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1/24/2013 - West Side Leader
     

By Maria Lindsay

Towpath Credit Union CEO Rose Bartolomucci said the financial institution is focused on providing more personal banking.

Photo courtesy of Towpath Credit Union

GREATER AKRON — Towpath Credit Union is a 75-year-old financial institution with three offices in the area, including 2969 Smith Road in Fairlawn, 645 N. Main St. in North Akron and 2500 N. Turkeyfoot Lake Road in Coventry.

Services offered at Towpath include auto and truck loans, first and second mortgages, small-business loans, personal loans, savings and checking accounts, the VISA credit card and a debit card, Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). It also offers online banking and mobile banking applications.

CEO Rose Bartolomucci said Towpath Credit Union is a not-for-profit cooperative owned by its members and not stakeholders like a bank is.

“Credit unions are the best-kept secret,” she added. “People bargain shop all the time. Why not bargain shop for a financial institution?”

Towpath also focuses on more personal banking, and one way it does this is to offer savings accounts that can be tagged for special activities, such as holiday shopping and vacations, according to Bartolomucci. It also offers small, short-term loans at “great rates,” she added.

“We see things a little bit differently,” said Bartolomucci. “We want to help our members keep more money in their wallets, and one way to do that is to help members reduce their debt. We work with members to help them understand their debt, pay it down and save some money.”

That effort could involve consolidating existing debt to get a better loan rate, which may be as low as 2.99 percent at Towpath, according to Bartolomucci.

Bartolomucci stated Towpath Credit Union has an agreement with 5,000 credit unions across the United States that can offer customers free ATM services and walk-in services. This “shared banking” is available at five sites in Summit County, one each in Medina and Portage counties and eight in Stark County.

Towpath’s Fairlawn and North Akron offices are open Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Fairlawn office also is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, as is the Coventry office. The Coventry office also is open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 330-664-4700 or visit www.towpathcu.com.

 

Editor’s note: Advertiser features appearing in the West Side Leader are provided as a service to the advertiser and our readers. They do not serve as an endorsement of any company, person, product or service. All information contained in these features comes directly from interviews with company owners or their representatives and from additional materials provided by them.

     

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