Growing and Investing in You, Our Members
While it all seems new and “unprecedented,” we have all been “here” before – facing something new, different, scary, and uncertain. In our 85 years of service to our membership and our communities, we have worked through good times and bad, with our values intact and our sights always set on the future. We are here to serve you and your family’s needs for fairly priced financial solutions as best as we can. We will get through this COVID-19 epidemic and the greater societal ills being expressed from so many. While we are all different, our common humanity, empathy, caring, and trust can unite us as we search for common ground and mutual respect. We’re all in this together! Thank you.
Now on to business matters. Recently, we upgraded our new online account opening solution that makes it much easier to establish a new membership and/or add accounts virtually on your own. The new solution provides several different account funding options to open the accounts, and soon you will be able to open accounts using your digital wallet payment tools. No matter the weather (strange this year!) or time of day, this option can make it easy and can save you a visit to our branches.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related shutdowns, many members sought our online banking and mobile banking solutions to do many banking tasks with relative ease, including using our mobile check deposit or our ATM check deposit features or just using mobile to do routine banking. We recently updated a number of mobile and online banking features for security and navigation. While it takes some time to adjust to the new features and functionality, including the security features that we will continue to refine and adjust, we hope you find them helpful and more efficient.
While our community branches are fully open at this time, our branches on premise at various company and school locations remain closed as restrictions are in place for visitors and vendors. Our community branches welcome you to use the drive-thru, ATM, or lobbies and to practice the safety protocols that are mandated for everyone’s protection. Use our appointment scheduling tool located on our website to plan your visit to a community branch. This will ensure we are prepared and ready to efficiently serve your needs and save you time.
Our team is busy getting ready for a lot of new enhancements to our branch and back-office technology and service environments that will speed up account opening, account servicing, teller window service, and identification practices next spring. New systems will enable our staff in the branches, our Call Centers, and in our lending areas with more information available to better serve you.
On another note, exercise your right to vote for local and national candidates – Tuesday, November 3rd.
Stay well and enjoy the autumn season!
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Dean Marchessault
President & Chief Executive Officer
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Say Hello to Our New Everyday Checking |
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Enjoy the FREEdom to Bank How and Where You Want |
Open a new Everyday Checking account from October 1, 2020, through November 7, 2020, and get $100 cash when you enroll in e-Statements and have Direct Deposits totaling $250 in the first 60 days the account is open.
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Join in Saluting Our Veterans This November |
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We Need Your Help in Building an Honor Roll of Veterans |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) continues its support of veterans by announcing a month-long celebration of veterans, their families, and the organizations that support them.
During November, AEFCU will honor the men and women who have served our country with an Honor Roll of Veterans. Members are invited to submit names of someone who retired from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, or Navy. These names will appear on AEFCU’s Honor Roll of Veterans throughout November on our website as a “thank you” for their service.
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$5,000 in Grants To Be Awarded to Veterans' Organizations
AEFCU will award a total of $5,000 in grants from its Donor-Advised Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to organizations that support veterans. Each Monday in November, AEFCU will announce a $1,000 grant to a different veterans’ organization as chosen by a group of AEFCU employees.
“We can never say thank-you enough to the men and women who fought for and protected our country throughout the years. But, by sharing our gratitude and appreciation over an entire month, including the traditional November 11 Veterans Day celebration, we hope to show that we will always remember and honor their service,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of American Eagle Financial Credit Union. “Our month-long program was spearheaded by the employees of AEFCU who will help build the American Eagle Honor Roll of Veterans and decide the recipients of our weekly donations to veterans’ organizations. This was truly a labor of love for all.”
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American Eagle Is Soaring in the Community |
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Over $22,000 Donated in Third Quarter's Cash Back to the Community |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union announced the recipients of $22,077 in donations from its participatory funding program, Cash Back to the Community.
Total donated year-to-date is $62,344.
During 2020, AEFCU is donating one percent of its credit and debit card interchange income to three nonprofit and/or 501(c)(3) organizations each quarter through the Cash Back to the Community program. Funding for the program is generated each time members use an American Eagle credit or debit card. At the end of each quarter, one percent of the total interchange income–the fee paid for credit and debit card transactions–is being distributed to the three top qualified nonprofits as voted on by both the Credit Union’s members and the general public.
