Contributed

With nearly 1,100 no-surcharge ATMs located throughout North Carolina, State Employees' Credit Union's (SECU) CashPoints network is doing more than just providing convenient access for its members.

The CashPoints ATM network is also saving North Carolina unemployment and child support beneficiaries more than $8.4 million in ATM transaction fees annually, a news release said.

With nearly 3 million transactions each year, these groups are representative of the positive reach and value provided by SECU to all North Carolinians.

With CashPoints, SECU is able to reach beyond its normal boundaries of service only to members and help keep money in the pockets of many additional North Carolinians, further exemplifying the credit union's "People Helping People" philosophy.

As North Carolina's unemployment rate continues to hover around 10 percent, recipients of unemployment benefits rank top among nonmember utilization of CashPoints services. In the past year these recipients, who receive their claims payments via an Employment Security Commission debit card, performed more than 1.8 million transactions at SECU machines, the release said.

The no-surcharge SECU CashPoints network saved this user group more than $5.4 million. Child support recipients performed more than 1 million transactions on the CashPoints network during 2011 as well.

Military personnel also performed a substantial number of transactions at CashPoints machines, accounting for nearly 1 million additional transactions in the past year.

The convenience of SECU's ATM network for military personnel was enhanced even further in 2010 by the signing of bilateral agreements with four military-based credit unions, which broadened the no-surcharge benefit even further for North Carolina military personnel, the release said.

Under this agreement, SECU military members also have no-surcharge access at ATMs owned by Marine Federal Credit Union, Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union, Navy Federal Credit Union and Pentagon Federal Credit Union, providing a worldwide benefit for these members.

"State Employees' Credit Union has always offered its no-surcharge CashPoints ATM network to benefit North Carolinians," said Leanne Phelps, SECU vice president of card services. "A goal of our not-for-profit cooperative is to help keep money in the pockets of members, while also providing an overall economic benefit to all citizens of our state.

"A no-surcharge benefit of $8.4 million to these groups in great need of support is doing just that, and we are delighted to be able to assist."