Member of the Month: Amplify Credit Union
Each month, the Austin Young Chamber will highlight a member who is doing extraordinary work to strengthen our businesses, our community…or both! Showcasing their achievements is just one way we can put a spotlight on the talented, collaborative, and community-focused workforce we have here in Central Texas.
This month we’re highlighting Amplify Credit Union – a Young Chamber Corporate Member and a local credit union that provides digital-first financial solutions with world-class member care. We talked with Felicia Morales, Director of Marketing, about Amplify Credit Union, a new initiative they’ve been working on, and some of the ways Amplify strives to positively impact the community.
Austin Young Chamber: Tell us a little more about Amplify Credit Union’s mission.
Felicia Morales: Amplify Credit Union offers fee-free banking and award-winning lending throughout the state of Texas. In 1967, the organization was founded as the credit union for IBM employees in Austin. Today, it provides digital-first banking and lending services to 60,000 members, including home loans, checking & savings accounts, commercial lending, and more.
In addition, Amplify has been named a Top Workplace in Austin for three years in a row, and this year was named a Top 50 Workplace in the USA. The organization is rooted in its mission to improve the financial lives of its members and uses the proceeds from that to provide a safe place to call home for those without.
Austin Young Chamber: What is one initiative Amplify has worked on recently that you and your organization is most proud of?
Felicia: This year, Amplify became the first and only full-service financial institution in the country to eliminate all banking fees. We still provide all the same services customers expect, such as overdraft protection and wire transfers, they’re just now all free… for everyone, all the time, no matter what. That keeps $2 million per year where it belongs, which is in the pockets of our members.
That should matter to Austin Young Chamber members because younger generations pay more in bank fees and small business owners are often inundated with fees on their bank accounts. We’re proud Austin now has a financial institution where depositors can be safe from the vicious cycle bank fees can create, and we’re eager to bring that to more young professionals and business owners in Austin.
Austin Young Chamber: What are some of the ways Amplify strives to impact the Austin community?
Felicia: There are three major ways we seek to impact the Austin community:
Volunteerism: At Amplify, our teammates play an active role in the health of our community, and we encourage that through Community Care Hours. That program pays full-time employees up to 40 hours per year to volunteer for nonprofit causes important to them in addition to regular paid time off.
Community Partnerships: Through our Safe Place To Call Home initiative we support organizations that address and prevent homelessness in Central Texas, currently including Saint Louise House, Caritas of Austin and the American Red Cross of Central & South Texas.
Fee-Free Banking: We believe the future of banking should be a future without bank fees, and we’re leading by example. For us, eliminating bank fees is about creating financial inclusion and that’s key to the strength of our community.
Austin Young Chamber: Anything else the Austin Young Chamber and the Greater Austin Community should know about Amplify’s work?
Felicia: Austinites have many choices for where they bank and find loans for their homes, cars and businesses. When they choose Amplify, they can know they’re not just getting great rates on quality products with strong digital capabilities.
They’re also ensuring everyone in our community can be protected from the vicious cycle of bank fees and they can know they’re contributing to solutions for those experiencing homelessness in Central Texas.
