Chicago Firefighters Credit Union

What Chicago Firefighters Credit Union does

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union (CFFCU) is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperative founded in 1937 as 2nd Division Credit Union to serve employees of the Chicago Fire Department. Membership is restricted to active, retired, and former Chicago Fire Department personnel and their immediate family members (spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents), with the institution operating under a single-branch model from its headquarters at 6230 S. Central Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. The credit union is governed by a volunteer board of directors elected from the membership and led by President/CEO Gloria L. Hnojsky.

CFFCU delivers a full-service retail banking product suite, including share/savings accounts, share draft/checking accounts, personal loans, mortgages, and a flagship Education Loan Special offering 5.00% APR regardless of credit score (up to $30,000, 48-month maximum term). Payment products include Visa credit and debit cards, with debit cardholders accessing surcharge-free ATMs through the Allpoint Network. Digital channels comprise a web-based home banking platform (cffcu.mnolb.com) with SSL encryption and multi-factor authentication, supporting account access, fund transfers, bill payment (via ACH or paper check), check reordering, and online loan applications. Supporting operational features include loan and mortgage calculators and a shift calendar tailored to firefighter schedules.

The revenue model is the standard credit union structure: net interest income from member loans (predominantly personal and education loans) plus share deposit dividends funded by the lending book, augmented by transaction fees such as NSF charges ($25), wire transfers ($25), and loan application fees ($20). A 60% bonus dividend on 2024 dividends and fee waivers from September through December 2024 indicate strong recent financial performance. The credit union does not publish detailed financial statements, and there are no signals of geographic expansion, material hiring growth, or new product verticals beyond incremental partnership-led distribution (Sallie Mae student loans, CUNA Mutual TruStage insurance via MEMBERCONNECT).

Name

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union

Legal name

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union

Website

https://chicagofirefighterscu.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1937

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative founded in 1937 that provides retail banking, loans, Visa cards, and digital banking services exclusively to Chicago Fire Department employees and their immediate family members from a single Chicago branch.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Banking / Credit Union Services

NAICS

Credit Unions (52213), Credit Unions (522130)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSABAEAB

Employer/Occupational Credit Unions

Financial & Insurance/Banking (Commerical, Retail & Consumer)/Community & Cooperative Banking (Credit Unions, Mutuals)

SECONDARYFSABAEAK

Public Sector & Municipal Credit Unions

Financial & Insurance/Banking (Commerical, Retail & Consumer)/Community & Cooperative Banking (Credit Unions, Mutuals)

SECONDARYFSAKAAAL

Bank & Credit Union Personal Loans (Unsecured Installment)

Financial & Insurance/Lending & Consumer Finance/Personal Loans (Unsecured Installment)

Keywords

• Credit union services
• Consumer banking
• Personal lending
• Share savings accounts
• Community banking

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Loan Interest Income: Interest income generated from various loan products including education loans (5.00% APR special), personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards. Education loan special offers $30,000 maximum with 48-month maximum repayment term.
2. Share Account Deposits: Members deposit savings into share accounts. Credit union pays dividends (APY) on deposits and uses pooled deposits to fund loans to other members. Not-for-profit cooperative structure returns value to members.
3. Fee Income: Various service fees including NSF fees ($25), ACH stop payments ($10), outgoing wire transfers ($25), certified checks ($4), loan application fees ($20), loan rewrite fees ($50), and card replacement fees ($25). However, bonus dividends and fee waivers were provided to members in 2024.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative founded in 1937 serving Chicago Fire Department employees, retirees, and their immediate family members. It provides share/savings accounts, share draft/checking accounts, personal and education loans (including a year-round 5.00% APR Education Loan Special), Visa credit and debit cards, and digital home banking with bill payment and online loan applications.

Product overview

Chicago Firefighters Credit Union offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services tailored for Chicago Fire Department employees and their families. The core offering includes share/savings accounts, share draft/checking accounts, loan products (personal loans, education loans with a year-round 5.00% APR special), Visa credit cards, and Visa debit cards. Digital banking services encompass Home/Internet Banking with bill payment, e-payments, fund transfers, and check management, plus online loan applications. Supporting tools include loan and mortgage calculators, plus a shift calendar for tracking firefighter schedules. The credit union partners with Visa for card services, Allpoint Network for surcharge-free ATMs, and CUNA Mutual for insurance products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Share/Savings Accounts

Quantifiable outcome

• 60% bonus dividend on 2024 dividends for all accounts, posted 12-31-2024
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CUNA Mutual Group's MEMBERCONNECTminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint marketing partner for financial products and services. CUNA Mutual Group's MEMBERCONNECT platform enables marketing of TruStage insurance products to credit union members.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• CUNA Mutual Group: Insurance and member-connection platform serving credit unions including CFFCU (via MEMBERCONNECT and TruStage) — a key infrastructure/ecosystem partner rather than a direct competitor, but useful as a comparable for ancillary-product economics in the credit-union ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Alliant Credit Union: Large, multi-affinity credit union offering savings, loan, credit card and digital banking products comparable to CFFCU's, with a much larger and broader membership base.
• Navy Federal Credit Union: Largest occupational credit union in the U.S., serving military personnel and their families — analogous common-bond, member-owned cooperative model with a vastly larger balance sheet and digital footprint.
• Connexus Credit Union: Mid-to-large diversified credit union offering a similar deposit, loan and digital banking product set to CFFCU but serving a much broader membership base and geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Firefighters First Credit Union: Occupational credit union serving firefighters and their families in the Los Angeles area — analogous fire-service-only membership charter, savings/loan product set, and community-led distribution.
• BCU (Baxter Credit Union): Employer-based credit union originally serving healthcare employees and now open to many employee groups — comparable occupational-charter model with a broader digital banking platform and similar member-owned cooperative structure.
• Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU): Originally an employer-based credit union serving Digital Equipment employees, now open to many employee groups and a large digital-first institution — comparable cooperative structure and member-led governance.
• SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union: Occupational credit union serving California school employees and their families — closely analogous employer-based common-bond credit union with comparable deposit, loan and education-financing offerings.
• State Farm Federal Credit Union: Employer-based credit union serving State Farm employees, agents and their families — same employer-defined common-bond structure and member-elected governance as CFFCU.
• Police & Fire Federal Credit Union: Occupational credit union serving police and fire personnel and their families — same public-safety common-bond model as CFFCU, with a comparable deposit/loan/education product mix and similar member-elected governance.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-firefighters-credit-union

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Firefighters Credit Union