The $160 million, 21,500-member NuMark Credit Union in Joliet, Ill., found Bank Transfer Day to definitely be worth the effort, a senior manager said.

"We opened at least 26 checking accounts, got a few loans and made a couple of business referrals," said Michelle Balog, NuMark's executive vice president. "We did 25% of our usual checking accounts goal for the month in four hours really. On a usual Saturday, we're lucky if we open two accounts at a branch."

Balog said all four of the credit union's branches were open as usual on Saturday and that its Countryside location in the southwest Chicago suburbs stayed open an hour later than usual to accommodate the business.

That was despite being fully staffed instead of the usual Saturday skeleton staff. "It's a good thing we were staffed properly," Balog said. "We had a lot of calls, too."

The NuMark EVP also noted that the people stopping by were not just wandering in. "They were coming in because they were leaving banks. It was very purposeful," Balog said. "We also had a couple longtime members who had only savings accounts with us who came in and opened checking accounts after all these years"

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.