Primetime Living 11.26.25 - Flipbook - Page 16
16 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, November 26, 2025
FINANCE
Advantages
of Using a
Credit Union
Fraud prevention and financial
literacy are important tools
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
James Smith
Executive Vice President, SECU
A
lmost 75 years ago, SECU Maryland, our State Employees Credit Union, began
operations with the blessing of Governor Theodore R. McKeldin, who, by the
way, was also its first member. Picture a small room with borrowed furniture,
a few volunteers and big ideas of building a credit union for Maryland residents. The
assets of roughly $3,500 and 33 members pale in comparison to the statewide institution SECU is today.
SECU (pronounced C-Q) now serves
over 260,000 members and manages $5.5 billion in assets from its own
campus in Linthicum, Maryland. SECU
is for all sorts of Marylanders, not just
state employees. You may be eligible
through work, the college you attended,
an organization you’re affiliated with or
other ways.
Membership, as you can see, is pretty easy. If you went to one of the
University System of Maryland’s 12
schools or three regional centers (no
graduation required) or are related to
someone who did, you’re in. Better
yet, visit the SECU website. As it says,
there are “2194 ways to qualify…and
counting!
You’re probably wondering why you
should use a credit union instead of
a bank. Generally speaking, credit
unions offer better deals for their members. They recognize they are a member-driven organization and a not-forprofit, the opposite of for-profit banks.
Consequently, you are very important to
them because you are both a member
and a shareholder.
Investopia lists six key takeaways to
differentiate between them:
• Credit unions generally offer lower
fees and interest rates on loans
compared to banks.
• Banks typically have more branches and ATMs, providing greater
convenience for account holders.
• Credit unions are non-profit and
member-owned, while banks are
for-profit and shareholder-owned.
• Both banks and credit unions insure
deposits up to $250,000, ensuring
security for your funds.
• Banks often lead in technology with
advanced online and mobile banking features.
Speaking with James (Toby) Smith,
executive vice president of SECU and
chief relationship officer, it’s evident that
he and his colleagues care a lot about
their members. Our discussion focused
on two areas: scammers, something
everyone should be concerned about;
and how SECU helps its older adult
members.
“We are building a technology-forward, fraud prevention center,” Smith
says, “to serve our community; for us,
that is Marylanders wherever our members reside – in our case that can be
anywhere in the world. We may have
started by working with state employees and, then, UMD students, and we
still do. But there’s a lot more.”
A lot more is an understatement. The
University of Maryland, College Park,
(UMD) the flagship school, started as a
land grant institution like a lot of other
state universities around the country.
In 1947, UMD added the College of
Special and Continuation Studies, then
renamed it University College. Now
called University of Maryland Global
Campus (UMGC), it has provided
college education for thousands of
American servicemen and servicewomen around the world. Military Times
ranks UMGC the No. 1 “Best for Vets”
university for primarily online education
in 2024. And SECU serves their fiscal
needs.
Smith continues. “We reach our
members around the world because,
