Credit union to offer program to make payday lenders obsolete

First Financial Credit Union president Ben Heyward plucks a cheeseburger from the grill while Pam Meyes, the vice president of consumer lending, waits to take the burgers to First Financial clients Friday during the grand opening of their Mesa View location on U.S. 491 in Gallup. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Darrel Beehner
Staff Writer

GALLUP — If Ben Heyward has his way, that blood-curdling shriek you hear around Halloween may not be trick-or-treaters.

Instead, the screams will be coming from what he and many consumer advocacy groups feel is the real bogeyman: payday lenders.

Heyward, president and chief executive officer of First Financial Credit Union, said he is working on a savings plan that would make payday lenders obsolete. Though reluctant to offer many details prior to the plan's implementation in October, Heyward said it would drastically reduce the amount of interest borrowers would be forced to pay, while creating an opportunity to begin a savings plan and repair poor credit ratings.

Heyward spoke about his visions during the grand opening of First Financial's second Gallup branch at 1383 N. Hwy. 491 in the Mesa View plaza on Friday afternoon.

Along with First Financial's CFO and COO, Heyward traded in his suit for an apron and flipped burgers for scores of the credit union's local members. "We had half of the city's employees today," he said.

The credit union, which has 11 branches in New Mexico, was forced to open a second Gallup office to keep pace with demand, Heyward said.

"The branch on Boardman (Drive) was slammed every day," he said. "People were leaving because they had to stand in line so long, and not because we're slow."

First Financial is fanning out across New Mexico and is presently doing a feasibility study on opening a branch in Quemado. Heyward said the credit union will open offices in smaller communities, such as the branch in the Pine Hill, as a matter of public service.

"I think we're obligated to be a part of the community," Heyward said, adding that the credit union is planning safety fairs and other community events.

It's not just small communities First Financial is concerned with.

"We're a small business lender," Heyward said. "We'll make those member loans banks won't. We don't have to make $20 million to be successful."

However, "we're not a charity. We still have to pay the light bill."

The new branch employs five people, along with the eight who work at the Boardman office. First Financial, which has total assets in excess of $300 million, employs 143 people in New Mexico.

Those wishing to join the First Financial don't have to be New Mexicans. "If you live, work or worship in the counties we cover, you can join," Heyward said.

Information: (505) 722-6608