On Our 90th Anniversary – Get to Know the Stories Behind the Signatures

Madison, WI – Sept. 29, 2021 – Today is our anniversary. On this date 90 years ago the State of Wisconsin approved our charter and we got down to business, setting up shop in a campus basement and placing our first deposits in a metal cashbox.

Nine decades later we’re still operating under the same incorporating documents, and our commitment to helping people remains at the center of our story. After all, our first members – just like today’s – wanted a financial institution that always put their interests first, and that they could trust.

Putting our beliefs into action
Credit unions aren’t funded by or beholden to Wall Street and must earn success and build financial resources over time. Our 90-year journey began slow and steady, helping several generations of members make the best use of our resources while also serving our communities. Every year, we also set aside some of our earnings to pay it forward for the future.

Today, we continue to work this formula for success, staying focused on our core values, and making balanced choices in the face of tough challenges affecting our members and communities.

This vision has carried us 90 years … with no sign of slowing down.

For example, in 2020 we invested more than $1.5 million in a new Racial Equity Fund, which is already making a difference in our local communities. And earlier this year we reduced all overdraft fees to $5 to create more equitable banking while supporting the financially vulnerable.

Building on our founders’ vision
It took 76 years to reached $1 billion in assets. It took just eight more years to reach $2 billion, another four years to hit $3 billion and just one more year to touch the $4 billion mark – a number that continues to rise. We’ll likely mark $5 billion in assets before our next anniversary. While we have satisfaction in our growing impact, we know we are standing on the shoulders of many others whose compass and work enabled it.

Milestones provide us an opportunity for reflection. The people who signed the documents that created UW Credit Union have inspiring stories. They were Wisconsin heroes advancing women’s rights, civil rights, human rights and the rights of the working poor. Learn more about the people behind the signatures.

Upholding their concern for their neighbors is the best way to celebrate and find our way to another 90 years!

Paul Kundert
President and CEO
UW Credit Union

UW Credit Union was founded in 1931 by members of the UW-Madison campus community, and today is among Wisconsin’s top financial institutions with 300,000 members, 820 employees and assets of $4.7 billion. It is the state’s leading residential mortgage lender by loan volume.