A Little History

Many people found it hard to obtain a loan during the Great Depression in the early 1930s. The employees of the United States Veterans Bureau were no exception. In 1933, Mr. W.S. Shipman, manager of the Regional office, saw employees of the Jackson office being used by local money lenders and had the feeling that there was a better way to borrow money for less.

Mr. Shipman and a number of other employees organized and learned as much as they could about forming a credit union. They felt that through the formation of a credit union the employees would have access to low cost loans as well as a place to deposit their savings.

On March 13, 1935, a charter was signed and submitted to the Federal Security Agency, Bureau of Federal Credit Unions for approval to establish a credit union for the 100-plus employees stationed at the Jackson Mississippi Veterans Bureau. The Veterans Administration Employees (Jackson, Mississippi) Federal Credit Union was born.

32 years later, on May 1, 1967, the credit union's name was officially shortened to Jackson VA Federal Credit Union.

On July 14, 2003 the Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve a charter change that gave the credit union the opportunity to expand membership exclusively in a five-county region in and around the Jackson Metropolitan area. Those five counties are Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Simpson, and Copiah.

In order to attract new members from the expanded market area, the Board of Directors agreed that a name change would be in the organization's best interest. After much research and discussion, the credit union's name was officially changed to Magnolia Federal Credit Union on June 14, 2004.

Today, Magnolia Federal Credit Union is a multi-million dollar, full-service financial institution serving a five-county area in central Mississippi. Magnolia operates three branch locations and proudly participates in the Credit Union Service Center Share Branching program. In addition, Magnolia operates eight proprietary Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and provides additional fee-free ATM access through its participation in the Credit Union 24 (CU24) ATM network.

For specific information about Magnolia Federal Credit Union's current financial condition, please visit the National Credit Union Administration's website and click on the "Data and Services" link at the top right of the page then click on "Find a Credit Union." You will be able to access Magnolia FCU's financials by typing in Charter Number 224 or the word "Magnolia" in the search form. Click here for a direct link to the "Find a Credit Union" web page.