As we continue to adjust to a post-pandemic world, Century Credit Union continues to perform quite well, as reflected in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

S&P Global Market Intelligence ranked us as one of the top 100 best-performing credit unions in the United States with $100 million or more in assets. We were the only credit union in Missouri to earn this recognition in 2023.

Moreover, we received a 5-star “Superior” rating from BauerFinancial every quarter last year. In fact, we’ve been awarded it every quarter since December 1994!

Highlights of 2023

• One of the primary indicators of how well our members are receiving the products and services we offer is our asset size and growth in membership. Our assets were $146,684,463, which held steady to prior year totals. Additionally, membership increased 1.10 percent, with almost 9,000 people (8,963) doing their personal financial business with us.
  
• Century Credit Union continues to be a well-capitalized financial institution, with a strong net worth ratio of 18.06 percent. To put that in perspective, a net worth ratio above 7.00 percent is considered “well-capitalized” by our regulators.

• Our earnings were 1.31 percent, almost twice as high as the average Return on Average Assets (ROAA) for U.S. credit unions (0.69 percent). ROAA is an important measure of a credit union’s financial performance.
  
• In total, our members have valued the high-yield options the credit union provides, with more than $9 million added to their CD and Prime Money Market accounts in 2023.

• We recognize the challenges many are facing with rising costs across the board, from groceries and energy to gas and interest rates. Many members are having to use their savings to keep up with expenses. We hope to ease that burden by offering high-yield interest options, competitive loan rates, and minimal fees.

• We disbursed more than $21 million in loans and made over 1,100 new loans, including 407 auto loans totaling over $11 million and 412 unsecured loans exceeding $2 million. Overall, our loan portfolio grew by $5 million, representing 6.45 percent growth. This reflects the competitive rates and friendly terms Century Credit Union is able to offer, despite the upward trend in interest rates we’ve seen nationally. Delinquencies remained very low at 0.25 percent. Thank you for trusting Century Credit Union for your lending needs.

SEG changes

In today’s dynamic environment, every organization must be ready to shift. As our membership evolves, we’re proposing updates to the Select Employee Groups (SEGs) listed in our bylaws. This “housekeeping” step ensures we offer membership to actively participating organizations and removes outdated listings. This update reflects our commitment to serving a thriving and relevant community base.

Leadership Changes

As many of you know, our dedicated President and CEO, Bob Eike, retired in 2023 after serving the credit union well for over 32 years. We are delighted to welcome our new leader, Joshua Wallace, who has worked in various capacities with Century Credit Union for over 15 years. We have every confidence in his ability to lead us into the future.

Board of Directors

I’d like to recognize my six fellow board members – Vice Chair Bill Sip, Secretary Terry Banister, Treasurer Bob Eike, Sue Pauly, Leo Chirco, and Tim McBride – for their dedication to this credit union. United in leadership, we are responsible for ensuring your credit union has a capable, qualified, and transparent management team. I can say without hesitation that we do. The strength of this board’s commitment to the highest standards of governance and management is integral to Century Credit Union’s well-being, sustainability, and prosperity.

Closing

The last several years have presented changes and challenges for us, including the rising cost of goods and services in a post-COVID world, but they also taught us that we are more than capable of facing an evolving economy and technological space in 2024.

Century Credit Union is committed, as always, to listening to your feedback and exploring the best ways to serve and support our members through challenging circumstances.

We feel confident that we can continue to offer some of the best products and services at a low cost, and we look forward to the opportunities to demonstrate our value proposition.

Thank you to all our members/owners for your support and loyalty and spreading the word about us to others so we can continue to grow and thrive. All the best to you and your families this year.

Mark Falkner, Chairman of the Board