Central Texas bank opens new mobile branch, connecting with banking deserts

DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) -- University Federal Credit Union (UFCU), a central Texas community bank, launched its mobile bank branch this month in an effort to get into underbanked communities and increase financial literacy and trust.

One of the first stops for the large blue and orange UFCU mobile branch was at the Turner-Roberts Recreation Center on Thursday. It was part of a larger event for community members to pick up free food from the Central Texas Food Bank and to connect with other community partners.

Del Valle has been called a food desert in the past, areas with a lack of easy access to grocery stores. But it is also a desert for financial institutions as well. It's the type of area UFCU wants to learn more about.

"Those communities that have been designed to be pushed out. And unfortunately, every city has those areas where there are less opportunity for the things we take for granted every day," Chris Turnley, Executive Vice President of member experience for UFCU, said.

People at Thursday's event were able to pick up food inside and then meet with Turnley and his team at the mobile branch. Turnley said right now it is about gaining trust with the community when it comes to banking and helping people with their finances.

"It is about financial literacy. It is about hope, because when there is no financial access, what you do is go to what you know. Well, these are really expensive -- sometimes predatory -- elements out in these communities," Turnley explained.

He explained that one of the most common predatory practices in these communities is check-cashing, where people are paying some type of fee to cash their paychecks. It is something people get into a habit of doing because it is the only access they have, Turnley explained.

As UFCU works to increase the trust and relationships in these communities, it's also seeing where the most demand is for a permanent branch. Currently, UFCU only has two branches east of I-35 in the Austin area. Del Valle members are not very close to either of them.

There could be an opportunity, if it is sustainable, where UFCU would open a permanent location in the area. That is something the mobile unit will be learning about as it goes through these events.

Although the event is not about convincing people to open an account with UFCU, some people have become new members of the mobile bank.

"They can come here and do anything that they can do in a normal branch, they can do here. So they're not limited because of where they live. They're not limited on the access they can actually have," Turnley said.