As Seen in Forbes and Fortune
Corda Credit Union is honored to be featured as one of Iowa’s Leading Credit Unions.
Leading With Heart
Corda Credit Union serves local families and communities with dedication and commitment, proving daily why it is known, and beloved, for enacting meaningful change in members’ lives.
In 1935 when 11 Cedar Rapids teachers offered up $5 — then a large sum — of their hard-earned money to form the Cedar Rapids Teachers’ Credit Union, they under-stood that the best hope for improving their community was education.
Today, Corda Credit Union continues that original vision, now welcoming everyone into its field of membership. Paying homage to its founders, Corda Credit Union still celebrates teachers throughout the year with numerous educator appreciation events and programs. In 2009, it founded the nonprofit Teacher Store, which provides free classroom materials and supplies to area K-12 educators in exchange for Teacher Bucks—a currency that can be spent in the store. The credit union has prioritized the store by introducing the fully mobile Teacher Store in 2018, allowing the nonprofit to further its reach into the community. Through special events and school visits in August to December, the Teacher Store provides free, essential school supplies to over 600 educators in local communities.
Corda Credit Union also champions financial literacy for people of all ages in classrooms and at community venues. For members, the credit union offers financial coaching, which involves exploring members’ emotional connection to money and creating short- and long-term plans to reach financial goals at no additional cost and with complete confidentiality. For members and non-members alike, Corda Credit Union gives people the skills they need to become wise, financially healthy consumers throughout their lives.
“Over the decades, we have gone from Cedar Rapids Teachers’ Credit Union to Linn Area Credit Union to Corda Credit Union, but that has not changed the fact that we are still serving with heart,” says Joan Auterman, a retired Cedar Rapids School District teacher who has served on the credit union’s Board of Directors since 1976.
Putting members first
Corda Credit Union’s members benefit from its dedication and members-first philosophy. It focuses solely on the needs of its community rather than producing profits for shareholders. Profits are returned to members in the form of lower fees, highly competitive savings and loan rates, and future-focused checking accounts such as Empower Checking, which includes no minimum balance, no monthly service charges, no non-sufficient funds fees, and no charge for cashier’s checks.
As owners, members enjoy personalized service that goes above and beyond the expected. Remarkably creative problem- solvers, the Corda Credit Union team takes pride in improving its members’ lives. They are as adept at finding solutions for financial emergencies as they are knowledgeable advisors for goals like business expansions or retirement planning.
On top of the membership’s financial benefits, Corda Credit Union members enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that their deposits are uniquely positioned to be a force for good in the community. “For us, it’s personal,” says Paula O’Rourke, president and CEO. “Every board member and staff member live and work in the communities we serve.”
But it isn’t just member deposits that affect the community. In 2023, Corda Credit Union staff volunteered 1,643 hours across 83 different nonprofit organizations, including Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, Mission of Hope, and the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program. It invested in programs that uplift and empower families, like Children’s Miracle Network and United Way of East Central Iowa, lending people a hand when they need it most. In 2024, Corda Credit Union pledged to contribute $100,000 over five years to the North Liberty Community Pantry, which provides supplemental food and clothing to hundreds of families. Also in 2024, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Eastern Iowa awarded the Outstanding Large Philanthropic Organization Award to Corda Credit Union, where only one area organization is recognized per year.
Solutions-oriented service
Corda Credit Union members are granted the peace of mind that comes with a team invested in their financial success. The credit union is dedicated to its members, providing solutions to improve and sustain their financial well-being. Recently, the team noticed a member was opening a checking account that had almost maxed out three credit cards. She was spending over $1,000 monthly to make the minimum payment on $22,000 of debt. To make matters worse, her husband, also a member, had an additional $24,000 in credit card debt. The credit union’s team was able to work together to consolidate the debts, saving the members $500 per month.
After illness, bankruptcy, and disability crippled them financially, a couple who banked with their credit union for 28 years decided to make a change. At an age when they should have been looking forward to retirement, they became technically homeless and dependent on friends and family because the financial intuition they entrusted had failed them. The breaking point occurred when their car died, forcing them to purchase a vehicle with an unsustainable interest rate of 26%.
While many traditional financial institutions might have turned them away, Corda Credit Union embraced them, closely analyzed their history, the circumstances of their situation, and the work they had done to make themselves responsible borrowers. The couple was approved for a refinance that saved them over $200 every month and brought their interest rate down to 12.25%. And the story doesn’t end there. Corda Credit Union helped the couple draw a roadmap to better credit and provided resources for future financial coaching.
“Traditional financial institutions must deliver a strong return on investment. We have a much broader obligation,” explains O’Rourke. “We measure success by the strength and resiliency of our organization, how well we support our employees, and the value our members receive.”
Looking to the future, Corda Credit Union is gearing up for growth. In 2025, it will open its new, 5,046 square-foot branch in North Liberty, its first location outside of Linn County.
“We’re excited to work together to make North Liberty an exceptional place to live, work, and thrive,” said O’Rourke. “At Corda, it starts with heart, and we are proud to keep that at the center of who we are for generations to come.”
By the numbers
Corda Credit Union is listed among the 2024 Best Credit Unions in Each State by Forbes. Under its former name, Linn Area Credit Union, Corda Credit Union ranked as the fourth best credit union in Iowa, just behind much larger credit unions. Well-capitalized, it has doubled in size in the last decade, ending 2023 with nearly $670 million in assets and 26,000 members.