Mississippi Federal Credit Union

Are you curious about what the difference is between a credit union and a traditional bank? The Vice President of Business Development for Mississippi Federal Credit Union, Justin Harmon, shares some insight on exactly how credit unions work, and what sets them apart from the banking system you might be more familiar with.

What sets us apart from your traditional bank? Credit Unions are a not-for-profit financial cooperative. That means that our members actually own the credit union. As owners you get to reap the rewards as we return our profits back to you in the form of dividend payments, lower lending rates, and higher interest on savings and investment accounts. Your traditional bank is made up of a select few individual shareholders. The bank’s profits are given to the shareholders instead of the customer. Structurally, this is how a credit union is different.

Mississippi Federal Credit Union was founded on November 17, 1958 as the Medical Center Credit Union. It was formed by and for the employees of University Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. The credit union opened its doors with 48 members, $1,329.62, and used a cigar box as its first cash drawer.

We offer every financial product imaginable from a basic savings account, to wealth management, and everything in between. As a part of Co-Op Shared Branching, we have over 5,000 branches across the country, and the largest surcharge free ATM network in the world. Therefore, parents that are members of a credit union in California can easily transfer money to their student’s MSFCU account in Oxford.

Mississippi Federal Credit Union has continued to grow into new markets, adding branches in Grenada and Clinton. And even with our expansion we have maintained a strong presence in the Oxford community by giving back and working hand-in-hand with the Lafayette Literacy Council, The University of Mississippi, Oxford City Schools, and Lafayette County Schools just to name a few. Giving back to the community in which we serve is at the heart of our mission: serving needs and elevating futures. We are especially proud to be investing in the next generation by providing, along with other credit unions, a free financial literacy curriculum for schools. We want our kids and your kids to know and understand the value of a dollar. That means they can be financially stronger at a younger age, and avoid making poor financial decisions. To us the greatest impact we can have is to assist our local community residents, businesses to be more financially sound. It is our great pleasure to have the opportunity to continue serving the Oxford community.

We are excited to be opening our newest branch in the newly renovated Student Union on the Ole Miss campus this month. Feel free to stop by during move-in this week if you have any questions! Parents of Ole Miss will be doing a live video from that branch at 1pm on Friday August 30; tune in to their Facebook and Instagram to check it out!