SELF-HELP DURHAM BRANCH AND CREDIT UNION NETWORK EXPANDING WITH $5.8 MILLION SUPPORT FROM METLIFE INC. AND METLIFE FOUNDATION

SELF-HELP DURHAM BRANCH AND CREDIT UNION NETWORK EXPANDING WITH $5.8 MILLION SUPPORT FROM METLIFE INC. AND METLIFE FOUNDATION

DURHAM, N.C., December 04, 2014

Governor Pat McCrory today joined Marty Lippert, executive vice president of MetLife Inc., to celebrate the grand opening of Self-Help’s first full-service credit union branch in Durham, North Carolina.

“We are honored to host Governor McCrory and particularly grateful to MetLife and MetLife Foundation for their generous support,” said Self-Help co-founder and CEO Martin Eakes. “While Durham is Self-Help’s hometown, it has taken us 30 years to open a full-service branch here. Support from MetLife Foundation has made it happen. Additionally, the capital investment from MetLife provides us critical financial strength to consider future expansion of our credit union network and serve more communities nationwide.”

MetLife’s $5 million long-term, low-interest loan will enable Self-Help to make a secondary capital investment in its credit unions. This secondary capital is considered net worth. Every dollar of additional net worth can leverage an additional $8 to $10 of federally-insured deposits, increasing the scale and impact of Self-Help credit unions, which provide loans and other financial products to low- and moderate-income families and communities. Currently, Self-Help’s combined credit unions have 43 branches in North Carolina, California and, Chicago.

MetLife Foundation’s $800,000 grant helped support the new full-service branch in Durham, which opened for business in April, and in the development of new products that will allow Self-Help to fill gaps in the financial marketplace and help working families climb the economic ladder. In North Carolina, products like ‘WealthBuilder,’ an innovative loan/savings offering, will enable borrowers to refinance existing high-cost loans at a lower rate while setting aside savings from the refinancing as a financial reserve. With MetLife Foundation’s support, Self-Help is expanding access to the program across the state and providing a $100 savings incentive that goes directly to the customer, which in turn builds their financial reserves.

“We are proud to partner with Self-Help to provide more people direct access to affordable financial services. MetLife and Self-Help at their core seek to help families secure their financial future, and this partnership will help do just that,” said Marty Lippert, executive vice president of Global Technology & Operations at MetLife. "This is one of the ways that MetLife is thanking North Carolina for the warm welcome we’ve received since we announced our hubs in Cary and Charlotte last year."

GTO is constructing a global technology hub in Cary, scheduled to open in 2015, and MetLife recently opened a hub for its U.S. Retail business in Charlotte. Together, the two hubs represent 2,600 new jobs and a $125.5 million investment in North Carolina. This is on top of the $1.2 billion in insurance funds that MetLife has invested in North Carolina housing, agriculture, commercial real estate, health care and utilities.Founded in 1980, Self-Help’s credit union activity historically focused on raising deposits to support its home and business lending to those outside the financial mainstream.

Since 2004, nine traditional North Carolina credit unions have merged with Self Help underlying a growing need for affordable, basic financial services in underserved communities. This growth led to deeper consideration of a Triangle branch, and MetLife Foundation’s support helped make the branch a reality.for 

MetLife and MetLife Foundation are committed to driving positive change and long-term stability  ndividuals and families around the world. To learn more about MetLife Foundation and MetLife’s impact investments visit www.metlifeglobalimpact.com.