Inside. Message From the President. 1 Message From the President 2 RCU Can Help You Save. 3 Find Your Tax Information 4 Business Corner

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1 ROYAL CREDIT UNION JANUARY 2014 Inside 1 Message From the President 2 RCU Can Help You Save 3 Find Your Tax Information 4 Business Corner 5 Offices Closed 1/20/14 6 Check Cards on the Spot Message From the President Happy New Year! We re excited to welcome On April 14, Royal Credit Union will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. We have some special plans in place that we will share with you soon, and as we celebrate our past, we also look forward to helping you experience our future. Voice of the Member In order to provide our Members with the best value, experience and efficiency we asked you to provide us with some input. A group of Members were selected at random and invited to join me for a presentation and discussion. These meetings took place in November and December and were held in Eau Claire, Edina and New Richmond. You asked wonderful questions about how technology is affecting the way you conduct business with the credit union. We are proud to report that this year we will be launching a new and improved online and mobile banking experience. You also commented how happy you were to see the reduction and elimination of many fees. Our Members have saved $2.3 million in fees over the past two years as a result of the steps we ve taken, and we aren t done yet. We are working on eliminating and reducing even more fees. We also talked about home loans and how we are working to improve efficiency by providing you with easier access to your application and faster closing times. It was an honor to meet with you and listen to what was on your mind. We plan to host more meetings like this moving forward and hope you will join us! Hello Hudson! Royal Credit Union will soon be opening its 25th office. The RCU Hudson Office will be located at 2501 Hanley Road, on the northeast corner of Hanley Road and Carmichael Road. The office, planned to open in Spring 2014, will be a 2900 square foot, full-service office including teller services, new accounts, business lending and services, consumer loans, home loans, and investment services. The office will also feature an ATM and drive-thru lanes. RCU is committed to providing Members an exceptional experience across all channels; online, mobile and in-person. We are excited to bring a conveniently located, full-service office to the Hudson community. RCU is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of our Members and the people in the communities we serve. We are looking forward to a very productive If you have any comments or suggestions, please call me at or ext Sincerely, Rudy Pereira, CEO

2 RCU Can Help You Plan and Save! Make a resolution to achieve Financial Fitness in 2014 It s a new year, how is your rainy day fund looking? If you are like many families, the past few years have been a time of dipping into savings to help cover the cost of day-to-day living. Make 2014 the year you replenish that Rainy Day Fund! Saving money needs a plan and commitment. RCU can help. We ll help you craft a plan you can commit to. And to give your savings a little boost, consider an RCU certificate. Our rates have increased to help you reach your savings goals more quickly. For more information visit rcu.org or stop by any office. Making RCU Membership even better we re happy to announce the reduction and elimination of more service charges! Activity Beginning January 1, 2014 Balance Transfer Charge on Consumer and Commercial Credit Cards CHARGE ELIMINATED: from 3% to $0 Automatic Savings Transfer Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $3 to $0 Check Photo Copy Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $1 to $0 Health Savings Account Checking Per Item Cleared Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $.30 to $0 Account History Charge (per statement) CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $5 to $0 ATM/Check Card Replacement Card Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $5 to $0 Duplicate Tax Reporting Forms Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $5 to $0 Duplicate Statement Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $5 to $0 Fax Machine Charges CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $4 or $2 to $0 Photocopy Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $.20 to $0 Notary Charge CHARGE ELIMINATED: from $.50 to $0 Garnishment Charge CHARGE REDUCED: from $40 to $25 Tax Levy Charge CHARGE REDUCED: from $50 to $25 ATM/Check Card Non-RCU ATM Balance Inquiry Charge CHARGE REDUCED: from $1 to $.50 Automatic Kwik Cash Transfer Charge CHARGE REDUCED: from $10 to $5

