The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
Construction Begins On New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
We are excited to announce that Mid Oregon Credit Union recently began construction of a new full-service branch location in Sisters. While we have a current branch at 703 N. Larch Street, we are pleased to begin work on our new Sisters location for Mid Oregon.
Branch in Shopping Center With Ray’s Food Place
The new branch will be located at 650 N. Arrowleaf Trail, between the McDonald’s and the St. Charles Family Care Clinic on Highway 20. Once the branch is completed, it will replace Mid Oregon’s current leased location on Larch Street across from the Sisters Post Office.
The new building has received the necessary approvals, with construction currently underway at the site. The 3,500 sq. ft. building has an expected opening date near the end of 2020. The branch will include a drive-up lane with ATM and teller services, as well as a full array of loan and deposit services inside.
Improved Access For Sisters’ Businesses and Residents
“We’re excited to continue our great relationship with the Sisters community and expand our services for local residents and visitors,” says Maureen Rogers, Mid Oregon’s Chief Risk Officer. “We believe our new location will provide improved access for the local residents who shop, work, and conduct business nearby.”
Outgrowing Current Sisters Location
The current Sisters location opened in March of 2017 with a staff of three, and with a drive-up ATM. Mid Oregon anticipates adding staff at the new location to accommodate additional branch capacity.
Our New Digital Banking Platform!
It has been a long time coming. The wheels have been in motion for over a year! But it is now here. We are excited to announce the launch of our new digital banking platform.
Improved Member Service Experience
The change to our new system was done for many reasons members will never see. Key factors were integration with other systems, security and more “behind the scenes” reasons. What seems to be please members the most, however, is the experience inside online banking.
“The new mobile/online banking system will vastly improve our member service experience,” says Kevin Cole, Executive VP/CFO. “In its first week of adoption, more than 75 percent of our online banking users logged in to the new system, which indicates how much our members are choosing to manage their money remotely. We are pleased to provide our members with the highest level of digital personal and business account management capability available in the market today to meet their increased need for remote services.”
Robust Features And More Control
The new system is seamlessly integrated, providing exceptional account management flexibility in desktop and mobile banking. Our new technology includes features such as:
• View all your accounts in one location, including external accounts
• Savings goals – set goals, track progress and set alerts
• Card management – block, unblock card access and alerts
• PayTo – send and receive funds to anyone with a phone number or email, with no fees
• Mobile deposit – deposit checks into your account right from your smartphone
• Credit Savvy – see, track and monitor your credit score, get tips on how to improve it, and receive offers based on qualifications
• Track your spending by category—even on non-Mid Oregon accounts!
• Personalized logins for multiple account users
• Full suite of enhanced features just for business users
The new digital banking system also includes all the current mobile/online conveniences of paying and tracking bills online, account transfers, alerts, and electronic statements, plus enhanced security to protect members from fraud.
Patience During The Transition
The transition was relatively easy for most of our members, and some experienced challenges. In spite of generally tripling our Contact Center team, and re-purposing other staff during the transition, factors led to long wait times for help for come. We apologize for their frustration, and thank them for their patience. The few days notice we had for stimulus check distribution and the Payment Protection Program loans didn’t allow time to make any changes and added to member inquiries. We are happy that members, when engaged in the new system, have been enjoyed the expanded capabilities they now have.
We hope they continue to explore the tools at their disposal, and improve their financial well being as a result.
COVID-19 Pandemic Financial Management
The COVID-19 pandemic is not only causing fear and uncertainty about our health, but our livelihood as well. Many wonder “What happens to me and my family if my employer has to lay off people or my hours are cut?” Perhaps you are already experiencing COVID-19 pandemic financial management challenges?
Track Your Expenses
Now more than ever, it’s important to keep track of your expenses to make sure you’re not spending more than you make or increasing your credit card debt. If you feel like you live paycheck to paycheck, then now is definitely time to take a hard look at your expenses, see where you can make adjustments, and take firm control.
Create a Budget
To get control, you need to know exactly what you’re dealing with – how much money is coming in each month and how much is going out. To get a clear picture, create a budget. There are many apps and online templates you can choose from. Many of them provide visual images, like pie charts, that help you see how big of a chunk each expense is taking from your take-home pay.
A budget will tell you if you’re setting aside enough money for the essentials (rent, utilities, food) and how much is being eaten up by non-essentials (like snacks, eating out, cable, or non-essential online purchasing). If money is tight, cancel non-essential subscription services temporarily. You can always restart them when things get better. The silver lining of this pandemic is that since most of us are practicing social distancing to minimize contagion, you may already be saving money by not going out.
Minimize Credit Card Impact
If your credit card debt is high, see if any of your existing cards are offering low interest rates on balance transfers. Transfer the balance from the highest card to a lower interest card and pay more than the minimum whenever possible. Mid Oregon’s VISA credit cards can cost you less, with no balance transfer fees. Also, until you have paid off the debt, only use your credit card for emergencies.
Emergency Savings
Another important task is to beef up your emergency savings or start an emergency savings account if you haven’t done so. Ideally, you want to save at least 3 months of your take-home pay. You can start with as little as $5 a week. Simply save $5 consistently each week and when you think you can add a little more, increase your deposit. To make this easier, set up an automatic transfer from your checking account.
Mid Oregon’s online banking provides a savings goal tool that makes it easy to set and track your emergency fund and other savings goals. New online banking users can easily register on our website.
Mid Oregon also has additional ways to support our members. At this time we are also offering our members CARE Loans, Refinance options, Skip-A-Payments and more. Know that Mid Oregon Credit Union is still here for you. Current information is available on our COVID-19 Update page.