Nearly 64,000 participating Dupaco Community Credit Union member-owners received a share of more than $3.7 million in bonus patronage dividends for 2021.

The special payout to participating members happened on International Credit Union Day. The dividend is part of the credit union’s nine-month program called Thank Use. The timeframe to earn Thank Use was Jan. 1 through Sept. 30.

The average dividend this year was $55. This is the sixth consecutive year a participation dividend has been paid. Since 2016, Dupaco has paid more than $20.5 million in Thank Use directly to member-owners.

The Thank Use dividend demonstrates the power of Dupaco’s member-owned, cooperative structure, according to Dupaco Chief Marketing Officer David Klavitter.

“Dupaco is more than local.  It’s a financial cooperative, owned by people in our community,” said Dupaco Chief Marketing Officer David Klavitter. “The more members use their credit union, the more members, the community, and Dupaco benefit.”

The Thank Use campaign rewarded members in relation to each member’s active participation in the credit union. Those recognized services included loans, savings, checking, insurance, investments, debit card, credit card, and use of Dupaco fraud prevention tools. 

Each year, a new group goal is identified for members to achieve by working cooperatively together.  This year’s group goal was all about members participating in their financial cooperative.  And, since more than 62,360 members participated in Thank Use, those members helped achieve the group goal and earned an additional $5 dividend.

This year’s payout numbers also include 5,760 of Dupaco’s youngest members, who learned the importance of making regular deposits to their credit union account and earned more than $144,000 through a special category called Boost. 

“As a cooperative, our member-owners work together for the betterment of themselves and the cooperative,” said Klavitter. “Education is rooted in our mission and when we achieve tangible results, we share that success with our member-owners.”

An active share draft checking account was required to unlock the payout. Members can view their dividends by logging into Dupaco’s Shine Online or mobile banking app.

Dupaco continuously seeks to enhance value for its 144,000 member-owners, according to Klavitter. The cooperative achieves this in a variety of ways, including product, service and technology enhancements; branch convenience; staff expertise and service; higher savings rates; lower loan rates and fees, and more.