- April 2025
- Rudy Pereira
As President & CEO of your credit union, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your families each and every day. You trust us to provide valuable solutions that meet your financial needs and to ensure the safe and sound operations of this magnificent cooperative that you own. It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly.
When I reflect on all that we navigated last year, there is much more to share than solely what is contained within the pages of this Annual Report, so here we go.
We are emerging from one of the most challenging periods for the financial services industry in many years. After dramatic rate increases, the Fed kept rates elevated much longer than the market initially expected. The rate environment led to fierce competition, and early last year, our liquidity was strained due to the success of previous lending initiatives, so we strategically leveraged borrowing to enhance our position. To attract and retain member deposits, the credit union offered special rates and launched new high-yield products, and through steady effort, we repaid most of the borrowings. As we shifted focus from lending to deposit gathering, our interest income softened. We also invested in operations, bringing in new talent and technology that will help power growth in years to come. While we planned for a negative income year in 2024 and closed the year as such, we remained healthy and well-capitalized throughout. Our Board was supportive, and I am sincerely thankful for their steady leadership and guidance as we navigated the course.
Your credit union also achieved remarkable things. We enjoyed record new membership growth as more than 12,000 people joined our financial cooperative. Almost 1,100 parents opened our new Youth Smart Savings Account to help their child build early savings habits. We shifted to a new agile development methodology, which will help us innovate faster than ever before. Because one cent is donated every time you swipe a Premier America debit or credit card, over $140,000 went to support vital causes in our community through the non-profit Premier America Foundation. A new board-level ERM Committee was launched to keep a close pulse on emerging risks. We won awards for our website and creative marketing, and the credit union was recognized as the Best Credit Union in Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, and Ventura County, among other distinctions.
As I enter my eighth year, I don’t recall a time of more optimism and excitement for the path ahead. This year, we will invest in our digital platforms with a focus on upgrading our account opening, online banking, loan origination systems, and data insights. We’re embracing an AI future and investing in your security. Our business members will enjoy new products and services designed to make managing their hectic financial lives easier, and later this year, a new suite of credit cards will be coming to market. Finally, as a CSUN alumnus, I am excited to congratulate the soon-to-be graduates and see how far this partnership has come over our few short years on campus.
When you joined Premier America, you didn’t just deposit money into your credit union. You made an investment in your community and in nurturing the financial well-being of your fellow members. Your deposits serve as loans for someone else’s first home, the start of a new small business, or a student’s pursuit of education. Each transaction is an investment in the collective needs and dreams of those around you – building success stories in our community, one savings or loan at a time.
Thank you for being a valued member of Premier America.
When I reflect on all that we navigated last year, there is much more to share than solely what is contained within the pages of this Annual Report, so here we go.
We are emerging from one of the most challenging periods for the financial services industry in many years. After dramatic rate increases, the Fed kept rates elevated much longer than the market initially expected. The rate environment led to fierce competition, and early last year, our liquidity was strained due to the success of previous lending initiatives, so we strategically leveraged borrowing to enhance our position. To attract and retain member deposits, the credit union offered special rates and launched new high-yield products, and through steady effort, we repaid most of the borrowings. As we shifted focus from lending to deposit gathering, our interest income softened. We also invested in operations, bringing in new talent and technology that will help power growth in years to come. While we planned for a negative income year in 2024 and closed the year as such, we remained healthy and well-capitalized throughout. Our Board was supportive, and I am sincerely thankful for their steady leadership and guidance as we navigated the course.
Your credit union also achieved remarkable things. We enjoyed record new membership growth as more than 12,000 people joined our financial cooperative. Almost 1,100 parents opened our new Youth Smart Savings Account to help their child build early savings habits. We shifted to a new agile development methodology, which will help us innovate faster than ever before. Because one cent is donated every time you swipe a Premier America debit or credit card, over $140,000 went to support vital causes in our community through the non-profit Premier America Foundation. A new board-level ERM Committee was launched to keep a close pulse on emerging risks. We won awards for our website and creative marketing, and the credit union was recognized as the Best Credit Union in Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, and Ventura County, among other distinctions.
As I enter my eighth year, I don’t recall a time of more optimism and excitement for the path ahead. This year, we will invest in our digital platforms with a focus on upgrading our account opening, online banking, loan origination systems, and data insights. We’re embracing an AI future and investing in your security. Our business members will enjoy new products and services designed to make managing their hectic financial lives easier, and later this year, a new suite of credit cards will be coming to market. Finally, as a CSUN alumnus, I am excited to congratulate the soon-to-be graduates and see how far this partnership has come over our few short years on campus.
When you joined Premier America, you didn’t just deposit money into your credit union. You made an investment in your community and in nurturing the financial well-being of your fellow members. Your deposits serve as loans for someone else’s first home, the start of a new small business, or a student’s pursuit of education. Each transaction is an investment in the collective needs and dreams of those around you – building success stories in our community, one savings or loan at a time.
Thank you for being a valued member of Premier America.