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North Haven Branch Celebrates First Anniversary with Two Donations |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union celebrated the one-year anniversary of its community branch on Washington Avenue in North Haven by making donations to two nonprofit organizations to assist low-income and at-risk families in North Haven.
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CU Donates Computer Equipment to East Hartford Public Schools |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union donated 50 personal computers along with monitors, keyboards, mice, and cables to the East Hartford Public School system. The computers will be refurbished with new hard drives and software to establish a computer learning lab at the Early Childhood Learning Center at Hockanum School in East Hartford.
“American Eagle is excited to help create a computer learning lab that will be critical for 21st century learning,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of American Eagle Financial Credit Union. “The fact that the Early Childhood Learning Center at Hockanum School is located in East Hartford furthers our ties with our corporate headquarters city at a time when educational partnerships are necessary and integral in training the next generation workforce.”
“The new computer lab will consist of 30-35 workstations for preschool students to learn computer skills and for their parents to complete registration materials and more. The remaining computers will be deployed around the school as mini-labs,” said Tim Homa, information technology manager with East Hartford Public Schools.
Homa added that he plans to start refurbishing the computers donated by American Eagle this year in hopes of getting them installed and in use by Pre-K students in early 2021.
“This donation and kind gesture by American Eagle is going to make a significant impact on our students’ and parents’ ability to access and utilize technology in our building,” said Renee Byers, principal/head start director, Early Childhood Learning Center at Hockanum School. “Our families will be able to develop new computer skills and have entry to educational programs through this technology. In addition, families can practice new skills with the support of our staff while at the Early Childhood Learning Center, which will support their use of technology to access education at home.”
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CU Awards $8,000 in Grants to Public School Districts for Supplies |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) continues its longstanding support of public schools in Connecticut with its donation of eight $1,000 grants to school districts in its service areas. The $8,000 donation is being made through the American Eagle Donor-Advised Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
The eight public school systems receiving grants are: Bloomfield, Cromwell, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, Middletown, North Haven, and Vernon.
“In these uncertain times, we want to make sure that students, their families, teachers, and administrators know that American Eagle continues its education funding that is focused on making the classroom experience, whether in person or online, as valuable as possible,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of American Eagle Financial Credit Union.
“We appreciate American Eagle’s generosity and continued support during these trying times,” said Joseph P. Macary, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools of the Town of Vernon.
“Thank you for the generous donation to the Enfield Public Schools. We appreciate the support American Eagle Financial Credit Union and the Hartford Foundation have provided us in the past and look forward to our continued partnership,” said Chris Drezek, Superintendent of Schools for Enfield Public Schools.
The grants from American Eagle will be used to help each school district purchase and provide classroom supplies to students and teachers during the 2020-2021 school year.
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Employees Donate Over $11,400 from Third Quarter Payroll Deductions |
American Eagle Financial Credit Union employees donated $11,441 from their weekly payroll deductions for the third quarter, July 1 through September 30, 2020.
The Prosperity Foundation of New Haven received $6,132 from the Jeans Fridays fundraiser. TPF is a community foundation designed to strengthen Connecticut’s Black communities in critical areas such as health, education, and economic development. TPF is an outgrowth of the Urban Prosperity Fund, which was created in New Haven, CT, in 2010 to promote philanthropy, prosperity, and self-empowerment in the Black community.
American Eagle employees have collectively donated $34,000 in 2020!
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CU Donates $3,000 to Food Banks in Honor of Its Board of Directors |
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) continues its longstanding support of food banks with its donation of three new $1,000 grants to Foodshare in Bloomfield, Connecticut Food Bank in Wallingford, and The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact a growing number of people in our community who are in need of nutritional support. Our latest donations to these vital food banks were made to honor our Board of Directors – a dedicated group of volunteers to whom we normally provide a token of our appreciation for their time during our annual fall strategic planning session. This year’s token, a donation in their names, reflects our Board’s concern and commitment to address hunger in our communities,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of American Eagle Financial Credit Union.
Foodshare is Greater Hartford’s regional food bank, distributing meals through its network of more than 260 partners' food pantries, meal programs, and Mobile Foodshare sites. Last year, Foodshare distributed enough food for nearly 14 million meals.
