Our Legacy, Our Purpose
Welcome to the Mazuma Messenger,
the official blog of Mazuma Credit Union!
If you’re reading this, it’s because you’re curious about Mazuma, and we appreciate that!
To launch our new blog, we want to start by looking back at our history and how it informs the service we provide for our Members and community today.
Mazuma’s Legacy
Mazuma Credit Union was founded by Wyla and Joe Pinkerton as the Kansas City Federation of Federal Employees Credit Union (KCFFECU) so that local government workers would have somewhere to keep their money and get loans when they needed them. On November 10th, 1948, the Pinkertons signed our founding documents. Clarence H. Plaskett became our first chartered Member with a share deposit contribution of a whopping $5.00.
The Pinkertons were passionate about Making Kansas City a Better Place to Live, Work, and Bank. As legend has it, they used the railroads to recruit new Members and conduct their transactions, taking a shoebox of cash from one train station to the next and keeping records along the way.
Twenty-one years later in 1969, the KCFFECU’s name was shortened to Federal Employees Credit Union because, well… it was a bit of a mouthful. In 1998, Congress passed House Resolution 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act, which changed the rules for how credit unions could decide Membership eligibility. As a result, we were able to start welcoming Members who live or work in the communities we serve.
Since Membership was no longer exclusive to government employees, the name Federal Employees Credit Union didn't fit anymore. We reached out to our Members for suggestions and held a vote. The result was our new name: Mazuma, a Yiddish term for money. Since then, Mazuma has continued to grow and expand, opening a bright, new Headquarters in Overland Park in 2015, remodeling or redecorating our branch locations, and even opening a brand-new branch off North Oak Trafficway in the fall of 2022.
Mazuma’s Purpose
A lot has changed since 1948, including our name (twice!), our locations, and our logo – but the things that are most important to us are still the same. We still love our Members and our Kansas City community just as much as our founders did, and we're proud to continue their tradition of taking an active role in the arts, financial education, and community development by giving our time, space, and financial assets.
We partner with over 75 local non-profits across the Kansas City area and launched the Mazuma Foundation in 2015 to provide grant funding to a wide variety of charitable organizations each year. Through our 40 Hours for Good program, Mazuma Team Members receive 40 hours of paid volunteer time annually to support Kansas City nonprofits. We also offer the community spaces at our headquarters and select branch locations free of charge for any organization looking for a place to meet and discuss social or economic initiatives that benefit Kansas Citians.
The legacy of Wyla and Joe Pinkerton lives on in our enduring purpose - Making Kansas City a Better Place to Live, Work, and Bank! As our President and CEO, Deonne Christensen, says, “Our Members, Team Members, and community are the driving force behind our 75 plus years of growth and positive impact, and we remain dedicated to giving back to the Members and the Community that Mazuma was created to serve.”
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