Marking what it called a record-breaking achievement, the $705 million Advantis Credit Union of Portland, Ore. racked up $20 million in deposits and brought in 800 new members during a two-day promotion kicking off a new branch in Hillsboro.

"Many consumers, their faith shaken in the economy and a volatile stock market, are now turning to credit unions like Advantis for safety and better value for their money," explained Ron Barrick, president/CEO of the CU the CU's financial success helped increase loans 26% during 2008.

Barrick said the CU's menu of financial products is now of keen interest to consumers "who may be panicked in this economy" and see the wisdom of improving their condition by switching to a CU.

For the entire year, Advantis saw a 35% increase in deposits and nearly 4,000 new members. Advantis has five other branches.

Barrick also said his CU is well-positioned to "avoid the national credit freeze" because it pursued sound underwriting practices, steering clear of subprime mortgage loans. As ranked by Callahan & Associates, Advantis was the "No. 1 credit union in the nation for returning financial value to its members" for the first three quarters of 2008 based on 195 CUs with assets between $250 million to $1 billion.