Connecticut Food Bank works through a network of community-based programs, such as soup kitchens, food pantries, and shelters to provide nutritious food to people in need in six counties - Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, and Windham.
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts provides food to people in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties. Through independent pantries, meal sites, and shelters, the organization provides sustenance to individuals, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities to help them lead healthy and meaningful lives.
“We thank American Eagle for their generous support. Their investment will go directly to serving our community through programs like our Rentschler Field distribution and Mobile Foodshare sites and through our network of partner agencies that are on the front lines of hunger in Greater Hartford," said Kathryn Mastandrea, Director of Giving at Foodshare.
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Pathways Entrepreneurial Labs Interns Take a Virtual "Bite of Reality" |
American Eagle and The Credit Union League of Connecticut teamed up to present four virtual Financial Reality Fairs using the Bite of Reality mobile app to 70 students in the Pathways Entrepreneurial Labs program (PELabs) at Pathways Academy of Technology & Design in East Hartford.
The students learned from Credit Union professionals about the importance of saving, budgeting, and credit, while engaging in a hands-on mobile app exercise in choosing a career and managing their day-to-day personal finances as young adults.
PELabs is a 5 1/2-week summer program where student interns are part of an entrepreneurial team (Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Media, Graphic Design, IT, Web Design) whose mission will be to develop products or services for customers while engaging in the entire end-to-end business process.
“Through this unique summer business program, interns learn skills in their chosen business area of focus, develop professional and entrepreneurial skills and experience, and build their professional network, résumé, and portfolio,” said John Griffin, PELabs Program Director.
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Knox Named New England Women in Banking Honoree |
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Teresa Knox, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU), has been selected as a 2020 New England Women in Banking honoree by Banking New England magazine.
The acknowledgement, according to the publication, honors “the growing impact that women are having on the banking industry” and the “many trailblazers who are leading the way for others in this once male-dominated area.”
“Teresa’s impact on American Eagle’s operations, productivity, and community involvement has been extraordinary,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of American Eagle Financial Credit Union. “Her commitment to her profession, co-workers, and community has made American Eagle a better business and more forward-thinking institution.”
Knox was acknowledged by Banking New England for the many initiatives she has led in her 17-year career at American Eagle that now define the Credit Union. She has spearheaded the opening of 10 branches, including American Eagle’s first branch office in New Haven County. American Eagle, with 18 branches today, now serves 155,000 members in Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven and Tolland counties in Connecticut and Hampden County in Massachusetts.
Knox was also cited for leading the 85-year-old institution’s entry into a new age in 2018 with the opening of American Eagle’s new Financial Center, located in a 100,000 square-foot office space in East Hartford, Connecticut. Today, the American Eagle Financial Center is a state-of-the-art landmark on the banks of the Connecticut River.
The publication also recognized Knox for bringing her business excellence to many community endeavors. She is a board member of the Credit Union's Building Financial Independence, a nonprofit foundation of the Credit Union League of Connecticut, dedicated to building economic capacity, community impact, and financial inclusion. She also participates in Financial Reality Fairs, a hands-on experience in which students are taught how to live within monthly salaries based on their chosen careers. To date, the reality fairs have reached more than 34,000 Connecticut high school students. Also, Knox serves as a volunteer teaching financial literacy to students at the Pathways Academy of Technology & Design in East Hartford. Knox joined American Eagle in 2003.
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New East Hartford Branch Opening December 2020 |
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Inside Goodwin University Building at 361 Main Street |
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union will be relocating its East Hartford branch at 417 Main Street to the 1st floor of the new Goodwin University Building at 361 Main Street. The opening is expected in December 2020.
The new branch will include:
- Three drive-up lanes with live Video Tellers for transactions with extended hours
- Teller, Member Investment, and Mortgage Services by appointment or walk-in
- Pieces of the branch décor will pay tribute to our Pratt & Whitney roots
Watch our website for more details coming soon.
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Product Name Changes Effective October 1 |
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In order to better reflect the nature of several of our Checking and Savings products, the accounts listed below have new names effective October 1, 2020. You will see these name changes on your statement as well as within Online and Mobile Banking. |
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Old Name
- My Basic Checking
- My Checking
- My First Checking
- My Ultimate Checking
- Basic Business Checking
- IRA Accumulator
- Eagle Club
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New Name
- Fresh Start Checking
- Everyday Checking
- Student Checking
- Interest Checking
- Small Business Checking
- IRA Statement Savings
- Eagle Savings
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- All other account terms and conditions remain the same.
