America First Credit Union (or AFFCU) is a federally chartered credit union headquartered in Riverdale, Utah. America First Credit Union is the 7th largest credit union in the US in terms of membership and the 11th largest credit union in total assets in the U.S.
About America First Credit Union
As of April 2009, America First Credit Union has 88 branches, 495,939 members, and has 4.87 billion USD in assets.
Eligibility for membership in America First is open to anyone who resides, works or has a business interests, practices worship, volunteers, or goes to school in Salt Lake County, Utah, or within twelve miles of the Post Office of Mesquite, Nevada.
Membership also extends to the immediate family of an existing member or those qualwho qualify for membership, as well as employees, business owners, suppliers and employees, or any other associated companies and their employees who work within the food industry, in Utah.
History Of America First Credit Union
In 1939, at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah, around 59 members of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), created the Fort Douglas Civilian Employees Credit Union. On June 23, 1947, the finance office of the United States Army at Fort Douglas was relocated to the Utah General Distribution Depot in Ogden, Utah. The credit union moved with it and renamed itself Federal Employees Credit Union (or FECU)
In 1960, with the addition of the Naval Supply Depot in Clearfield, the credit union was affiliated with 4 other military bases – the other 3 being the Utah General Depot, Fort Douglas, and Hill Air Force Base. Utah-chartered credit unions started serving anybody in the state and the union changed its name to America First Credit Union in 1984.
In 1994, America First Federal Credit Union marketed residential mortgages with forms of incentives like zero fees for first mortgage refinancing, a 1/4 point interest rate decrease if payments were to be deducted from an AFFCU checking account, and a 1/4 point decreased rate for all mortgages of less than 50% of the residence’s value.
Starting in 1998, a series of legal barriers were placed on AFCU’s membership field and its capability to make business loans. In 2003, America First Credit Union became federally chartered. In 2004, AFFCU opened its first branch location in Summit County, Utah.
In the late 2000/early 2001, America First Credit Union opened a 6,300 square feet unit in Layton, Utah.
In 2005, America First Credit Union announced that it was going to make small business administration loans available to its members.