A Small Match Builds Big Emergency Savings At Lake Trust

Employees at Lake Trust Credit Union ($2.7B, Brighton, MI) are better prepared for emergencies thanks to a staff program that incentivized saving money for unexpected expenses.

A majority of Americans need all the help they can get in the regard. In its Emergency Savings Report, Bankrate reports as of December 2025, fewer than one-quarter, 24%, of Americans had emergency savings and only 19% could cover three months or more of expenses. A separate study last year found the median amount of savings across most demographics was just $500.

MEDIAN SAVINGS BY GENERATION
FOR SAMPLE SIZE | DATA AS OF 06.30.25
SOURCE: EMPOWER/THE CURRENCY

“It’s well known in our industry that most Americans don’t have $500 saved for an emergency,” says Brandalynn Winchester-Middlebrook, executive vice president and chief people and purpose officer at Lake Trust Credit Union. “Recognizing that’s something our team might not have, we wanted to support them in their journey to prepare for a future emergency with the confidence that if something arose, they’d have funds set aside.”

In response, the credit union designed an emergency savings program to help employees build $500 in savings during 2025. For every dollar employees set aside in a savings account, Lake Trust made a dollar-for-dollar match up to $250.

The credit union also included a handful of stipulations to protect the FI and its employees:

• Staffers had to open a Team Member Emergency Savings Account, which Lake Trust created specifically for this purpose.
• Employees had to make eight payments via payroll direct deposit.
• Employees could withdrawal funds throughout the year if necessary, but accounts with more than one withdrawal were ineligible for the $250 match.
• The credit union would not match balances until after Dec. 31, 2025.

The last stipulation especially demonstrates how thoughtfully the credit union thought through the account.

“We didn’t want to get to the end of the year and have it be like a Christmas Club account where people withdraw it  to do their holiday shopping,” Winchester-Middlebrook says. “We made a point of having the match period happen after the end of the year.”

Starting A Savings Habit

The direct deposit requirement was another element crucial to the success of the program.

“We thought if we could get team members to take the savings out of their paycheck directly and deposit it, over time they’d become more comfortable with having that money come out,” Winchester-Middlebrook says. “They wouldn’t notice it, as opposed to getting their pay and having to turn around to make a deposit.”

That design takes into account behavioral economics and the understanding that people prefer pre-set options and maintaining the status quo, she adds. If employees could get into the habit of saving, they were unlikely to drop that habit unless absolutely necessary.

Buy-in across the credit union was essential, too. Rather than HR solely leading the charge, Winchester-Middlebrook notes that Lake Trust’s leadership team worked collaboratively to develop the program.

“Our leadership team works together on our wellbeing journey with our team and decided this was the next stake in the ground we wanted to place,” she says.

The initiative did not require board approval, in part because it feeds into the credit union’s broader mission of financial wellness.

Staffers were excited when Lake Trust rolled out the program as part of its annual business plan, Winchester-Middlebrook says, adding that the credit union promoted the program through high-level communication, a page on the credit union’s intranet, an FAQ, and more. Senior leaders conducted huddles with every manager in the organization to ensure they understood how to present the program to their team, and managers were encouraged to walk their teams through the online account-opening process so there was no confusion about how to get started. Many even challenged their employees to set up the accounts together.

An online calculator also helped team members determine how long it would take to reach certain savings goals and how the credit union’s match could help them meet their goals.

Crucially, the credit union provided financial wellbeing and financial wellness educational sessions throughout the year. Those courses covered not only savings but also debt reduction, investing for the future, and more.

Lessons Learned

All told, employees opened 338 accounts and 290 received a match; the remainder were disqualified based on the number of withdrawals throughout the year. Of the 290 who received matching funds, a full 276 — approximately 58% of all employees — received the full amount, says Winchester-Middlebrook. At the conclusion of the program, the credit union paid out approximately $72,000 in matching funds, and employees built up a savings of $277,323, including funds from the credit union.

Lake Trust plans to continue offering the program in some way, although it won’t be an exact replica of the 2025 edition. Winchester-Middlebrook says one possibility is a high-yield account to help boost savings even more.

After all, helping employees build a savings discipline is a lifelong benefit that extends far beyond the credit union’s walls, a sentiment echoed in program participant feedback.

“I wanted to remain anonymous, but I also wanted to share how much I appreciated the Emergency Savings Program,” one employee wrote. “I have always tried to save but never been successful because I withdraw and then I keep taking from it. The calculator and stipulations helped me immensely. Thank you sincerely, this has truly benefitted me financially.”

Winchester-Middlebrook says if she had it all to do again, she wouldn’t make it easier —  she’d advise more communication and guidance to ensure everyone understood the details and the benefits of the offer.

“You could say, ‘Make it simple, don’t have any restrictions,’” she adds. “But some of those restrictions ended up leading to the outcomes that were desired.”

The most valuable lesson involved how to think creatively about improving the lives of those who help members first-hand every day.

“These are the folks working with our members every day trying to improve our members’ financial wellbeing,” Winchester-Middlebrook says. “We want their wellbeing to be at the highest possible level. That helps them feel more comfortable and confident working with our members, as well.”