A Different Kind Of ‘Mobile’ Banking

Members of Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union ($98.9M, Petersburg, VA) that reside in remote parts of Southern Virginia needn’t worry if they can’t travel to a branch. That’s because they have a branch that can travel to them.

“We call it our mobile unit,” says Amanda Habansky, CEO of Peoples Advantage. “There’s no clever cartoon name. It’s just the People’s Advantage Mobile Unit. It is really freaking cool, we think.”

In this case, the “branch” is a converted Ford E450 van large enough to seat five people ready to serve members in a variety of ways. The branch on wheels includes a vault for cash transactions, an ATM, instant-issue credit and debit card services, and desk space for loans and new account opening.

“Anything we can do in a branch can be done in the mobile unit,” Habanksy says.

The mobile unit allows People’s Advantage to reach its rural members across smaller communities throughout South-Central Virginia. Cities such as Hopewell, Dinwiddie, and Chester are all within 20 minutes of the credit union’s headquarters in Petersburg; yet at populations that hover close to 20,000, none have the member base to sustain a full-time branch.

“The idea is to reach that underserved, unbanked market that doesn’t have access to those services,” says Habansky, who’s been with People’s Advantage since 2015 and became CEO early last year. “These are all rural communities where we can test the market without investing a ton of money in building a new branch right away.”

The credit union first had the idea to use a mobile unit to reach nearby underserved communities in 2017, but the rubber really hit the road when it took possession of the $180,000 converted van in mid-2019.

At that time, a two-person team would take the mobile unit to Hopewell on Monday before returning that night to Petersburg. On Tuesdays, they’d drive to Emporia and hit a variety of smaller communities on a rotating schedule.

The credit union also enters the mobile unit in local parades and places it at community events and festivals throughout the region, offering easy access to the onboard ATM without the full branch setup.

This is the kind of flexibility Habansky wanted from a mobile branch, but the branch also has given People’s Advantage opportunities its leader did not foresee.

In May 2020, People’s Advantage received a one-day notice that space it was leasing in Richmond had been sold and the credit union had to move out. Instead of leaving members stranded, the mobile unit setup shop nearby, temporarily operating as a full-service branch until the credit union could re-establish a permanent Richmond location.

The details of that permanent location have lately become clearer.

Last year, a tiny credit union in Richmond with $112,000 in assets and 120 members approached Habansky about a possible merger. The credit union was so small it operated solely with volunteer staff members.

“I was amazed at how well they were able to run the credit union with just volunteers,” Habansky says. “It really gets to the heart of what credit unions are all about.”

Operating out of its own congregation, Trinity Baptist Church Credit Union needed the resources of a bigger credit union. People’s Advantage needed Trinity Baptist, too. In partnership with Trinity Baptist Church, People’s Advantage will soon open a community hub on the grounds of the church that will serve as a gathering space for the community, a branch location, and what Habansky calls a “financial empowerment center” where people can come for financial coaching, social services, and small business assistance.

According to Habansky, the community hub will be an inviting space to serve members. After it opens this spring, the mobile unit will return to its original mission of serving neighboring communities.

“The overall mission of meeting folks where they are has not changed,” Habansky says. “It’s making banking available in comfortable environments where we can give them access.”

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