ESL Members' Funds Are Safe with Us

The financial difficulties of these past weeks have caused concern among many Americans. But we are pleased to report that ESL Federal Credit Union is safe, secure and well-capitalized. You can feel confident because:

• As a federally-chartered credit union, ESL is limited by regulations in the types of loans and investments that it is allowed to make. Accordingly, ESL's investments and loan practices are generally conservative. ESL enjoys tremendous member loyalty and has been consistently profitable since its founding as Eastman Savings & Loan in 1920. Fiscally, ESL is doing very well. In fact, last year, ESL paid out $7.25 million in Owners' Dividend.
• ESL Federal Credit Union is Safe and Sound. ESL is insured through the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration). As of October 3, Congress increased the amount of coverage for individuals up to $250,000 per owner per insured credit union through December 31, 2009. In addition, NCUA provides coverage of amounts up to $250,000 for self-directed retirement accounts also known as IRAs. The NCUA is the federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions and insures savings in federal and most state-chartered credit unions across the country through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), a federal fund backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. You may increase your level of insurance by having accounts across ownership categories that include single accounts, joint accounts, self-directed retirement accounts, and revocable trust accounts.

If you would like to determine how much of your savings at ESL is covered by federal insurance, may visit the NCUA insurance calculator at http://webapps.ncua.gov/ins/. In addition, if you would like to review ESL's financial condition, may do so by logging on to http://www.ncua.gov/ConsumerInformation/index.htm, selecting find a credit union in your area, entering Charter #24563, and clicking Find. There you will find the Financial Performance Report-Ratio Analysis. This information is provided by the NCUA. This information is posted quarterly; therefore, you should be able to view updated information at the end of each quarter.

Of special note, on October 1, the U.S. Senate passed the financial bail-out- measure. Included in this package is a provision, which temporarily raises the standard share and deposit coverage limit of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from $100,000 to $250,000. This package was passed in U. S. Congress on Friday, October, 3.

NCUA has also established a call center that you can use to get answers to your questions about the federal protection of credit union member shares through NCUSIF. You can call (800) 755-1030, ext. 1, 8:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. Experts are available to answer questions regarding NCUSIF coverage.