ALEXANDRIA, Va.-In July, $3.2 million Norwest Medical Federal Credit Union became the ninth credit union approved for a TIP-trade, industry, or profession-charter. The Portland, Ore. credit union was approved to serve the healthcare industry within Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties of Oregon, and Clark County in Washington. Following the charter modification, the credit union has a potential field of membership of 70,993 people, according to Debbi Sandberg, Norwest Medical's Vice President of Operations. The credit union had about 800 members prior to the TIP approval. The tiny credit union was originally sponsored by Woodland Park Hospital and Eastmoreland Hospital, both of which were abruptly shut down by the owner of the institutions on Jan. 15, 2004. When the credit union informed their NCUA examiner of their woes, he suggested the TIP charter to them, Sandberg said, and got the ball rolling. By March 10, Norwest Medical had submitted their application. In the application, the credit union's CEO, Kay Holland, described it as "small but not weak." That is a fairly accurate description given the wide variety of services it offers from share draft accounts to VISA debit cards and two different VISA credit cards, voice response, payroll deduction, wire transfers, direct deposit, Individual Retirement Accounts, and most loans, including first mortgages through a credit union service organization. The credit union also plans to launch a Web site shortly. Initially, it will be informational but they plan to move on to a transactional site in the future. Though Sandberg said she is not sure if they will expand their product line further, since they offer most everything already, she explained, "We've always been open to expanding our services." Sandberg was also quick to point out that there are a lot of hospitals already in the area with credit unions associated with them, but members that come to Norwest Medical tend to stay there and bring their families in as well. She said that with the TIP charter, the credit union was not looking to steal other credit unions' members away, but is simply offering another option. Member service is really what sets the credit union apart, Sandberg added. She said they know many of their members by voice over the phone. Recently, Sandberg said a member called to make a transaction and she noticed the member's account was overdrawn. When she mentioned it to the member, they discovered that two large withdrawals were made from a Walgreen's in Michigan that were fraudulent and were able to close down the account right then. At a larger institution, consumers may not be able to get that fast, personalized service and save them a lot of headaches, according to Sandberg. That member service leads to a big bonus for the small credit union. "Our members are going to be the biggest part of our marketing plan," with the new field of membership, she added. Norwest is the ninth and smallest credit union to opt for the TIP charter since its inception last year. It follows NW Preferred Federal Credit Union (approved 10/27/03), Central Florida Health Care Federal Credit Union (11/5/03), NWA Federal Credit Union (11/26/03), American Airlines Federal Credit Union (12/6/03), Schumpert Federal Credit Union (1/30/04), Nebraska Energy Federal Credit Union (2/4/04), FAA First Federal Credit Union (2/23/04), and Omaha Police Federal Credit Union (4/26/04). Under the field of membership changes adopted in 2003, single sponsor credit unions are authorized to diversify their fields of membership by serving an entire group within their trade, industry or profession, such as healthcare. NCUA also reported the largest number of potential members added through community charter conversions in recent years. A total of 15.4 million potential members were added during July, thanks mostly to the Region V approval of LA Financial Credit Union to serve all of Los Angeles County with 10 million residents. Other large community charter approvals included IBM Texas Employees Federal Credit Union in Austin for 1.25 million and Fairfax County Federal Credit Union in Virginia to serve one million people. Underserved area additions netted 1.75 million new potential members for federal credit unions. The largest included two areas with a combined population of 432,756 for Truliant Federal Credit Union, with nearly $1 billion in assets, and an underserved area of 350,045 for $104 million Carter Federal Credit Union in Springhill, La. In addition, NCUA approved 21 mergers in July. Five credit unions over $10 million in assets were merged, while 12 had less than $10 million in assets and another four had under $1 million in assets. [email protected]