UW Credit Union (UWCU) opened its doors to celebrate its new 35th location on Madison’s east side with a fresh building concept on Oct. 22.
The new location, 103 Cottage Grove Rd., sits under the Fitzgerald apartment complex in the Lake Edge neighborhood. While smaller than typical branches, the concept is new for UWCU with it being centrally located for the community with easy access housed under an apartment complex. A similar style location is currently being built in east Milwaukee.
The new branch comes as UWCU reaches 360,000 members with an exceedingly busy location already in Monona. Priority was held to make the location Spanish-bilingual, an initiative UWCU continuously pushes, with the service immediately ready for customers. Two in five Hispanic and Latino residents in Dane County are members of UWCU.
Branch manager Mark Magnusson aimed to have positions strictly Spanish-bilingual. Four employees — one financial specialist and three tellers — out of its staff of six are Spanish-bilingual.
“I love to see it and recognize when we have that need,” Mugnusson said. “It’s the right thing to do. If we can provide services to people of all different backgrounds and of all different languages… it’s the services we provide everyone.”
The Cottage Grove Road location is full service with two drive up lanes, interactive teller machines (ITMs), covered parking along with account services like savings, loans, mortgages and wealth management advising. It’s a rarity to have all services under one roof for UWCU, Mugnusson said. Typically, they would have to send members off to another location if they needed to meet with a mortgage loan officer.
UW Credit Union offers a new look with its new branch. Offices are less spaced out with entirely glass doors to give a more intimate feeling. It sits near bike paths, bus stops, restaurants and the local library for a more accessible location.
“I think the shape of this branch really reflects the needs that this community not only needs, but wants,” Mugnusson said. “When we think about the types of people that live in Madison, there are so many different kinds, and so many people like to get out, ride their bikes and walk around. Having something that’s so easily accessible for everybody is huge.”
The opening ended with a meet and greet with Green Bay Packers hall of fame offensive tackle Mark Tauscher.
