Freedom Federal Credit Union Opening New Branch in Perry Hall / White Marsh

May 3, 2021

The new branch will mark Freedom Federal Credit Union’s first Baltimore County location, and sixth location overall.

Freedom Federal Credit Union has announced plans to open a new full-service branch in the Perry Hall/White Marsh area. This is the Credit Union’s first branch in Baltimore County, and sixth branch within Northeastern Maryland. The new branch will be located at 5000 Honeygo Center Drive in the Honeygo Village Center, adjacent to Weis Markets, and across from AnyTime Fitness, and Liberatore’s Ristorante.

The branch will feature a full-service lobby, two drive-thru lanes, a 24/7 ATM, a free coin machine, and will provide ample parking and easy traffic flow and access. Financial Service Representatives will be in-person, and onsite, to support all business and individual banking needs.

The branch opening is the next step in Freedom’s expansion of their field of membership into Baltimore County, which the Credit Union announced in July 2020, following approval from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Since then, Freedom membership has been open to businesses and any individuals who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, or have family in Baltimore County. Freedom now serves all of Harford and Baltimore Counties.

The expansion into Baltimore County was a logical step in the Credit Union’s evolution. Freedom was already serving over 3,000 members that are Baltimore County residents and were able to join because of some affiliation with Harford County.

“This is a great milestone in Freedom Federal Credit Union’s history, as well as a monumental opportunity for our members, and the residents of both Baltimore and Harford Counties,” stated Mike MacPherson, President and CEO of Freedom. “The Honeygo Branch provides us our first physical space within Baltimore County, and ensures that we can truly deliver the ‘Freedom Advantage,’ our unique credit union service offering, to the greater Baltimore County communities. Not only will we be able to better serve a larger group of Maryland residents and businesses who we feel are currently being underserved, but we can better enhance the progress and growth of our Credit Union, which will benefit all our members going forward.”

Freedom Federal Credit Union was founded in 1953 as MATCOM Federal Credit Union. The Credit Union started in Baltimore and later moved to Harford County in support of the Edgewood Arsenal, which became part of Aberdeen Proving Ground. Freedom received their Harford County community charter in 1999 and changed their name to Freedom of Maryland Federal Credit Union in 2000.

MacPherson continued: “I think it’s important to emphasize that Freedom has not only risen to the challenge of the day, but even in the worst of times, continues to move forward in our vision and mission. While much of this last year has been focused on helping members through the pandemic, we decided to proceed with our expansion into Baltimore County, which will further allow us to offer lower cost loan options, higher deposit rates, better technology and access, and more community support across both Harford and Baltimore Counties. Our focus has been on expanding and enhancing every avenue and technology to allow our members more access to conduct business wherever needed, in-person, or online, all in the name of creating a better member experience.”

The new site in the Honeygo Village Center, which formerly housed First National Bank, is currently undergoing renovations, and is expected to open to the public in late summer with a grand opening event to be announced at a later date.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Federal Credit Union is a community-chartered federal credit union offering consumer financial services to those who live, work, volunteer, worship, attend school, or have family in Harford and Baltimore Counties. Additionally, Freedom offers a full-line of banking services for all businesses, associations, and other organizations that are based in Harford and Baltimore Counties. To learn more, visit freedomfcu.org.

Freedom Federal Credit Union Expands Field of Membership
to Include Baltimore County

July 2, 2020

The Credit Union Was Approved by the National Credit Union Administration to Serve Residents and Businesses of Baltimore County

Freedom Federal Credit Union announced that they received approval from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for their request to expand their field of membership. Effective immediately, Freedom membership is now open to businesses and any individuals who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, or has family in Baltimore County. Prior to NCUA approval, Freedom’s field of membership was focused solely on Harford County.

“This is a very exciting time for Freedom Federal Credit Union, our members, and residents of both Baltimore and Harford Counties, as a whole”, stated Mike MacPherson, President and CEO of Freedom. “With NCUA’s approval, we can now provide what we call the “Freedom Advantage”, our unique credit union service offering, to the greater Baltimore County communities. We will be able to better serve a larger group of Maryland consumers and businesses who have currently been underserved, and address their immediate and long-term savings and lending needs as only a credit union, like Freedom, can do”.

Freedom Federal Credit Union was founded in 1953 as MATCOM Federal Credit Union. The Credit Union started in Baltimore and later moved to Harford County in support of the Edgewood Arsenal, (which became part of Aberdeen Proving Ground). Freedom received their Harford County community charter in 1999 and changed their name to Freedom of Maryland Federal Credit Union in 2000.

The expansion into Baltimore County was a logical step in the Credit Union’s evolution. Freedom already serves over 3,000 members that are Baltimore County residents and were able to join because of some affiliation with Harford County.

MacPherson continued: “We feel Freedom is an organization best qualified to meet the financial service needs of the expanded community. We’re financially strong, with full service, easily accessible locations, user-friendly tools for remote accessibility, and a wide range of products, services, and technology. Additionally, Freedom has always focused on our social responsibility, generously supporting the communities we serve. We now have even more opportunity to do good in the community, for even more organizations, businesses, and people across both Baltimore and Harford Counties”.

