In May 1963, a few concerned employees of the Rapides Parish School system saw the need for a way to provide much needed financial services to their fellow workers. In September of 1963, the credit union opened with 25 charter members and total deposits of $525.00. During the second year of operation, the credit union established an office in the school board building where it remained until 1976.
As a result of the success of the credit union, a new building was constructed one block from the school bard office which has been remodeled on several occasions to allow for teller operations, a full staffed loan department, drive-in window access, and computerized networking systems. In an effort to make the credit union more accessible to members, we finished construction in May of 1999 on a branch office in Pineville with an ATM on the premises. A third location at 6500 Coliseum Blvd in Alexandria was completed in the summer of 2007, also with an ATM on premises. In August 2004, CenLA FCU expanded the field of membership and changed our name from the Rapides School Employees Credit Union to CenLA Federal Credit Union to better reflect the mission of the credit union: to serve not only the backbone of the credit union, our school employees and their immediate families, but also anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides, and Winn Parishes, Vernon Parish School employees, Union Tank Car employees, and LA Special Education employees. Today the credit union is governed by a nine member Board of Directors and a three member Supervisory Committee. Important decisions are made for members locally on a daily basis. There are currently 30 employees serving the needs of the membership. CenLA Federal Credit Union has more than 11,000 members and more than $82 million in assets. CenLA FCU offers members preferred rates on savings and low loan rates, four local ATMs and access to ATMs throughout the south, and 3 convenient local branches. Today, CenLA FCU is the largest credit union headquartered in Central Louisiana. . Deposits in CenLA FCU are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. CenLA FCU is an equal housing lender.
