Our History

Our Credit Union was founded in 1933, in the middle of the Great Depression, by fire fighters at Station #3, now the Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum. Mr. C.E. Oldham, a credit union pioneer from Indianapolis explained the workings of a credit union. After many questions, the fire fighters requested the State Banking Department to issue a charter to be known as the Fort Wayne Firemen’s Credit Union. In March 1975, the city hired its first woman fire fighter; “firemen” would no longer be correct terminology. Since the field of membership also included the Traffic and Engineering Department and the Communications Department, which were under the jurisdiction of the fire pension, the credit union took the name Greater Fort Wayne Firefighters Federal Credit Union in 1973. In 1979 the field of membership was expanded to include all paid and volunteer fire fighters in Allen County and all contiguous counties. In 1980 our name was changed to Fire Fighter’s Federal Credit Union. Two credit union mergers brought us new members from various City-County departments and the Police Department, and all wanted equal recognition. We are now known as Fire Police City County Federal Credit Union.

During the 1950s the credit union continually had to increase its capital stock to keep up with growth. The bylaws changed practically every year to accommodate the growing assets. Finally by 1965 unlimited capitalization was adopted along with the model bylaws of the Department of Financial Institutions. In 1970, the bylaws committee formulated a strong, solid loan policy. Prior to this fire fighters co-signed for each other’s loans. These changes came about for growth purposes, and today our Board of Directors and Management continually work together “to provide quality financial and information services and to promote each member’s personal financial growth.”

Originally we were a state chartered credit union. In 1971, the Board of Directors applied for federal share insurance coverage through the National Credit Union Administration. During the 1970s many new services, in addition to the normal savings and loans, were available and being offered by federally chartered credit unions. Sate chartered credit unions were not allowed to offer any of these new services, which included share drafts. Finally in 1974, our charter changed to a Federally Chartered Credit Union.

One of the founding principles of Fire Police City County FCU is to be a source for our members to save and borrow money. We take pride in being our members’ financial institution, and in 2008 celebrated serving our members for 75 years. Members continue to put their trust in us, giving us the opportunity to finance their mortgage and auto loans.

In addition to the products and services we offer, even more important is our strategy and stability. When it comes to strategy, we employ the safety, liquidity, and yield approach to investment positioning. When we invest, we fully recognize that we are investing YOUR money; and we do so with care and due diligence. Another attribute to our success has been stability, stability in management, philosophy, capital and the stability of our members. This has translated into growth and is the primary reason why we remain one of the most financially sound credit unions in the nation.