North Carolina residents who are not members of the $23.7 billion State Employees' Credit Union have long benefited from the surcharge-free access to its ATMs, and the unemployed and child support beneficiaries have particularly gained from the access.

The 1.7-million member Raleigh-based credit union has reported that its CashPoints ATM network saves both groups, together, over $8.4 million in ATM transaction fees annually.

SECU referenced the state's unemployment rate that continues to hover around 10%, and reported that recipients of unemployment benefits rank top among non-member utilization of ATMs.

In the past year these recipients, who receive their claims payments via an Employment Security Commission debit card, performed more than 1.8 million transactions at SECU machines.

The no-surcharge SECU CashPoints network saved this user group more than $5.4 million. Child support recipients performed more than 1 million transactions on the CashPoints network during 2011, as well, the credit union reported.

“State Employees' Credit Union has always offered its no-surcharge CashPoints ATM network to benefit North Carolinians,” said Leanne Phelps, SECU's senior vice president for card services.

“A goal of our not-for-profit cooperative is to help keep money in the pockets of members, while also providing an overall economic benefit to all citizens of our state. A no-surcharge benefit of $8.4 million to these groups in great need of support is doing just that and we are delighted to be able to assist,” Phelps said.