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02/17/2004: "Federal Credit Union Opens in Perkasie"

The Perkasie office of the American Heritage Federal Credit Union opened this past Tuesday at the corner of Walnut Street and Constitution Avenue (Rt. 152), with the official ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday. The building, which most recently held an insurance office, restaurant, and used car dealership, was extensively remodeled and expanded. The Perkasie location is the 13th office for the Philadelphia-based firm.

A credit union is a not-for-profit financial institution offering services similar to a bank, but because it's operated as a not-for-profit and owned by its members rather than stock holders, generally offers higher interest on investments and lower interest on loans. Membership is not open to the general public; your employer must first join, thereby extending its benefits to employees. American Heritage was formed in 1948 to serve employees of the Budd Manufacturing Company, but now serves the employees of more than 650 companies including Grand View Hospital, A&T Chevrolet, Hatfield Quality Meats, and many others. It costs nothing but some paperwork for a company to join and extend the benefits to employees. Companies may have as few as five employees to qualify for membership.

American Heritage has strong roots in Perkasie. Their CEO, Bruce Foulke, is a Perkasie native, as is the Perkasie office Branch Manager, Beth Schild, and most of the employees are from the Pennridge area. As a way of expressing their support of the local community, they offer no-fee ATM service to anyone -- you do not need to be a member of the credit union to use their ATM machine without a service fee.