Type | Credit union |
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Industry |
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Founded | January 14, 1952 |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 33 branches (2023) |
Key people | Greg Mitchell (President/CEO) |
Services | Checking accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, home equity lines of credit, investment services, insurance services, tax services |
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Total assets |
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Total equity |
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Members | 650,000 (2022) |
Number of employees | 1550 (2020) [3] |
Website | www |
First Tech Federal Credit Union (or First Tech) is a federally chartered credit union headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon. [1] It is regulated under the authority of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). First Tech has over 650,000 members, and over 12 billion dollars in assets with 33 branches located mostly in high technology business centers of California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and four other states. [4] [5] It was the first financial institution to offer telephone interactive voice response access and online banking.[ citation needed ]
The credit union was founded as Tektronix Federal Credit Union, formed by seven Tektronix employees on January 14, 1952. In 1961, the name was changed to Tektronix Employees Federal Credit Union to reflect the credit union's membership. From very early on, technical innovation was emphasized and reflected in First Tech's motto of "Think Forward". [6] As early as 1976, the credit union began using computers for online data processing. By 1979, Tektronix Employees Federal Credit Union had begun the use of ATMs. In 1985, the credit union unveiled "Call 24", which allowed members to check balances and transfer funds by phone.
In 1986, the name was changed to First Technology Credit Union and the membership was opened to include employees in technology industries of the Pacific Northwest. In 1992, Microsoft became involved. The 1995 launch of the company's website paved the way for the credit union to become the second financial institution in the world to perform secure internet transactions. In 1997, the name was shortened to First Tech Credit Union. First Tech began offering mobile banking in 2000, account aggregation in 2001, and biometric two-factor authentication in 2007. [7] With over 156,000 members, and over 1.8 billion dollars in assets in 2007, [8] First Tech was one of the largest state chartered credit unions in the Pacific Northwest.
In March 2010, the company announced it would merge with California-based Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, which served the employees of Hewlett Packard Company, Agilent Technologies, CH2M Hill, and various other technology based companies, pending government and member approval. [9] The deal was approved by the government and credit union members, and became effective on January 1, 2011, with the new entity named First Tech Federal Credit Union. [10]
The company relocated to a new corporate office in Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2018. The building is LEED Gold certified and is made almost entirely of cross-laminated timber (CLT). At the time of construction it was one of the largest CLT buildings in the world. [11]
First Tech announced, in 2014, their decision to replace existing desktop and mobile banking platform while also converting members to a new bill payments provider. [12]
In October 2015, the Credit Union implemented initial changes [13] to their online and ebilling system and began converting members. The transition incrementally converts groups of members to the new platform over an extended period to ensure minimal disruption. CEO Greg Mitchell addresses members' challenges in an email to the Credit Union's members on 3/8/2016.
Besides standard banking services, First Tech also offers investment, insurance, and tax services to its members, including free bill payment service, an account aggregation service, and online access to check images. The union's designated ABA routing transit number is 321180379.
Silicon Forest is a nickname for the Washington County cluster of high-tech companies located in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon, and most frequently refers to the industrial corridor between Beaverton and Hillsboro in northwest Oregon.
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C. Norman (Norm) Winningstad was an American engineer and businessman in the state of Oregon. A native of California, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before working at what is now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. After moving north to Oregon, he started working for Tektronix before starting several companies in what became the Silicon Forest in the Portland metropolitan area. He founded or helped to found Floating Point Systems, Lattice Semiconductor, and Thrustmaster. Winningstad and his wife were also noted philanthropists in the Portland area, with a theater at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts named in his wife Dolores' honor.
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