One Good Deed Deserves Another

March Networks Teams Up with Customer to Help Struggling Credit Union

Figuring that one good deed deserved another, March Networks has donated an 8000 Series Hybrid NVR to the Greater Kinston Credit Union in North Carolina.

When the one-branch African-American financial institution ran into difficulty last year, the much larger State Employees Credit Union (SECU) stepped in to lend a helping hand.

A March Networks^® customer since 2007, SECU conducted a needs assessment for Greater Kinston and identified a new video surveillance system as one of the enhancements necessary for bringing the smaller credit union up to current standards.

The second largest credit union in the U.S. with 248 branches and 1,100 ATMs in North Carolina, SECU thought it would make sense to not only upgrade Greater Kinston’s system, but to integrate it and manage it using its own loss prevention and IT resources at its headquarters in Raleigh, 80 miles away.

One of the oldest African-American financial institutions in the state, the Greater Kinston Credit Union was founded in 1952 at a time when many Black citizens in the community had no access to credit, or paid exorbitant interest rates of 30 to 50 percent.

When it ran into problems early last year, the North Carolina credit union regulator placed Greater Kinston Credit Union in conservatorship and asked SECU to step in as a management agent. An interim CEO was named and Senior Vice-President Mike Banks was dispatched to conduct a needs assessment.

“We were happy to lend a helping hand as a big brother,” said Banks.

The rescue effort was a huge success, ensuring the survival of the 5,000-member credit union. Greater Kinston was released from conservatorship in November and in July the two financial institutions signed a partnership agreement to take effect January 1, 2014, whereby SECU will continue to provide Greater Kinston with back office support and management of its video surveillance system.

The arrangement minimizes Greater Kinston’s operational expenses and frees it to focus on growing and serving the financial needs of its members. SECU has a similar arrangement with the Latino Community Credit Union in Durham, North Carolina.

Greater Kinston’s problems weren’t security-related, but an effective and reliable video surveillance system is a necessity for any financial institution.

“It came in handy just the other day,” said Banks. “It was great to be able to pull up a video clip and have it in our hands in 10 minutes. With the old system, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

SECU’s video surveillance system extends across its entire footprint of 248 branches and 1,100 ATMs.

“We’re very happy with our March Networks system,” said Cory Mathes, Vice-President of Fraud and Security. “It’s easy to use and very dependable. We know that the video is always there when we need it.”