About Us
It all started in 1932, during the Great Depression, when the desperate financial needs of a new school teacher in Rochester prompted him and 7 Rochester firefighters to establish their own credit union, Municipal Employees Credit Union (MECU). The first “branch†was located in the original firehouse in downtown Rochester, which was run by the firefighters and other volunteers, and at the time the credit union was only open to Rochester city employees.
By 1996, the credit union had expanded and opened its membership to additional groups in need of a local financial resource they could trust. Thus, the credit union needed a name to reflect the alliance that was formed through all of the new fields of membership, beyond only municipal employees and their families, and that is when First Alliance Credit Union was born.
In 2016, we adopted a new logo and tagline to better express our commitment to our members and the communities we live in. Our logo is representative of the Rochester skyline and the colors speak to our history and our future. Our tagline, “all for one†is simply our commitment that ALL we do is FOR every ONE of our members.
Today, we have grown to serve over 16500 members in the 5 South East Minnesota Counties of Olmsted, Dodge, Goodhue, Wabasha, and Winona. Today, membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, owns a business, or attends school in our 5 county communities.
Our Mission
At First Alliance Credit Union, we place our members' (and future members) needs first by providing compassion, guidance, and resources to promote their financial well-being.
All For One
Our tagline, “all for one,†is simply our commitment that ALL we do is FOR every ONE of our members. Our commitment to doing right by our membership guides all of our decisions as an organization.
Our lending and Member Advisors are committed to providing guidance, not judgement when working with our membership. We are here as a resource and a hand up for all members, regardless of their situation.
Our Core Values
Trust: We know that trust is the belief and confidence in the integrity, reliability, transparency and fairness of our organization. Without trust First Alliance cannot operate. We are honest and ethical in all our interactions with employees, members and the public.
Compassion: We provide loving concern for members and employees in a safe, non-judgmental atmosphere. We understand and consider the feelings of others. We strive to advocate for our employees’ work/life balance.
Inclusivity/Diversity: We welcome and embrace the contributions of all people with diverse personal characteristics without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, age, geographic location, sexual orientation, gender, social class and type of disability. We believe a diverse community makes us stronger.
Innovation: We empower our employees to relentlessly search for better solutions, challenge prevailing assumptions, and try new things. Innovation means making meaningful change to improve our organization's products, services, programs, processes, and operations, with the purpose of creating new value for stakeholders.
Empowerment: We empower our employees to own the member experience and immediately resolve service issues as good judgment dictates.
Stewardship: We fulfill our obligation to build a better, stronger, and more durable credit union for future generations. We are committed to leveraging our resources for the financial well-being of our members.
Flexibility: We know that to be effective, we must be agile and adept. “The way it’s always been done†will not be sufficient to bring us future success. We are a flexible organization that is willing to learn, create new ideas, and adapt to new environments.
Culture Is Everything
We are on a mission to attract and retain the best talent in our community and make First Alliance Credit Union an employer of choice. in our quest to become the employer of choice, we made changes to some of our employee programs to reflect the ever changing work environment, continue to provide staff with the best health care options, have more innovative ways to engage our staff, and really create a work place where staff really feel like they are truly part of a family.
Commitment to Community
First Alliance Credit Union has a reputation for long standing community involvement through philanthropy and volunteerism. Several staff members serve on the Board of Directors of various community organizations, and provide hundreds of hours of volunteer service annually. First Alliance Credit Union closes on Columbus Day each year to participate in "All For One Day" where our staff spend the day volunteering in the community and completing random acts of kindness. The credit union has received numerous awards for our commitment to the communities we serve, our commitment to our employees and our commitment to our members.
Industry Innovation
Our commitment to innovation has positioned First Alliance Credit Union as a leader in the Credit Union and financial services industry. We are focused on meeting members where they are, regardless of channel. In the digital space, we have been on the leading edge of technology. As such, the credit union is often a beta tester for many new innovations, including instant issue debit and credit, along with integrating digital self-service technologies in our branches.
Credit Union leaders have been featured in industry articles and videos and often present at webinars and conferences on the success of our digital strategy and the implementation of innovative products and services.
