID-19 would be short-lived was beginning to disappear as summer rolled on. Members were quick to adapt to drive-thru service and the use of our online and mobile banking continued to grow in popularity. Loan growth remained strong as members applied for and closed their loans electronically, without the need to visit an office.  However, you can meet with an employee by setting up an appointment on our home page at www.minnco.com.

In the fall, Minnco added deposit capability to most of its ATMs. This allows members to make deposits of either cash or checks at Minnco ATMs, providing another convenient way for members in addition to drive-thrus and SnapDeposit.

In November Minnco launched the NetGiver app, a free app available for both Apple and Android products. NetGiver allows members to make electronic donations to the charities of their choosing, safely and simply. The benefit to the charities is that 100% of the donations are received, rather than a percentage being lost to fees and processing expenses.

In December Minnco launched Credit Score, powered by SavvyMoney. You can read more about Credit Score in this quarter’s Minnco Messenger or at www.minnco.com. In short, Credit Score provides members with free credit scores and credit reports, along with useful articles on improving one’s score.

2020 has been a challenging year, for all of us. I want to thank you for your loyalty to Minnco, and your ability to try new things, to adapt, to be flexible to changing hours and new service delivery channels. As we enter 2021 with vaccines now being administered, and more on the way, we hope the worst is behind us and a promising year ahead. One thing that 2020 has taught us is to not take anything for granted and to make the most of each day. 

On a final note, we are planning to post the initial stimulus money(Economic Impact Payments recently passed in Washington D.C.) on Saturday January 2^nd.  As we experienced last spring, additional files will likely be provided to us next week.  Please refer to www.irs.gov should you have questions on the Economic Impact Payments.

Be Kind. Do Good. Be Safe