How the Duke Credit Union Can Help You

From savings accounts to special events, the credit union provides staff, faculty and students with financial resources

Entrance to Duke Credit Union.
The entrance to Duke Credit Union. Photo by Jack Frederick.

Now with approximately 16,000 members, the Duke Credit Union has served staff, faculty and students at Duke since it opened in 1968.

Open to staff, faculty and students, the Duke Credit Union offers savings and checking accounts, auto and home loans, credit cards, on-campus ATMs and other services such as a free coin counting machine in its lobby.  

After a pandemic pause, the credit union is resuming programs this spring, including hosting a Shred Day in April and a Wills Day in May. Both events are at the credit union office at 2200 West Main St. in Erwin Square.

Melissa Cozart, supervisor of Financial Services, is among the smiling faces members can find at the Duke Credit Union.

In North Carolina, credit unions represent a small but growing segment of the financial sector, with 63 credit unions headquartered in the state. Compared to big banks, credit unions like Duke Credit Union boast lower new and used auto rates and credit card interest rates. 

“We want to take care of our members,” said Dan Berry, CEO of the Duke Credit Union. “When you look at the needs of our members, we want to provide good customer service and be of good value.”

When she joined the Duke Credit Union in 2002, Lesley Looper opened a savings account with a $25 deposit. Every month in the 21 years since then, she’s set aside part of her paycheck into that account, establishing an emergency fund.

“It’s peace of mind,” said Looper, a team lead in the Duke University Libraries Bindery & Monograph Maintenance Section. “It’s not my only savings account, but it has become one of my bigger accounts because it’s out of sight, out of mind mostly. But I know it’s there.”

Here’s how Duke Credit Union can help you.

Benefits of membership

Dan Berry.

Duke faculty, staff, students and alumni can join the Duke Credit Union with a $25 deposit and one-time membership fee of $5.

“Membership provides benefits that are different than a bank,” Berry said. “While banks are typically for-profit institutions with shareholders, credit unions distribute profits back to members through higher interest savings rates, fewer fees and lower loan interest rates.”

For example, the Duke Credit Union offers credit card rates as low as 8.5 percent, while the Credit Union National Association reports the average bank in North Carolina offers a credit card interest rate of 13.69 percent.

In addition, Duke Credit Union diverts some dividends to its designated charity, Duke Children’s Hospital.

“Our ultimate goal is that if our members succeed, then we feel like we succeed,” Berry said. “We know each member is a little bit different, so from that point of view we try to ask, ‘What are you trying to accomplish and how can we get there together?”

Attend Free Events

On April 22, the credit union will partner with Shred-It to host a shredding event. The event, which is open to the public (not businesses), will allow community members to safely discard three boxes of documents, including bank and credit card statements, legal documents and medical records.

Staff members at the Duke Credit Union pose in front of the Shred-It truck ahead of a Shred Day event before the pandemic. Photo courtesy of Duke Credit Union.

While reducing landfill waste, shredding documents is a secure way to dispose of hard copies of sensitive documents, including those that include social security numbers.

The event is from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., or until the truck is full, at the drive up area at 2200 West Main Street in Erwin Square.

On May 16, an experienced estate planning attorney will be on-site to help Duke Credit Union members update or create a will during an estate planning program on Wills Day.

According to a 2023 Caring.com survey in partnership with YouGov, two out of three Americans do not have any type of estate planning document, a blueprint for loved ones.

With packages between $100 and $695, credit union members fill out initial paperwork in a 30-minute private session and pay for services in full. In a second meeting after documents have been prepared, members return to finalize paperwork.

“We’re very happy to provide these types of services,” Berry said.

Cool Perk

Berry said many new members are surprised to learn that Duke Credit Union has an in-house instant-issue card machine. This means that when new members join, they walk out the same day with a credit or debit ATM card. Also, established members can replace lost or stolen cards quickly.

“The machine can print a card in less than a minute,” Berry said. “And you can activate it here before you leave.”

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