Our Story

A Message To Members

At SWS Federal Credit Union, we take great pride in helping our members achieve their individual financial goals in a safe and sound environment. Our success in realizing this mission is due to a three-pronged focus:

IT Security: Because today’s most dangerous bank robbers carry computers instead of guns, a major challenge is to position the appropriate defense. Cybersecurity strategies, training, and support are a major effort at our credit union.

Compliance: Banks and credit unions are one of the most highly regulated industries in the world, and for good reason. The dramatic and rapid increase in complexity, technology, and potential abuse demand that our credit union adheres to strict compliance with professionalism, discipline, and efficiency.

Relationship: At SWSFCU, we think of our members as family, friends, neighbors, and even owners. It is our goal to always treat members as individuals deserving of dignity and respect. They are individuals, not numbers, and so we want to deliver products and services that are responsive to individual needs. It is a goal to accommodate every request and sometimes come up with creative solutions as a result. Be assured that if we cannot approve all loans, we will give it more consideration than anywhere else and try to propose a course that is best for the individual. We are committed to operating in a safe, sound, and ethical manner to protect our members’ funds. At SWSFCU, we feel strongly that we are in a relationship business where the credit union mantra "People Helping People" is not an empty promise. It is our reason for being.

We are proud of our 70-plus-year heritage and despite the challenges faced recently by financial markets, our credit union has done well and continues to implement changes to benefit our members.

Our History

A few years later, in the summer of 1947, a group of employees formed a credit union for Shell refinery workers and their families. The SWS Federal Credit Union has been part of the local community ever since.

Today, the ranks of the SWS Federal Credit Union have grown to nearly 4,000, and membership is open to all people who live, work, worship or attend school in Contra Costa County. Over the years, the spirit of the brave men and women who came back from war so many years ago to care for their family’s well-being and financial health lives on.

The families of many of the original members are still involved in their credit union today—the old credit union mantra of people helping people is still valid—and your local credit union is still working to help support financial health in the community.