- Your account number(s) is not changing.
- Your account nicknames in Online and Mobile Banking (if applicable) will not change.
Questions? Call the Member Contact Center at 800.842.0145.
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You've Won! Now Pay Us. Is Always a Scam! |
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During these difficult economic times, it is easy to imagine our financial problems disappearing by winning a big prize. Who wouldn’t like to win a million dollars, a new car, or a vacation home? But, if you get a call from someone saying, “You’ve won,” don’t believe the hype!
Here’s how it works
You get a call from someone who says they’re from Publishers Clearing House or some other well-known organization. They say, “Congratulations, you’ve won a million dollars, a Mercedes-Benz, and seven thousand dollars a week for life!” or some other amazing-sounding prizes. Then they ask you to pay a “processing fee,” "taxes," or "shipping and handling charges" to claim your prize.
The scammers are trying to push you into a heightened emotional state, to knock you off balance just long enough to steal your money and personal information. The fact is, Publishers Clearing House never notifies winners in advance. If anyone tells you, “You’ve won; now pay us,” it is always a scammer regardless of the prize. Period. No exceptions.
Consider these tips to avoid this type of scam:
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Legitimate sweepstakes do not make you pay a fee to get your prize. That includes paying "taxes," "shipping and handling charges," or “processing fees.” There is never a reason to give someone your checking account or credit card number in response to a sweepstakes promotion.
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Do not send money transfers or gift cards or give personal information. Sending money transfers or gift cards (or providing the gift card numbers) is like sending cash; once the money is gone, you can’t trace it or get it back! The same goes for sending money by mail or using a money order.
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Do not trust your caller ID. Scammers can make any name or number show up on your caller ID. They might use an official-sounding name like Publishers Clearing House or Reader’s Digest to lure you into a false sense of trust.
Scammers do not just scam one person. Tell your friends and family about the scam so they can avoid falling victim to this type of scam. Then report it to the FTC: ftc.gov/complaint.
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David Meade Joins LPL Financial |
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To Serve Members of American Eagle Financial Credit Union |
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) announced the appointment of David Meade as Investment Advisor Representative and Program Manager for LPL Financial in affiliation with American Eagle Financial Services. Meade will focus on financial planning, retirement planning, and investment advising for AEFCU members.
“We are pleased to welcome David to our investment services team. His comprehensive knowledge and experience will be an asset in helping our members plan their financial futures by investing smartly and strategically today,” said Dean Marchessault, President & CEO of AEFCU.
Meade will be based at AEFCU’s Cromwell office, located at 4 Hammerhead Place. Other AEFCU branches that he will be responsible for include Middletown, North Haven, Southington, Newington, and Plainville.
Meade holds FINRA Series 24, 7, 63, 65, and 51 and his insurance license in the State of Connecticut with LPL Financial, the nation’s leading independent broker-dealer. Prior to joining American Eagle Financial Services, Meade was a Regional Business Consultant for LPL Financial. His experience also includes Sales Management with People’s Securities, Inc. and John Hancock Financial Network and Financial Advisor with MetLife, American Express, and LPL.
Meade graduated from UConn with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) of New Haven and SW Connecticut as well as a member of the UConn Alumni Association. Meade resides in Guilford, Connecticut, with his wife, Stacey, and their three children.
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Credit Union Federal Holiday Closings |
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union is closed for all federal holidays. AEFCU will be CLOSED on the following dates:
- Monday, October 12, 2020.
- Wednesday, November 11, 2020.
- Thursday, November 26, 2020.
- Friday, December 25, 2020.
Access your accounts 24/7 with online banking, mobile banking, and at thousands of Allpoint and SUM ATMs across the U.S. Take the Credit Union with you wherever you go. We're never more than a call or click away.
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union will never solicit confidential information about your accounts through email. If you receive a suspicious email asking you to open an attachment or click on a link to provide personal information, do not take action. See privacy and security policy. Federally Insured by NCUA.
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