BECU History

In 1935, new employees for The Boeing Company were required to purchase their own tools before they could start work. This was the height of the Great Depression. Finding money to buy tools was an insurmountable burden for many prospective employees. A Boeing employee, William Dodge, read an article in Readers Digest about the difference that credit unions were making across the world. Inspired, Dodge got a group of Boeing employees to talk about starting their own credit union.

A visual history and timeline is below, and you can also read more about the Founding of BECU.

Our history is rooted in helping one another at a time people needed it most. This spirit of “people helping people” is at the very core of BECU, and will remain so as we embrace the future, whether we are 100 or 1,000,000 members.

 “Our goal was not and is not growth,” Benson Porter, BECU CEO, remarks. “But the natural outcome of great service and commitment to our members is growth. As a credit union, our goal is to serve communities – to empower people through financial education, affordable financial services, and products that prioritize financial health. As a cooperative, the more people that work together, the stronger we are.”

As a member-owned credit union, we are only as strong as our members! We are happy to be growing stronger and supporting one another as we reach more people with the credit union difference. Together, we can build a financial future that works for everyone in our communities.