3 Find Your RCU Tax Information for 2013 You have lots of options: 1. Log onto RCU ebranch Visit rcu.org and log onto RCU ebranch with your Sign-On information. On the Accounts Summary page, click Detail next to the account that you want to work with. Look at Dividend Paid Last Year 2. Check Your Statement/eStatement On your December statement you will find the yearto-date dividend that you earned for 2013 below the transaction detail for each account. However, the year-to-date dividend on closed deposit accounts (savings, checking, money market, certificates, IRAs) for the tax year of 2013 can only be found on the INT tax reporting form. For complete tax reporting information, please refer to the INT that is mailed or ed in mid-january. 3. Call CompuTeller Call or Press 1 to navigate using Touch Tones or say Voice to navigate using your voice. Press or say 1 to access your account. Enter or say your Member ID and PIN. Choose the account that you want to work with. Press or say 1 for more information after getting basic information about the account. Press or say 4 for last year s dividend and YTD dividend. For any other questions please contact RCU Member Service at You can also find your tax forms on RCU ebranch Log on with your Sign-On information Click on ecommunications & estatements Select etax Statements from the menu on the left Select the tax form you want to view or print Traveling for the Winter? Make preparations for easy and available access to your cards Are you planning a trip over the winter? Or perhaps you have a second home that you travel to for the winter months. If so, be sure to let RCU know. In addition to updating your mailing address if necessary, we will want to update your credit or check card to be used in the area you are traveling to. For your protection, we monitor card activity. If your card is used in an area far away from where we know you live, we may not allow the transaction. Help us to keep your credit and ATM cards working properly. Just let us know where you ll be and when you re leaving. We ll do the rest, so you can sit back and enjoy.

4 Rising Interest Rates and Bonds The changing landscape As you may be aware, rising interest rates and signs that our economy may be recovering are impacting the bond market.* After years of experiencing volatility in the stock market, some investors adjusted their allocations and moved more of their assets into bonds. While bonds and other fixed income investments can help offset the level of risk and volatility of stocks in a portfolio, bonds are also vulnerable to economic changes that can undermine their value. Generally, as interest rates rise, the value of bonds on the open market drops. Still, there is no reason to panic. Even when interest rates rise, bonds can continue to play an important role in a balanced investment portfolio. In challenging markets, the key is to assess your fixed income investments. Taking care of your money used to be fairly simple. But today, you have to manage your money. To do that well you need to know about all the various financial alternatives. OR, you can rely on the expertise and experience of the RCU Investment & Insurance Team. LifeChanges A B The RCU Investment & Insurance Team is here to help. The RCU Investment & Insurance Team is happy to offer you a complimentary portfolio review. If necessary, they can adjust your mix of investments to help insulate your portfolio from rising interest rates. Call today at , and visit for practical information on a variety of financial topics. *Bonds are subject to availability and price change. Discuss with a financial advisor before making investment decisions. Registered representatives of INVEST Financial Corporation (INVEST), member FINRA/SIPC. INVEST and its affiliated insurance agencies offer securities, advisory services and certain insurance products and are not affiliated with RCU Investment & Insurance Team. Products offered are: Not NCUA insured Not credit union guaranteed May lose value including loss of principal. Business Corner Fees in Credit Card Processing: Is there a Silver Lining? Imagine if the U.S. Treasury charged you a fee for accepting cash from your customers. That would be absurd. But as every business owner or manager knows, accepting credit cards (and other forms of electronic payments) is a different story. And while the fees associated with credit card acceptance may seem like a bother, there are benefits: Customers and Profit: consumers are using more credit and less cash. In fact, the $4.4 trillion charged to Visa and MasterCard alone last year would pay off a quarter of the U.S. National Debt. You also get guaranteed payment and avoid cash and check handling costs. Efficiency: in the credit world, deposits are faster, customer checkout is faster, and accounting reports are more quickly generated. Sales Channels: credit opens up revenue streams where cash won t work your website, phone orders and mobile devices, to name a few. Less Risk: credit cards don t bounce like checks can, and fraud monitoring is inherent in your credit card processing program. Usable Information: a good Point of Sale system can give you great customer analytics, which you can use to target offers to customers and develop loyalty programs to encourage repeat business. Of course, none of that will get you too excited about fees. But it s a good reminder of why they exist at all the silver lining, so to speak. If you have questions about merchant payment processing, or other business services such as checking, credit card, payroll services or electronic account management, visit or call ext

