Dupaco shares nearly $3.7 million with participating members
October 20, 2022
Dupaco staff celebrate the credit union's Thank Use payout with members at the Edgewood Road branch on Oct. 20—International Credit Union Day—in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (B. Kaplan photo)
More than 74,000 participating Dupaco Community Credit Union member-owners received a share of nearly $3.7 million in bonus patronage dividends for 2022.
The special payout to participating members happened Oct. 20, which coincides with 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 $50. This is the seventh consecutive year a participation dividend has been paid. Since 2016, Dupaco has paid more than $24.4 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 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 a financial wellness quiz.
This year’s payout numbers also include 5,917 of Dupaco’s youngest members, who learned the importance of making regular deposits to their credit union account and earned nearly $148,000 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 153,000 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.
Credit Union Magazine’s Fall 2023 issue examines how artificial intelligence is shaping marketing, strategies to improve cyber hygiene and overall cybersecurity, the need to employ risk management to address inflation and its impacts, new approaches to board recruiting, and NCUA’s top supervisory priorities.