“Strategic growth is vital to our long term strength and viability”, stated Mike Kaiser, Chairman of the Board for Freedom. The entire Board of Directors saw the wisdom and value in our expansion, not only for the organization, members and communities we currently serve, but also for our future members, and unanimously adopted the expanded field of membership”.

Kaiser continued: “Expanding our field of membership to Baltimore County will also allow us to provide cutting edge products and services to many more members. As a full-service financial institution, Freedom has long catered, and is uniquely structured, to serve a wide variety of consumers, including those of low and modest means. We believe that Freedom is positioned to provide the value of a local, community-focused, ‘people helping people’-centric financial institution, while we continue to adhere to the principles, mission, and values that we have developed over our more than 67 year history”.

As part of the expansion, Freedom will look at all options with respect to new, physical locations, in both Harford and Baltimore Counties, as well as how best to leverage technology for those who like and want to conduct business electronically and remotely, whenever and wherever it is convenient for them.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Expands Field of Membership- CEO Letter

July 2, 2020

Dear Freedom Members,

I wanted to share some very exciting news with you, as soon as I could.

Late last year, Freedom began the process of requesting, with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the governing agency that regulates credit unions, for the ability to expand our field of membership, in order to serve more residents within the state. I am extremely excited to announce to you that the NCUA has approved our request. Effective immediately, in addition to Harford County, Freedom membership is now open to businesses and any individuals who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, or have family in Baltimore County.

Your Board of Directors have also unanimously approved this field of membership expansion. With NCUA’s approval, as well as Board approval, we can now provide what we call the “Freedom Advantage”, our unique credit union service offering, to the greater Baltimore County communities. We will be able to better serve a larger group of Maryland consumers and businesses, many of whom we have heard from directly, that have been underserved, and address their immediate and long-term savings and lending needs as only a credit union, like Freedom, can do.

We are excited to roll out our plans for welcoming Baltimore County residents to Freedom and communicating our value proposition. We are working hard to provide the best financial institution and structure we can to serve not only our new communities within Baltimore County, but all of Harford County as well.

Freedom is an organization best qualified to meet the financial service needs of both Harford and Baltimore Counties. We’re financially strong, with full-service, easily accessible locations and a wide range of financial products, services, and accessible, intuitive technology.

We have also put great focus on our social responsibility, supporting those same communities we serve. In fact, we have made it our mission to be a trusted financial partner that does more than just banking, by creating a community support culture of people helping people that meets the needs of our members and the communities we serve. We now have even more opportunity to do good in the community, for even more organizations, businesses, and people across both Baltimore and Harford Counties.

I know this is a big change for us, and you may have some questions as a result of this announcement. I want to take this opportunity to try and answer some of these for you now.

Why did Freedom want to expand its Field of Membership?

Making Freedom membership available to all those who live, work, worship, volunteer, or attend school in Baltimore County was a logical step in our Credit Union’s evolution. Nearly 3,000 current Freedom members are already Baltimore County residents and were able to join because of some affiliation with Harford County. We have heard directly from so many Baltimore County residents over the years that they wish they could join Freedom. With just a few credit unions and numerous big banks in Baltimore County, credit unions are few and far between, even though they represent a better financial choice for most consumers. And we know Freedom will provide Baltimore County the exact type of financial institution that so many have said they want.

How is this a good thing for current Freedom members?

Because of the way a credit union is structured, as a financial cooperative, the health and strength of the organization is strongly dependent on the membership being engaged and utilizing its products and services. The more members that are an active part of the credit union and using its products and services, the better the ability to offer lower cost loan options, higher deposit rates, better technology and access, and more community support. Our expansion into Baltimore County will allow Freedom to provide our unique financial offerings to more consumers that need them and provide a much needed financial alternative to the big banks. In doing so, we will be able to increase our membership, and the ability to serve all our members, and our shared communities better.

With 32,000 members and growing, Freedom has been a strong financial partner to our members for over 67 years, and we look forward to being an even better partner with this expansion.

Does this mean we are taking away resources to support Harford County?

Absolutely not! Our expansion into Baltimore County does not take anything away from our focus, commitment, and support to the Harford County community. On the contrary, our expansion will afford us greater resources to expand our support of Harford County residents, businesses, and organizations. We are, and have always been, a part of this great community, and will continue to serve it as we always have.

Will you be opening new branches in Baltimore County?

We will look at all our options with respect to new and future physical locations, in both Harford and Baltimore Counties, to best serve our expanded membership. We will also review how we already serve members, regardless of location, by leveraging technology for those who like and want to conduct business electronically and remotely, on their own schedule. One of the biggest lessons we have learned during these past few months is that members are quite adept, and look for, newer technology to serve their banking needs. We will, therefore, consider all options to offer the best balance between physical locations and technology that best serves our membership.

We will continue to share information and details about this exciting news for Freedom Federal Credit Union and its membership, and where we go from here. In the meantime, if you have family, friends, and/or coworkers who live, work, study, volunteer, have family, or worship in Baltimore County, please help us spread the news of who we are, and share with them the Freedom Advantage!

I want to thank all of you for your ongoing trust and confidence in Freedom. It is because of you that we are here, and will continue to be here, for many years to come. Our future is bright, and together, there’s no telling what we can accomplish.

Sincerely,

Michael MacPherson
President and CEO
Freedom Federal Credit Union