5 FREE Income Tax Return Assistance RCU and VITA can Help! Do you need help filing your income tax return? Royal Credit Union and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) may be able to help! VITA was created to provide free income tax return assistance to taxpayers who cannot afford to pay for professional help. VITA provides free tax assistance for low to moderate income individuals with an adjusted gross annual income of $50,000 or less. Tax preparers are University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire accounting students certified by the IRS. Please note that you will need to bring identification and financial statements with you. For a full list of needed documents please visit rcu.org. Locations: RCU Shopko Office 1049 W. Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire Western Dairyland 418 Wisconsin Street, Eau Claire City of Altoona-Community Room 1303 Lynn Avenue, Altoona Monday - Thursday: 1pm to 4:30 pm We have increased capacity to prepare taxes on Tuesdays at our RCU Shopko Office. Wait times will be reduced on those days. This service is available from February 3 to April 10, We will be closed the week of March 17 through March 21. If you have questions about office hours, locations, or what to bring, please visit rcu.org for details. RCU Offices Closed January 20 Team Members attend training day On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 20, all RCU offices and Member Service will be closed. RCU team members will be engaged in training and will take the opportunity to begin work on our 2014 initiatives. We encourage Members to use RCU ebranch, RCU Deposit, CompuTeller, and ATMs. We look forward to serving you throughout th Annual Business Meeting Tuesday, April 29, :30 pm RCU Corporate Center 200 Riverfront Terrace Eau Claire RSVP to Julie at , ext. 5252, or julianne.kalpinski@rcu.org

6 Out the Door with It In Your Hand Get your RCU Check Card on the spot! Now available at RCU offices* get your RCU Check Card and PIN on the spot! You no longer need to wait 7-14 days for your PIN and card to arrive by mail. Instead, walk out our door with your RCU Check Card in hand. Now getting an RCU Check Card is fast, convenient, and secure: Come in to open a new checking account or add a debit card to a current account and walk out the door with a Check Card in hand Cards reported lost or stolen will still be closed, but you may choose to visit an RCU office for a new card - no need to wait for a replacement card to arrive by mail Damaged or broken cards can be replaced at an RCU office. You can decide whether to order and wait for a new card, or visit an office to replace it right away. Expiring Check Cards will continue to be automatically reissued and sent by mail. Also coming: a new feel to the RCU Check Card All RCU Check Cards, whether issued in an office or sent by mail, will be printed rather than embossed. Our card design stays the same. But instead of an embossed (raised) card number and Member name, the entire card will be printed so it looks and feels flat and smooth. Printing rather than embossing has advantages. The ink won t wear off so your RCU Check Card remains easy to read, and it may be less likely to wear out and need replacing! We hope you enjoy the new easy access to RCU Check Cards! *Please note that our Coon Rapids, St. Paul and Star Prairie offices do not offer same day Check Card service at this time. Members Enjoy Benefits of Being Part of RCU RCU receives Certificate of Excellence from CUNA ROYAL CREDIT UNION Out the door with it in your hand Get your RCU Check Card here. On the Spot! Your savings federally insured to $250,000 National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency OutTheDoorCheckCard_Flyer_ indd 1 11/11/13 1:58 PM For the second year in a row, Royal Credit Union received a Certificate of Excellence from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) for providing direct financial benefits to over 150,000 Members. During the twelve months ending September 30, 2013, CUNA estimates that Royal Credit Union was able to provide almost $8 million in benefits to our Members as a result of better rates and lower fees. These benefits are equivalent to approximately $102 per Member household, and $616 in direct financial benefits to high-use Member households. The Certificate of Excellence Royal Credit Union received in 2012 showed a direct financial benefit of $5.5 Million. Credit unions generally provide financial benefits to Members by charging less for loans, paying more on deposits, and charging fewer or lower fees. CUNA s report compared Royal Credit Union s rates and fees for approximately a dozen products to the average banking institution, but did not take into consideration many of the other fees that have been eliminated or reduced in the past year...so the impact is even bigger! Your savings federally insured to $250,000 National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency